There is very little preventing the player from barreling through the main storyline, though you’ll have to slow down to discover triggers that signal how to access locked parts of the house. There is a path through the game, but how long you spend on that path is mostly up to you. It's the kind of touch that speaks volumes about the game's design values. And for those who are worried about causing a mess, the game even includes the ability to place things exactly as they were.
Cassette tape holders open, flip around, and reveal secret messages to those clever enough to manipulate them in the right way. Heck, there are even physics associated with some of the objects. The few times where images aren't detailed enough to read the tiniest bits of text are disappointing, but only because nearly every other spot in the house has been given such close attention. Fans of the high-resolution image genre will fall over themselves looking through the meticulously detailed pieces of history The Fullbright Company has constructed. They are everywhere, and each colored with immaculate detail. Do missing pieces matter, then?īy god, though, is it fun to look at the pieces. It is absolutely possible to miss key bits of information, but if you never knew they existed, how important were they? The story you tell in your head is only as real as the the information in front of you. There are no objects fluttering with gold dazzles to signify their importance. It’s messy, there are boxes everywhere, and Kaitlin’s mom was probably upset about the lack of help. Instead, this place feels incredibly natural. If someone was tasked with combing through your home and building a narrative from what was inside, it might feel like some of your stuff was hidden, too. The Fullbright Company has meticulous hidden letters, books, notes, magazines, manuscripts, inscriptions, cassette tapes, labeled recordings of X-Files episodes, and countless other objects throughout the house. There’s a map that fills in as you progress through the house, appropriately labeled as it becomes clear what each room’s function is. Though Kaitlin’s family lives in this house, everything is unfamiliar. If you think you can touch it and interact with it, chances are The Fullbright Company will give you the option to. But you will never pick up a gun, and your primary means of interacting with the world is opening doors, shuffling papers, and closely examining nooks and crannies of your family's house. This is a game about exploration, though one not without its share of tension. What happened here? Gone Home is played from a first-person-perspective, and there is no combat. The note instructs Kaitlin that she’s gone and not to worry, which, of course, is every reason to worry.
Returning from a whirlwind trip through Europe in the dead of night, Kaitlin approaches the front steps of her house during the height of a crackling thunderstorm, greeted by a hastily hand-written note from her younger sister, Sam. Gone Home is set in 1995, and opens with the arrival of Kaitlin Greenbriar. For anyone that’s curious to know more about what makes Gone Home work so darn well, keep on reading.
Do know that Gone Home has lived up to sky-high expectations for the next project from the creative team that delivered the exceptional Minerva's Den add-on for BioShock 2. It’s difficult to talk about Gone Home without saying more than should be said for anyone already sold on it.
#GONE HOME GAME FULL#
Lights turn off and on, drawers open and shut-Gone Home's house is full of unbelievable details of the mundane variety. Gone Home, the debut game from The Fullbright Company, is about one very specific house with one very specific story, and it’s asking you to listen closely. Houses have stories to tell, so long as we’re willing to listen. Have you ever walked by an empty house, and thought about going inside? A house is just a pile of bricks until someone lives inside, and then it becomes a home.