Gone Home Review

Gone Home, at first, seemed like a horror game to me due to the eerie setting. Its nighttime, raining, and all the lights in the house are turned off. Its a perfect setup for a horror game, but it wasn’t. I went through the game in the beginning and learned that it wasn’t very scary, but you do walk around and learn more about your, Katie’s family. You quickly find out from the beginning dialogue that Katie has a mother, father, and a sister named Sam. There are other characters like Oscar, Katie’s great uncle, and Lonnie.

Even though there is only one “real” character in the game, the game creates personalities for the other people mentioned throughout it. The only other character to actually talk through messages and notes is Sam. The game makes Sams persona up as a sort of tomboy. She likes boyish things and activities, but she is also confused about her sexuality because of Lonnie. The checkpoints throughout the game all lead to how and why Sam left home to run away with Lonnie. Even though Sam isnt present, the player can still feel emotional when reaching the end of the game due to the crisp emotional messages read by Sams voice.

Gone home did an excellent job creating character without characters. It is beautifully designed with an almost realistic art scheme, and has several in-depth stories to uncover throughout the house. Though it could be frustrating sometimes to pickup or read everything, Gone Home was a pleasure to play.