Quick Review: Gone Home

(Warning: Spoilers.)

It's dark in here today!
...Oh right, it's like 1 AM.

It's not all that much brighter inside, either...

Coming back on June 7th, 1995, after a year-long trip across Europe, the 21yo Katie Greenbriar arrives at her folks' house in the middle of a rainstorm only to find it empty; not a trace of her parents and sister. Several electronics are gone as well. What’s going on? What went on?

Gone Home is a creation of the studio Fullbright and was released to Steam on August 15, 2013. Some people have taken to calling it an environmental narrative game (which is the polite way of saying “walking simulator”), and the devs themselves want it to be described as a combat-free, puzzle-free experience. So, uh, an exploration narrative game? I’ll go with that.

We don't have any positive attitude left at home, remind
me to pass by the store and buy some later.

Ah, their dad is a writer! ...with a creepy fascination
for the Kennedy assassination. Hm.

You control Katie walking around this enormous mansion and making discoveries. Her sister Samantha has left several pages of a personal journal behind, detailing the story of her life while Katie was abroad. Documents and items left lying about also reveal more about Katie’s family – her granduncle, to whom this mansion used to belong to, and of course her own parents, who've got their own personal struggles. Still, the star of the show, so to speak, is Sam and her discovering her budding homosexuality. …Don’t go “Spoilers!” at me, the game is seven years old and Gone Home has actually become fairly well-known for discussing the topic.

That was definitely created by teenagers.

Several facets of that subject are brought up, from questioning oneself, being unsure of the feelings, uncertainty and doubt, to the clear sentiment of love developing for that person of the same gender, to the confirmation from both people, to the “Okay, we’re a thing now” realization and, later, casualness when talking about it. Also remember that this is set in 1995; homophobia was far more prevalent at the time, 25 years ago, and it's represented in Katie and Sam's parents, who oscillate from unsure to outright hostile regarding Sam's relationship with the girl she loves, Lonnie. Lastly, this is about two teenage girls who, on top of dealing with these feelings, are also bound to make bad decisions when it comes to interpersonal relationships, as teenagers tend to do. I am trying my best to not spoil any precise details, but mistakes are made, both by Sam and Lonnie.

Katie, you snooped around your parents' bedroom and
you found a condom. You're 21, get over it.

...I feel called out.

As is usual of this type of game, the gameplay is minimal; move around with WASD, crouch with C, look at the inventory and map with I and M; and trust me, this house is so big that you’ll need the map to find your way around. This place is enormous. You can pick up items with the Left mouse button, and spin them around to study them with the Right button (useful to read the front and back covers of books, as an example). It’s possible to toss items with the Left button as well. The biggest issue I have with the controls is that the protagonist, Katie, is unbearably slow. Even if you can make her walk faster, it still feels like she’s carrying an engine block on her back. According to the devs, it’s a story and gameplay decision, as explained in this thread on the Forums. It’s still annoying, and would actually discourage me from playing through it again. It’s so, so, so slow. And if you want to find all 23 pages of the journal and their associated voice clips, you can’t leave a room unvisited, a stone unturned, a lock unopened.

There's a lot of things to find around the house, as well
as a few locks to open... just gotta figure out how.

To the game’s credit, those who want to explore the mansion in greater depth have extra quests for collectibles – Katie can find pins of bands Sam likes as well as tape cassettes and cassette boxes, finding aevery one of each (and playing every cassette in a radio) unlocks achievements. There’s also a handful of Easter Eggs to find, most of which are covered in the Steam fan-made guides. And if you want to read everyone’s story, there’s enough documentation for a few hours. With postcards lying about, you can even follow Katie's trip across Europe!

Barring the issue of Katie walking slowly, the game is good. I have a couple issues with the story itself, but when one takes into account that the story is being told by a teenager, some of the poor decisions made by Sam and Lonnie make more sense. The house is fun to explore and has many secrets, and while it's huge, a handful of shortcuts exist.

It’s a fine experience, which you can find on Steam for 14.99$.