Gone Home is an Indy Game by The Fullbright Company in which your character explores a house and finds items that will unlock the story as you advance. It had a spooky vibe and I figured it would be something similar to the old games like Myst in which I’d wander around and figure out puzzles. I was right in that it was spooky but I was completely off in thinking it would be like Myst with it’s quirky puzzles.
The game takes place in 1995. You play as Katie Greenbriar who has just arrived from a year long trip to Europe. It’s already late night and raining heavily. That’s right. A dark and spooky night! Nice way to set the tone. Once you enter the house which seems to be empty, you wander around and interact with different objects which give hints as to what has been happening while you were away. The story is mainly narrated by your character’s sister Sam via notes you find.
Surprisingly Katie isn’t the main character even though you control her the whole time. That job would fall to Sam. The story in Gone Home is engaging and well told. Listening to Sam’s tale and finding her favorite music on tapes which you can play really helped in setting the tone and feel for what she was going during your time away from home. The creators of Gone Home also did an exceptional job of giving the game a very spooky atmosphere. There were plenty of moments where I just dreaded taking a step forward into the darkness and the background noises of the house had me looking around to see if someone was there. Which leads to what type of game this is. At it’s core it’s an exploration game in which you interact with objects and try to solve some puzzles that will advance the story. Many objects were useless, such as a can of soda or a fan you could turn on. Aside from the objects that Sam left around the house there were other objects as well that told other stories specifically to do with your parents. Their tale is a bit more subtle but just as interesting and easy to follow.
So who should play this game? If you are looking for a change of pace from the usual action game, first person shooter or MMO and are interested in a well told story then maybe you should give this game a try. I personally found Gone Home to be a great gaming experience. On the other hand, if you want more out of a game than what I explained above such as wandering around and just interacting with objects. Plus the fact that the game can be beaten in about three hours or less then maybe you would want to give it a pass. It’s also not the type of game I would repeat on a whim in the future which makes me wonder if this company should even consider creating such a game again. I’m sure if they do they’d want to make it a bit more interesting by adding new elements and perhaps making it a bit longer. But all in all I found it to be very satisfying and worth the purchase.
Gone Home – Launch Trailer
