Once upon a time, and not very far away, there was an excellent Source mod called The Stanley Parable . The Stanley Parable did not seek much from life. It merely hoped to entertain with a little meta-commentary on the nature of gaming, and the occasional goreless death. Fans came from far and wide to savour its inherent pointlessness, and bask in the joy of the Narrator, whose dulcet tones made every moment of the experience as delightful and sinister as being drowned in strawberry jam, while also being a kitten, and the reincarnation of Hitler for reasons, I feel, hardly need explaining.
And then the Narrator got a letter telling him his game sucked...
If you've yet to play The Stanley Parable (and please, don't give away the gimmick/twist in a comment), it's totally worth doing - and replaying a couple of times. You can download it free from here , and because it just uses Source, it runs without needing to be plugged into a specific game. It's fun, funny, and you should check it out before anyone spoils it for you. I reckon you have 10 seconds.
A little like Dear Esther, there's also a standalone commercial version on the way, The Stanley Parable HD Remix , though with a release date of "some time between now and when it's released", you probably shouldn't hold your breath for it unless you specifically want to give your loved ones a blue surprise they'll never forget. Not recommended. Not when it's so easy to just fill a Smurf with maggots.
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