I feared that the high praise I frequently heard for this title was too good to be true, as I found it to be with the disappointing Thirty Flights of Loving. This, I’m very pleased to say, was definitely not the case. Gone Home raises the bar for environmental storytelling, to give a back of the box style quote. You can’t change the events of the story, but you can explore it at your own pace, drawing your own conclusions and being as inquisitive and determined to see everything as you wish. The house is frequently eery, depressing, believable and yet full of charm. The game contains many a great moment, the most notable involving a certain bathtub. The narrative is all the better for its subtlety. Very little feels heavy-handed.
I believe that the game could be used for ‘enlightening’ lost souls. You can use it to remind your parents that games aren’t just about dull killing. Or you could use it to remind fans of dull killing that games can be and are so much more
Other games, especially the first person ones (*Cough* Bioshock *Cough*), could learn a lot from Gone Home. It tells a predetermined story without too much bombast and the mechanics actively enhance the narrative. It even manages to be a bit scary.
Good game, Fulbright. Well played.

I feared that the high praise I frequently heard for this title was too good to be true, as I found it to be with the disappointing Thirty Flights of Loving. This, I’m very pleased to say, was definitely not the case. Gone Home raises the bar for environmental storytelling, to give a back of the box style quote. You can’t change the events of the story, but you can explore it at your own pace, drawing your own conclusions and being as inquisitive and determined to see everything as you wish. The house is frequently eery, depressing, believable and yet full of charm. The game contains many a great moment, the most notable involving a certain bathtub. The narrative is all the better for its subtlety. Very little feels heavy-handed. I believe that the game could be used for ‘enlightening’ lost souls. You can use it to remind your parents that games aren’t just about dull killing. Or you could use it to remind fans of dull killing that games can be and are so much more Other games, especially the first person ones (*Cough* Bioshock *Cough*), could learn a lot from Gone Home. It tells a predetermined story without too much bombast and the mechanics actively enhance the narrative. It even manages to be a bit scary. Good game, Fulbright. Well played.