| Platforms | Windows, Play station 4, Xbox 1, Nintendo switch |
| Windows, Play station 4, Xbox 1, Nintendo Switch | Walking simulator, Adventure |
| Mode | Single-player video game |
| developers | Fullbright, Blitworks |
Gone Home is a narrative adventure game. It’s one of the original ‘walking simulators’ so I needed to cover this one eventually. The game is set in 1995 and follows Katie as she returns to her family home in the US after traveling around Europe. No one is home but there are notes left by her younger sister Sam. As you explore the house you build up a picture
of each member of the family and unravel what’s been happening in Sam’s life while you’ve
been away, and what led her to seemingly run away from home.
Gone home is an excellent example of environmental storytelling. Admittedly, much of the story is told through Sam’s own words in the letters found around the house, but there is more depth to be discovered by investigating each room thoroughly. There is a bit of what I’m going to generously call ‘light puzzle solving’ which usually just boils down to finding a hidden note with a code written on it rather than relying on logic. These moments exist more to slow your progression through the house to ensure you search an area fully and you don’t miss out on any important story elements than to test your puzzling skills.
The game manages to maintain very good pacing despite the expectation to search every cupboard and inspect every interactable object. Overall it has very linear progression, and
yet it doesn’t feel too constrained. It allows you to explore enough rooms at a time to feel as though you have more freedom than you necessarily do. In order to keep you on this linear path it does fall into the ‘unnecessarily locked door’ trope, but since it’s a bit of a quirkily designed house anyway I’ll let this one slide. Along the way you are only given brief segments of Sam’s story at a time.
The voice acting performance for Sam from Sarah Grayson is excellent and truly heartbreaking at times. Although I didn’t identify with Sam’s experiences too closely myself, I know the game has been very well received within the LGBTQ+ community so if you’re looking for some good, wholesome representation you should enjoy this one. It’s a relatively short game, I was able to complete a thorough exploration of the house in a little under an hour and a half There may well be a few secrets that I missed of course, especially towards the end when I wanted to hear the end of Sam’s story and wasn’t as concerned with finding every detail.
Gone Home uses a lot of the visual language you see in horror games so I just want to make it clear that there are no spooky goings on here, nothing is going to jump out, no shadowy figures at the end of long corridors. You can relax and explore at your own pace. The midnight thunderstorm and geometry that doesn’t quite make sense reflects Katie’s unease as she explores the unfamiliar, empty house that her family moved into when she was away, unsure of what she’ll find.
I really enjoyed playing Gone Home. It’s a charming and heart-warming story about growing up, self-discovery, and same-sex relationships. I really enjoyed getting to know Sam, Katie and their parents and would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a good story-driven
experience.
