Stadium

Stadium is a 3D adventure-puzzle game by BusinessCorp Labs that was released on October 12, 2016 for the 3DS, but soon after ported to the Nintendo Switch. The game revolves around a nameless protagonist breaking into and exploring a baseball stadium after hours. The game is unique in that it has no single narrative, requiring players to piece together their own interpretation of the story from various clues.

Stadium received mostly favorable reviews from critics for its one-of-a-kind gameplay and open-endedness, but was also panned for its potentially confusing storyline.

On January 21, 2019, a mobile version was released to the public.

Development
Little is known about the development of Stadium. The creator stated in a Reddit AMA that he got the general concept of the game from visiting Minute Maid Park on tour while it was otherwise closed. Indie games such as Undertale and Scribblenauts have been cited as inspirations, as well as the general concept of video game urban legends and easter eggs, with one of the developers stating that they wanted to make "a game that people would theorize about the story of".

Gameplay
Stadium is played from a third-person perspective. The player controls a nameless character who wears a green scarf to obscure his face for the majority of the game. They can move around at their will and jump, with unlimited stamina. Players have no way of fighting back in combat, with stealth, speed, and avoidance being the keys to avoiding enemies, and finding creative solutions to problems encouraged.

Environment plays a key role in Stadium's gameplay, often helping or hindering the player. Items are available that allow the player to bypass certain obstacles, such as keys to unlock doors or bottles of water that can be used to short out machines. If the player dies, they will be teleported back to their last save point with none of the progress obtained between there and their death.

Story
The game begins with the protagonist sneaking into RedRing stadium, a pastiche of baseball fields such as Minute Maid Park and Wrigley field. Once entered, the player is free to explore and find various clues, though security guards will hunt them and groundskeepers will hinder their progress. Once the player attempts to leave, they will discover that the entrance has been sealed off, trapping them in.

From this halfway point, the security guards become more aggressive in apprehending the protagonist, and a mysterious figure in a dark jumpsuit and visor will begin stalking and chasing the player if they approach the press box area. The player's primary goal at this point is to escape the stadium.

The game has multiple endings based on the player's actions. In the "Fly Away" ending, they successfully reactivate a defunct small plane located under the seating and fly out. The "One Way Road" ending can be accessed by activating and riding the RedRing Express, a train that circles the stadium in a similar manner to the Minute Maid Express. The security guards will board the train and apprehend the protagonist, leaving his fate unknown (although a scene in the credits implies he escapes).

On subsequent playthroughs, two more endings become available, known as "The Reveal" and "Top Box Seats". If the player is to pour lubricant on the tracks ahead of the RedRing Express before the security guards can board, it will trigger "The Reveal", in which the train falls off the stadium wall, dumping the protagonist outside the stadium. He takes off his scarf for the only time in the game at the end of this cutscene, revealing himself to be an African American man in his early twenties. Many fans have likened him to Corey, the protagonist of another game by the same studio.

"Top Box Seats" can be triggered if the player successfully disposes of the jumpsuit figure by somehow knocking him off the nosebleed section. As they fall, their visor falls off, revealing them to be a robot. Once the player enters the Press Box, a cutscene plays where they stare up at blueprints on the wall for a strange schematic. Two silhouetted figures will then enter, grabbing the protagonist and saying that he "knows too much" and dragging him offscreen. The fate of the protagonist is left unknown.

Clues found in the stadium
WIP