I took a break from playing the full version of Papers, Please (released this week, Beta reviewed here) to check out the intriguing Gone Home. All I knew about this going in was that was a first person ‘exploration’ game – no puzzles, no combat. You play as Katie, a college student just home from Europe and arriving at your family’s new house to find them missing. A note from your teen sister discourages you from looking for her so, amid a raging storm, you search the house for clues.
The expectation is for something supernatural or sci-fiy to be revealed, especially with early nods to Stephen King and The X-Files. As it turns out these were just part of the 1995 period detail, and the revelation that awaits the player exists only in the realm of family drama. That’s right: this is a drama video game. Unorthodox certainly, but it works in a way.
Some may debate whether or not Gone Home even qualifies as a ‘game’. There’s more to it than just an interactive story, as the player feels more involved in the events and more emotionally invested that previous games that have tried something similar (such as the pointless Dear Esther). Most folk will find their way through the game without much effort in the one sitting, So long as every room is investigated thoroughly the path from A to Z is easy to find. What makes it a rewarding experience is the detail that has been put into the characters and the setting.
Gameplay is limited to basic movement and picking up and examining objects. The design of the house is one of the most effective features of the game. It feels remarkably lived in, and you get a real sense of the people who live their what what defines their lives. For each member of the family there’s a little narrative that plays out and resolves before the end as told through the notes and objects left behind. The main focus in on Katie’s sister Sam, a high schooler who is going through a coming of age experience that is revealed drip by drip through clues scattered among the house. Sam is painted as a familiar teenager and a convincing person, and it’s easy to become emotionally involved in tale.
The setting of 1995 is very detailed and any veterans of the era are going to experience a nostalgia flashback. News stories, gossip magazines and the like are found in the house, recreating the decade. A handwritten list of moves for Street-Fighter II is found in a teens room, and an electronic typewriter is found in a study. Best of all is the ‘I Want to Believe’ poster in Sam’s room.
By the end of the game players wouldn’t have fought any dragons or saved any universes, but they have followed the story of a lost girl finding her place in the world. It can be a little hokey but it is effective and it ends on a fairly satisfactory note. Some players will find the lack of traditional gameplay elements will make the experience a bit plodding but those with an open mind will find it worth the time. With only a 2 hour run time and lack of replay value the debut prize is a little steep, but it’ll be worth grabbing in a sale.
