Gone Home

 PC
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2245 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 939 out of 2245
  2. Mixed: 433 out of 2245
  3. Negative: 873 out of 2245

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  1. tbone86
    Aug 28, 2013
    6
    This game is very difficult to rate. I was enthralled with the details in the house and of the story; the problem is that there are just no puzzles or anything to solve. Every answer is plane and simple. This game started off with a creepy feeling, and if they would have gone the horror/adventure/puzzle route, this would have been an amazing game.

    Instead they just told a touching    This game is very difficult to rate. I was enthralled with the details in the house and of the story; the problem is that there are just no puzzles or anything to solve. Every answer is plane and simple. This game started off with a creepy feeling, and if they would have gone the horror/adventure/puzzle route, this would have been an amazing game.

    Instead they just told a touching story, that I still found interesting nonetheless.

    If I knew going into this game what it was, I'd give it a 10. Based on what I thought it was going to be, it's a 1 however. I enjoyed the story, and I was constantly waiting for some kind of twist that just never came. I'll settle on a 6 for effort.    … Expand
  2. bellygod
    Aug 30, 2013
    7
    This is an interactive story that lasts only an hour. It is not really a computer game in the sense you normally think. The story is about solving a mystery all set in a house that is abandoned and quiet, and quite creepy.There are some nicely forbodding moments as you explore, and pick up clues.

    You can interact with lots of stuff but only key items advance the game--notes    This is an interactive story that lasts only an hour. It is not really a computer game in the sense you normally think. The story is about solving a mystery all set in a house that is abandoned and quiet, and quite creepy.There are some nicely forbodding moments as you explore, and pick up clues.

    You can interact with lots of stuff but only key items advance the game--notes pictures and music of really bad garage bands. It's all set in the nineties, which really doesn't matter at all.

    The solution to the mystery is politically correct for these times, and may turn some off.
    On the other hand, it is GUARANTEED TO BE OVERRATED by the critics because it's politically correct.
    worth the money for such sliver of a story? Good question.    … Expand
  3. johanneskloiber
    Sep 15, 2013
    7
    You are Katie Greenbriar, an independent-minded 20 year old student who has just arrived home from a self-discovery trip through Europe. But where is everybody? Mom and Dad are gone, your younger sister Sam nowhere to be found and she left a note on the front door that gives the impression something worrisome has happened. A storm is raging outside, thunder rumbles, lights areYou are Katie Greenbriar, an independent-minded 20 year old student who has just arrived home from a self-discovery trip through Europe. But where is everybody? Mom and Dad are gone, your younger sister Sam nowhere to be found and she left a note on the front door that gives the impression something worrisome has happened. A storm is raging outside, thunder rumbles, lights are flickering...an eerie atmosphere is created that immediately draws you in. It is now your job to find out what happened and to reconstruct the lives of the Greenbriar family via means of exploration. Opening drawers, cabinets, going through personal belongings, reading letters, documents, viewing photos and listening to their music. Soon you realize that the picture which is slowly forming is utterly mundane and every sense of menace a red herring. You will read about Mom's upwards career in the forestry department and her failed advances towards "Ranger Rick", some kind of idealized male object of sexual desire. The story of the previous inhabitant: the paedophile, remorseful Uncle, who has passed away and bequeathed the mansion to Katie's father. The fluctuating career of Dad who is a drunkard-loser-failed-sci-fi-writer. And of course the centerpiece story of Sam, a highly intelligent, creative and rebellious mind who is in a troubled friendship with another girl. Or is it more than just friendship?
    Yet even though it becomes apparent relatively early what the story is all about, the game still managed to glue me to my seat until the very end. So captivating and effective are the voyeuristic means of telling this story through discovery, so compelling the atmosphere, so engaging the act of empathizing with the family members that it was impossible to stop playing.
    Gone Home manages something no game has ever done before: To masterfully tell a story that is ultimately generic, contrived, cliché and anticlimactic.    … Expand
  4. matthew11
    Nov 13, 2013
    7
    Explore a great personal story on your own. Peacefully evoke the atmosphere of the second half of 90s. Full of nostalgia. Little bit of tension in each of your proceed in game. Interesting experiment, pity it's so short. 70/100
  5. SimonhutsGaming
    Oct 11, 2013
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone home is one of the best story telling games that i have played since the walking dead, when i started playing this games i was very jumpy and i was moving slowly around the house waiting for something to jump out at me. When i got to the end of the game i instantly restarted the game just to find all the secrets and all the awesome tapes.

    Overall
    if you have £15 spare i suggest to buy gone home and play through the story twice. Thanks for reading my review    … Expand
  6. voronois
    Oct 18, 2013
    7
    The story was captivating; I lost sense of time while playing. Music was a treat, art was great, voice acting was creepily believable. I wish there had been some puzzle features or replayability factors for the price, but overall worth playing and will probably play through again in a year or two.
  7. DuskSnare
    Nov 2, 2013
    7
    The game "Gone Home" was fairly interesting. I managed to beat it within 2-3 hours, so I do warn you, its short. Anyway, this game wont be for everyone. It's an interactive story, similar to games like "Dear Esther".
  8. arh5103
    Nov 10, 2013
    6
    I really enjoyed this game for what it was. An "escape from the room" type game on a bigger scale with a decent story to follow. Not much replayability sadly which is what I was hoping/thinking it would have. I thought in places, at least, there was some potential for further explanation for certain parts of the story. Not bad though overall.
  9. DatGamingCritic
    Nov 17, 2013
    7
    When I played this I was scared. I know there, well I don't think there is any ghosts but I was scared. Like really really scared. The games gameplay is scary/creepy and the graphics look cartoony. I only got to the boy or girls bedroom I was confused on who sleeps there but does it matter?

    Overall:
    -Seems scary
    -Bit too dark
    -Cartoony graphics
    Score: 78/100
  10. mhogarth
    Dec 17, 2013
    7
    “Gone Home,” a game created by the Fullbright Company, which was formed by three ex staff from the Bioshock video game franchise, is a new type of narrative adventure in the gaming world. You start the game in a rainy, dimly lit atmosphere on the front porch of a mansion you have seen for the first time in your life. Your name is Katie Greenbriar and you are all alone after being away from“Gone Home,” a game created by the Fullbright Company, which was formed by three ex staff from the Bioshock video game franchise, is a new type of narrative adventure in the gaming world. You start the game in a rainy, dimly lit atmosphere on the front porch of a mansion you have seen for the first time in your life. Your name is Katie Greenbriar and you are all alone after being away from home for a year in Europe. Your mission throughout the game is to find out what happened to your family, but along the way you also find out who they really are.
    I studied and played this game in my grade 12 English class at Royal St. George’s College. I was assigned three characters to track, and to find out as much about them as possible. I found that tracking the characters enhanced my overall game experience by prompting me to look deeper into an already rich narrative.
    The narrative involves many major and minor characters whose stories explain the family’s past and present. Although the graphics in “Gone Home” are not as advanced as they are in popular first person shooter games such as Call of Duty and Halo, this augmented the narrative even more. This is because, instead of being captivated by state of the art graphics, the player can focus much more on the narrative story, with fewer visual distractions. For example, the only thing visible through the windows is a pitch-black night sky.
    “Gone Home” introduced me to a new type of gaming experience. Although I enjoyed the experience, I personally prefer the high intensity of sports video games or first person shooters. In these games, the objective is to overcome opponents, whether by killing them or scoring more points. This gets me more involved and focused on the game. In contrast, I found I got bored quickly with the few objectives presented to me in “Gone Home” finding codes for locks and a few secret doors. Although it’s great that “Gone Home” can be used in a classroom environment and it is a very innovative genre of gaming, it could be improved be making it a little more exciting. The demographic groups targeted by this game people in their late teens and early 20s generally want a livelier experience.
    Overall, the positives of this game outweighed the negatives. I enjoyed the new gaming experience even without the fast-paced action and advanced graphics. In this day and age most people believe that a game needs the most action and the best graphics to be popular. The Fullbright Company proved everyone wrong with the success they are having in “Gone Home.” I recommend this game for people who want to try a whole new kind of gaming experience.    … Expand
  11. DrGloom
    Jan 14, 2014
    7
    Is it possible to be very excited and disappointed about a game at the same time? I guess it is.
    "Gone home" is a refreshing approach to storytelling, leaves you on your own in the game, lets you explore your character's an her family's recent past at you own pace. The story is driven forward by searching for clues in the new family home, reading documents, notes, letters. And there are    Is it possible to be very excited and disappointed about a game at the same time? I guess it is.
    "Gone home" is a refreshing approach to storytelling, leaves you on your own in the game, lets you explore your character's an her family's recent past at you own pace. The story is driven forward by searching for clues in the new family home, reading documents, notes, letters. And there are plenty items to examine. The setting includes numerous hints to the 90's pop culture that are a delight to discover.

    The good: The game touched me in a way that usually only books or sometimes movies can. This is one of the biggest compliments I can give to storytelling for a video game so far. Many games are astonishing , fun and exciting but rarely the story of a games gets really through to me. This one did! The coming of age background is fun and dramatic, and even if the pace is your own, the story took me on an emotional roller-coaster ride at one point even worrying about another character.

    The bad: Unfortunately the setting of the house does not fit. It is simply implausible and unbelievable that a house looks the way it does, regarding the characters described in the game. Some clues that you find, seem to be placed on the spots because of the timing of the story, because the time-line needs you to find them in that particular order. To me the look of the house does not fit the personalities involved which is a major turn-down. This might be a cultural thing related, architecture and mid-class social behaviour being different on different continents, but nevertheless I didn't buy it.

    The ugly: The point that disappointed me the most is the fact that the game only uses a fifth of it's potential. Exploring the house, means exploring the life of your family and in this setting the history of the house. I do understand that the focus had to be put on one characters story, but in the end there are too many open ends. Too many questions remain unanswered. There is so much more I wanted to know about characters and my own characters past after finishing the game. It would be ok in a chapter based game with more DLC.

    And for the price of 20€ I expected more depth and content.    … Expand
  12. moomon
    Jan 15, 2014
    7
    Gone Home is among the pioneers of the story exploration game genre. Story exploration games focus gameplay on a story as opposed to other game mechanics such as puzzles. Gone Home is set in 1995, the player character is a girl named Katie Greenbrair who returns home to an old mansion her family inherited from her uncle while she spent a year abroad. It quickly becomes evident that theGone Home is among the pioneers of the story exploration game genre. Story exploration games focus gameplay on a story as opposed to other game mechanics such as puzzles. Gone Home is set in 1995, the player character is a girl named Katie Greenbrair who returns home to an old mansion her family inherited from her uncle while she spent a year abroad. It quickly becomes evident that the house is vacant. It is the player’s mission to rummage through miscellaneous artifacts littered throughout the mysterious house to piece together hints to discover the whereabouts of the rest of the Greenbrair family. The artifacts found around the house expose three major plot lines, which revolve around Terrence, Katie’s father, Janice, Katie’s mother and Sam, Katie’s younger sister.

    The high points of the game are the visual realism of the house and the game’s sound effects. The well-designed rooms around the house containing various artifacts create a lived-in atmosphere. For example the kitchen is realistically disorganized and Sam’s bedroom feels like the bedroom of an angsty teenager. Not only are the rooms realistic, the artifacts within them are equally real. These artifacts include a variety of detailed notes, full length short stories, telephone messages, documents and diary entries. The voice acting and writing done for these artifacts has such attention to detail that it feels like you are actually reading a note written by a 17 year old girl or hearing about her private feelings in her diary. The ambient sounds of the game, such as the soothing yet chilling sound of a thunderstorm, along with the eerie sound of the house creaking accents the mysterious tone of exploring the so called haunted house. Furthermore the variety of Riot Grrrl hits (played by putting found cassettes into tape players) shows Sam’s “stick it to the man” attitude. For example in Sam’s room there is a cassette with the song “Cool Schmool” by Bratmobile which speaks to Sam’s situation with lyrics such as, “I don't wanna hear how many friends you have cause I don't have any.” These lyrics speak directly to Sam’s situation when she first moved into the house as she was having trouble making friends.

    The negative aspects of the game are the price of the game, the game’s controls and repeated artifacts. Although exposing the game’s story line is rewarding, at a cost of $20 for 2-3 hours of gameplay is not great value as there are numerous other games you could get much more playtime out of for the same price. Secondly not being able to run in the game although not necessary was an inconvenience while trying to search for a specific artifact or travel across the house. Lastly there were many artifacts that were repeated throughout many rooms such as the same tissue box, the second edition of Terrence’s novel and inoperable three ring binders scattered around the house.

    Having not remembered the 90’s due to my age I was not able to experience the nostalgia from the 90’s culture references. For this reason I would recommend this game to anyone who lived through the 90’s, as I do not believe it is worth the $20 for 2-3 hours of gameplay if you cannot fully relate to the culture of the atmosphere.    … Expand
  13. sarahsometimes
    Mar 1, 2014
    7
    How well do you really know the people closest to you? When Kaitlin Greenbriar returns home from a gap year in Europe to find her entire family gone, it’s up to her to uncover the secrets that didn’t make it into those long-distance letters.

    Picking up the threads of her family’s lives, the player must explore the colossal house they have since moved into, examining letters, newspaper    How well do you really know the people closest to you? When Kaitlin Greenbriar returns home from a gap year in Europe to find her entire family gone, it’s up to her to uncover the secrets that didn’t make it into those long-distance letters.

    Picking up the threads of her family’s lives, the player must explore the colossal house they have since moved into, examining letters, newspaper clippings and, if one so chooses, the hundred thousand other details that make up a life. If it’s the people, and not the house, that make a home, then this game shows how each individual has inhabited every room with their cares, uncertainties and basic humanity.

    From hastily scrawled notes passed between friends during class, to adult magazines buried under work documents, Gone Home is teeming with meticulously authentic details of family life that the player is at liberty to snoop through, turning each find over to yield further hidden notes or features.

    Read the full review at: http://inkysquiggles.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/gone-home-review-house-is-not-home.html    … Expand
  14. DPtdryste
    Oct 10, 2014
    5
    Although I give this a 5, I concede that this game being grounded in a setting "too non-fiction" already creates a staid atmosphere for a gamer such as myself.

    In Gone Home you're alone in a huge house, you can't walk, and "gameplay" is basically lookin' at stuff in this very active environment and getting filled in on what you missed while you were gone. The game gives you a digital    Although I give this a 5, I concede that this game being grounded in a setting "too non-fiction" already creates a staid atmosphere for a gamer such as myself.

    In Gone Home you're alone in a huge house, you can't walk, and "gameplay" is basically lookin' at stuff in this very active environment and getting filled in on what you missed while you were gone. The game gives you a digital family and through, basically, THEIR STUFF, tries to create an immediate familial relationship. It's a sudden jolt, expecting to care about this family, in particular your sister. I'm not sure if there's a game that does this successfully, but creating a strong emotional connection to characters, where there once was nonce before is a hard task. Books and longer games are better suited for the job than Gone Home is.

    The game get interesting when tones of survival-horror are introduced, but they are simply that, tones. The entire game I was expecting to have something really scary happen... expecting anything to HAPPEN really.

    I turned on a lot of lights in Gone Home, but I am not particularly moved to go back. By the time I finished Gone Home, I realized that their were some locks I left unopened, some letters I hastily discarded before reading entirely, and some corners of my family's house left unexplored. For me at least, these details shall remain in the dark.    … Expand
  15. Yirg
    Mar 27, 2015
    5
    Pretty boring game. Builds up the atmosphere of a horror game and never really delivers. What it does deliver is a relatively uninteresting story with characters I didn't really connect with. Maybe I played it too leisurely and when I was too tired to care, but I assume that a better game would do more to pick up my interest and pace.
  16. Metatarsals
    Aug 21, 2014
    6
    This is more of an interactive novel than it is a game - and no matter how much I wanted to really like it (riot grrl?! hell yeah!), it just didn't have the game play to back up to $15 price tag.

    I beat this game in about 80 minutes, which is saying something. I love to take my time, winding through a game and exploring all of its hidden secrets, but there wasn't a whole hell of a lot    This is more of an interactive novel than it is a game - and no matter how much I wanted to really like it (riot grrl?! hell yeah!), it just didn't have the game play to back up to $15 price tag.

    I beat this game in about 80 minutes, which is saying something. I love to take my time, winding through a game and exploring all of its hidden secrets, but there wasn't a whole hell of a lot of that in this game. You're just walking around in half lit rooms, trying to figure which hallway you're in, trying to move the story forward. This is something that would have definitely worked better as a short story or even a short film.

    Maybe the console update will see some improvements, here's to hoping! Not the best, but not the worst either. A solid 6.    … Expand
  17. doncsoo
    Nov 29, 2014
    5
    It is a really interesting game. It has great story, great graphics but it's boring. It was like that I was seen a book made into a game. Gameplay is the most important part of a game and it was really boring after 1 hour and really not worth the price they're asking for. Only buy if it is on sale.
  18. GrahamTrusler
    Dec 11, 2014
    7
    Gone Home is the story of the Greenbriar family, who have inherited a house while the playable character, Katie, was hiking in Europe for a year. The story revolves around discovering where your family is, which gradually reveals itself as you work your way around the large house. Gone Home utilizes audio journals, ambient noise, and music in order to develop a vibrant atmosphere withinGone Home is the story of the Greenbriar family, who have inherited a house while the playable character, Katie, was hiking in Europe for a year. The story revolves around discovering where your family is, which gradually reveals itself as you work your way around the large house. Gone Home utilizes audio journals, ambient noise, and music in order to develop a vibrant atmosphere within the game. The audio is high quality, and often prompted by certain events within the game, especially in regards to the audio journals and music, which often play at the same time. The game utilizes ambient noise when no other is present, in order to make the game feel confortable to the player. Due to the budget, small team, and time restraints, the graphics in Gone Home are not comparable to most modern, big budget, AAA titles. Instead, the developers chose to use somewhat simple graphics, but amplify their effect by including an astounding amount of detail, specifically in the interactive objects around the house. The graphics are passible, but are by no means excellent. However, they do feel appropriate with the general tone of the game. What allows the game to be so special is the richness of the story, and the potential discoveries the player can make while exploring the house. Although not always expansive, the back-stories behind established characters gradually reveal. The game format allows the player to discover what they want to discover, giving the player the allowance of playing just through the main story, or to dig through every piece of information, to draw a full conclusion in regards to the entire story of the family. When playing through, the gameplay sometimes felt slow, and somewhat boring. This was due to the inability to sprint, or jump. Sprinting/jogging should have been added into the game, but jumping is a somewhat redundant mechanic. Another issue with the gameplay and visuals was the lack of light in certain rooms, which could make it frustrating to turn a light on. Although the game received critical reviews, as a gamer, it is not a good investment. The gameplay is often slow and boring, but is made up for due to its fantastic voice acting and story. The visuals fall somewhere in the middle, as they are neither good nor bad. My score for this game is a 7/10, as I recognize the effort and time that went into completing it.… Expand
  19. rossf
    Dec 14, 2014
    7
    Gone Home is an interactive story game that focuses on exploration to progress through the story. The game is played from a first person point of view as you take control of Katie Greenbriar as she returns home from a year abroad and arrives at her new inherited home to find her family isn’t there. Gone Home is based around exploring this mansion and learning about what has happened there.Gone Home is an interactive story game that focuses on exploration to progress through the story. The game is played from a first person point of view as you take control of Katie Greenbriar as she returns home from a year abroad and arrives at her new inherited home to find her family isn’t there. Gone Home is based around exploring this mansion and learning about what has happened there.
    Gome Home is an indy game which focuses on telling a compelling story over high action gameplay, large open worlds and incredible graphics. Gone Home is a great example of how less is often more and how the little things matter. An example of this is the setting for the game, which is a large mansion that Katie’s parent’s inherited while Katie was abroad backpacking around Europe and the entirety of the game in played in the house. While the house is large, keeping the entire game in this house allows for smaller details to not be overlooked. Details such as being able to interact with things that don’t have any effect or importance to the story adds to the realism of the house and forces the player to explore the house more extensively, never knowing when they may come across something important.
    As for things I didn’t like, my main complaint with the game is the fact that it arguably not a game. In my opinion Gone Home is an interactive story and not so much a game. Your actions in the game only affect the order in which you receive information and how deeply you choose to learn about the characters. There are no consequences, positive or negative, to your actions and outcome of the game is always the same no matter what.
    In conclusion Gone Home is an interactive story game that focuses on little details opposed to high action gameplay to tell a compelling story. While I don’t feel Gone Home is a game in the traditional sense, I still enjoyed the experience and those who value a compelling story over graphics and action will enjoy it.    … Expand
  20. Edong
    Dec 15, 2014
    5
    Gone Home is a first-person game that is set in 1995. The game takes on the role of Kaitlin Greenbriar, who comes home one late night to find an empty house. The game then progresses throughout the house as you find clues left behind to unravel the mystery.
    Gone Home is a game that narrates a story through the clues that are found throughout the house. The setting takes place at a lonely    Gone Home is a first-person game that is set in 1995. The game takes on the role of Kaitlin Greenbriar, who comes home one late night to find an empty house. The game then progresses throughout the house as you find clues left behind to unravel the mystery.
    Gone Home is a game that narrates a story through the clues that are found throughout the house. The setting takes place at a lonely mansion that is very close to the forest. All the items from the house are from 1995, and it certainly creates an aura that feels like it is set in that time. It is also very realistic. All the events that unfold through the story are believable.
    I was first introduced to Gone Home through my teacher in class. At first, I thought that the game seemed unusual; telling a story through a game. However, as I started playing the game, it became more interesting. It does not feel like a game, but you can interact with objects, and observe items throughout the house. The controls are simple; even people who are just starting out the gaming path can play it.
    There are different settings in the game itself to change the graphics. While the game runs best on the lowest graphic, the quality is very poor. However, while ran on the highest graphic, the quality is amazing and the furniture and items around the house almost look real. The down side is that the game takes longer to load and everything runs much slower. The sounds are very simple, yet also very realistic. It sets the mood of the night and would sound much like how you would be in the house in the middle of the night with no one else home; quiet, spooky, and almost haunting.
    I find Gone Home to be boring and dull. Sure, the narrative is good, and the graphics and sound are okay, but the player must pay attention to the deepest details around the house. I, with not much patience to paying attention to the littlest things, did not find every detail that was in the house. Since I was not able to find out all the clues, the ending confused me. It was on my third try playing the game before I finally understood the plot of the story, however I was still missing some major details.
    In conclusion, I find the game to have a good narrative story. However, there is a need to connect the dots to unravel what happened in the year that Katy was away from the house. I would recommend this game if you like mystery games and puzzle solving, however I would not recommend it if you are looking for something more exciting.    … Expand
  21. nscime1234
    Dec 15, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game Gone Home is an interactive story game that is told from the perspective of Kaitlin Greenbriar who has just returned home from a trip around Europe. Upon her arrival at the house she finds that it is deserted and there is an ominous letter left for her from her sister. The ultimate goal of the game is to figure out what’s happened to your family by examining the many different items that can be found in the house.

    After you get Sam’s note on the front door of the house you immediately begin assuming that something bad must have happened to your family for them not to be there. After being introduced to all of the members of the family you slowly begin to put together everyone’s stories. I found that the game focused more on the life of Sam then it did on her parents. Although that might have been the intention I felt like it made me disinterested in what her parents were doing. Although I liked the way that the game used different items and documents to get parts of the narrative across I found that it became annoying to constantly be picking up and closely examining every single item in the house to decide whether it was important to the story or not.

    I liked the fact that the game was based more on real life and telling a story through interacting with different items within a house. But the game did raise some questions that kind of threw me off even though it’s probably just me nitpicking. First I find it kind of strange that there’s a way you can traverse the house and pick up all the items in a pretty much chronological order. Even though the ultimate path you choose is up to you it just seemed kind of strange that all of the documents that detail the beginning of the family’s experience in the house would all be in one section of the house. I personally think that it would have been more interesting for the items to kind of be more scattered about so that it’s more of a puzzle for the player to put together the entire story.

    The second thing that came to mind was “is it just me or is the Greenbriar family made up of a bunch of complete slobs. Seriously there are piles of paper and other items just left about everywhere in the most disorganized fashion. Was recycling not a concept back in 1995 because no one is going to be able to find anything in the casual pile of one thousand post it notes left on a table. In fact some of the things in the house seem to have been lying there for over half a year and no one bothered picking it up. For example Katie got back on the 6th of June 1995 and she discovered a sheet on the ground and a document from around when Sam started school on September 6th 1994. That would be almost ten months that those documents were left lying on the floor. But I guess I could really just drop the nitpicking and call the Greenbriar’s messiness a somewhat arbitrary plot device.

    Overall I found the game and it’s concept to be rather interesting. The graphics were pretty good and gave the house some nice detail. Even though I found the ending to take a surprising and somewhat disappointing turn I would recommend that you play the game for yourself to make your own experience in the Greenbriar house.    … Expand
  22. evanhickey222
    Jan 6, 2015
    5
    Gone Home is a first person seeker video game that is centralized around Katie Greenbrier, a 17-year-old girl. Katie returns to a mansion in Arbor hill, Oregon from a yearlong trip, and discovers a note written to her from her sister, Sam. This note instructs Kaitlin (Katie) not to go looking for answers as to where she is. Curious, Katie steps into the house, after realizing nobody isGone Home is a first person seeker video game that is centralized around Katie Greenbrier, a 17-year-old girl. Katie returns to a mansion in Arbor hill, Oregon from a yearlong trip, and discovers a note written to her from her sister, Sam. This note instructs Kaitlin (Katie) not to go looking for answers as to where she is. Curious, Katie steps into the house, after realizing nobody is home, a series of characters, notes, and hints lead Kaitlin to her answer.

    The story of Gone Home mainly focuses on Sam, Janice (Mother), and Terrence (Father). Finding clues about her family allowed Katie to discover more and more about what happened when she was gone. I think this was a very unique and creative way of revealing information and critical plot points throughout the game. Because the game did not just hand you the knowledge, it forced you to start thinking outside the box to uncover more information about other characters. Although some may find this a challenging way to play a game, I found that this strategy made for highly effective gameplay.

    One aspect of the game that could have been stronger was the map exploration. . Katie was only permitted outside one time, and that was at the beginning of the game. I discovered that there were multiple missed opportunities to make the map more interesting, but instead there was only just a dead end or a blacked out window. Outside was barely explored throughout the game, which I thought was a big mistake both in terms of the game’s depth or intrigue and game time. While playing, I found that every room was becoming more and more predictable, where we would find the lights out, maybe one or two scraps of paper, and an unopened pizza box. Adding outside parameters of the house would have made the gameplay more intriguing and less predictable. In addition, adding the outdoor aspect would have added to the game time, which I found too short.

    The sound in the game was brilliantly done. If the intention was to feel like you were actually in the house yourself, then they succeeded and beyond. While playing the game I felt entrenched in this house, and that I genuinely had no clue where my family was. Every creaky door, rustled piece of paper, and opened safe noise enhanced this game immensely.

    I enjoyed playing this game a lot. It was packed full of information, clues and secret passages. Every twist and turn in the plot kept me on the edge of my seat. I would highly recommend this game.    … Expand
  23. solveigrose
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone home – Game Review

    The game is from the 90`s, and they lived in an old house. The game handled about a girl named Kathy Greenbrier and mostly of her sister Samantha, Kathy moved away from her family and friends to study. When she came home her parents and sister was disappeared, and she couldn’t find them. She looked around in the house after any clues that could help her finding them. Or finding out where they were. Kathy found many letters and audio files that the sister (Sam) had left in the house. And that was very helpful for Kathy. In the end Kathy understood everything. Why they left and everything. But she cannot find them. Everything is about the sister Samantha, why she left and which file she has.
    The house in the game was very big and so pretty. But it was kind of old, from the 90`s or something. The house had many rooms, and almost every bedroom had a bathroom. Many of the rooms wasn’t in use, but full of boxes. It looked very real because of all the things everywhere. For example in the bathroom it was toilet paper on the floor.
    The game's key message is that it’s complicated to be lesbian, and the entire struggle behind it. Sam didn’t have it very easy; it was all though for her. But she was strong and made it okay and she also kind of admitted it for the sister and the rest of the family. She was scared about her feelings for Lonnie. And she didn’t know that gay is ok. But she may show us that the solution is not to run away and hide. That might be the message number two.
    Sam`s diary book was kind of a symbol to her sister. Symbol of her love, her love to Kathy. She had written in it almost every day, just to Kathy. She was confirming that she didn’t left because she wanted, but because she didn’t have a choice. Sam wanted to be home when Kathy arrived, but she couldn’t. She's explaining this in her diary book. She’s explaining that her love to Kathy is so big, bigger than she thought.
    The hardest or the toughest thing in the game most have been to open the closet (blue) in Samantha’s room, there we needed a code. In the beginning we couldn’t find the code, it was hidden. But finally we managed and fulgurated what the code was, and realized that it wasn’t so hard that we thought. It was a challenge!

    The music in the game was good, and placed at the rights times. It was helping the game to be more exciting, special and funny. Some places the music scared me, just because of the music.
    Telling was chronological or jumping forwards in time? It was kind of both. But most chronological, sometimes they jumped forwards in time. In addition it was ending with the end.
    The game was funny to play, but sometimes it was kind of boring. It was funny to go around in the house and find clues. What I liked with the game was that it was kind of realistic. Realistic stuff was everywhere in the house, and it felt realistic to play. Many of the doors were closed. So we had to find a key or another way into the room. Some places in the house it was secret “doors” on the walls, and it was kind of hard to get in. But it was fun to think an experimenter around in the house. Some of the letters was very much text, very much to read. So that was in a way boring. All in all I was enjoying playing it, my judgment of 1-10 are 7-10.    … Expand
  24. HenrietteSophie
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone Home - Game Review
    The game Gone Home is a short story that tells us about to sisters and their parents. This game brings us back to 1995. The biggest sister Katie has been away for one year in Europe. When she was gone, her family had moved to their dead uncle’s house, which is called the psycho house.

    When she comes home from Europe, the house is dark and the family is gone. The wind is blowing and you can hear the rain pouring down. She is coming home to a note on the door. The house is messy and empty, its obvious that something strange has happened there.

    The game is a little scary with all the sounds, the thunder and the rain, and its not better with a dark house rather.

    Gone home gives you the story of the people who live there. The story is beautiful, and when you play, you are getting to know the Greenbriar family better. You are playing the character Kaitlin Greenbriar, the oldest sister. The house is big and you have to go around in the house to find out what has happened. There is a lot of rooms to discover, and to some of the doors, you must find the keys. There is much to discover.

    The game is a little difficult to understand sometimes, but it is a very interesting story. The story focuses on Sam, and on your way you will hear some journals that Sam has written to Katie. The story is build up from the notes and journals form Sam. Its about her life, and her love who is difficult. She is a lesbian and her parents aren’t so happy with that. But where is everyone? That are exactly what the players are going to find out when they play.    … Expand
  25. x_Tash_x
    Nov 27, 2016
    6
    When we were told in our Critical Thinking class that we had to play a game, I wasn’t too thrilled about it (partly because my laptop is pretty heavy to carry along with my Calculus book), but hearing about Gone Home being this interactive game that unfolds a story as you go along to ‘investigate’, I thought that wasn’t too bad at all—it was even more than exciting for me. The game startsWhen we were told in our Critical Thinking class that we had to play a game, I wasn’t too thrilled about it (partly because my laptop is pretty heavy to carry along with my Calculus book), but hearing about Gone Home being this interactive game that unfolds a story as you go along to ‘investigate’, I thought that wasn’t too bad at all—it was even more than exciting for me. The game starts on a dark and stormy night; it was June 7, 1995, and the character you’re playing, Kaitlin Greenbriar, just returned to an empty home. The goal is to search around the house and discover clues on what happened while she was gone—exactly what her sister, Samantha, asked her not to do on a note stuck to the front door. Exploring inside the large house, wherein we will later find secret passageways, was surreal even with the graphics set on low. All the items you’ll see, whether you are able to pick them up or not, and even the technology stick to the setting of the game quite loyally, giving you a peek of the ‘90s. While searching for clues, you can observe a room fully and be able to feel as if you’re looking through the personal belongings of a real person or in the case of Sam’s room, you can actually relate to what being a teenager felt like. The journals you’ll suddenly hear when you touch certain objects were also well-recorded. I don’t have much experience with games to compare it with anything, but I have heard that the voice acting for this game was quite exceptional on its own. While I found the game enjoyable at first, especially when you’re still at the beginning, madly curious to piece everything, I found the whole point of the game lacking. It may be due to the fact that I am fond of horror and more dramatic plot lines, but the game doesn’t really give you much space to actually investigate your own, only to find that the story of the family is not quite the dark past (or present for them) that you expected. Rather than setting standards too high, it is logical that the eerie sound effects and lights suddenly turning off or dimming set the mood for a more interesting story. This also wasn’t the detective game I was hoping for. On the contrary, you’re simply an outsider going through the house and observing what unfolds until you finish the game. Even Kaitlin’s reactions feel too far from what a real family member should be experiencing after finding a creepily deserted home instead of a warm homecoming. I think I also expected the clues to be harder to unlock, actually requiring some critical thinking and even small deductions within the game to get a good guess of your own as to how the game ends. It is understandable that others who actually paid $20 for this find it unsatisfactory and don’t even consider it a good adventure game. However, I think the game’s attention to the smallest details on objects around the house and the fact that it seems to be a time capsule on its own, able to bring nostalgia to the older audience, make the game a worthwhile experience on a quiet and lazy day given that there’s nothing more interesting to do than poke around the privacy of a digital family.… Expand
  26. CriticalHit20
    Oct 21, 2019
    6
    I did not pay for this game and would not pay much for it. If I did, then I might give it a low review for its value. In terms of the overall experience, it was merely okay. I wasn't as offended by the ending as others. That said, this game is all about story and there is not a good story in this game.
  27. Rtheom
    Jan 11, 2016
    7
    I wouldn't say this is worth the full $20 that's usually charged, but it is worth at least half that. It's short, there isn't much to it, and honestly I would have said stay away except for one particular story twist that really got to me. There are very few games (or otherwise) that can make me flip-flop from absolute dread to breathless excitement so quickly. I would say more, but itI wouldn't say this is worth the full $20 that's usually charged, but it is worth at least half that. It's short, there isn't much to it, and honestly I would have said stay away except for one particular story twist that really got to me. There are very few games (or otherwise) that can make me flip-flop from absolute dread to breathless excitement so quickly. I would say more, but it would give away one of the only powerful moments in the game. If you play it, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.… Expand
  28. Rem
    Jul 10, 2015
    7
    Gone Home presents a clear divide between gamers on it being a piece of art that represents the best of video games, while being rectified for being too much of an interactive novel. Gone Home achieves neither of these, but instead carves out a unique identity of its own, catered to the most patient and open of gamers who are willing to look past a few design flaws. You play as KatieGone Home presents a clear divide between gamers on it being a piece of art that represents the best of video games, while being rectified for being too much of an interactive novel. Gone Home achieves neither of these, but instead carves out a unique identity of its own, catered to the most patient and open of gamers who are willing to look past a few design flaws. You play as Katie Greenbriar an older sister who returns from her round trip around Europe back to her home in Boston to find the house completely empty. The sole mechanics of this game include walking and picking up items to inspect them. Each item is terribly mundane, but it adds charm to a setting in the 90s where Street Fighter 2 was still a thing. Gone Home really makes you feel lonely and exploring the ridiculously large house uncovering the story of your absent sister is pleasing, despite the only real piece of story bits coming from Sam's voiceovers. Her story that unfolds is beautiful and captivating, but I can't shake the feeling that this was charged for 20 dollars. It's a clear experience, but I feel it would have been more powerful if you had more interactivity with how you went about, but what's there is serviceable to the plot. It's interesting to explore the Greenbriar's residence, but the experience is over before you can say "lesbians". It's captivating, but the feeling is fleeting.… Expand
  29. TheDavyStar
    Aug 30, 2015
    7
    Gone Home, like all of them other games where the act of walking advances you further into the game, is a weird one. It's obviously not a game in the sense that there is a challenge, or that you play to have fun. Instead, Gone Home puts you in the role of Katie, a young woman who returns home after traveling around Europe. When she finds nobody home and a suspicious note on the door, KatieGone Home, like all of them other games where the act of walking advances you further into the game, is a weird one. It's obviously not a game in the sense that there is a challenge, or that you play to have fun. Instead, Gone Home puts you in the role of Katie, a young woman who returns home after traveling around Europe. When she finds nobody home and a suspicious note on the door, Katie finds she hasa lot of catching up to do. From here you proceed to walk around, looking at various items around the house. It sounds unexciting, but the subtlety that comes with it helps you get really immersed in Gone Home's lovely setting. You can feel for how human each character is, despite never physically manifesting in the actual game.

    I would mark this game down, however, on the basis that the ending is just a bit too sudden and open-ended for my tastes. I came back to this game after misplacing my laptop for a whole month, and when I came back to it I didn't realise I was so close to the end. Additionally, it's too expensive for its length - 2 hours. It's a great 2 hours, but na pricey 2 hours nonetheless.

    If you don't mind spending a fair amount of cash on a 2-hour game, it's fair to say that Gone Home will be worth your while. The open-endedness of it and its rather abrupt ending may put off some, but the brilliant, subtle storytelling and character development will make sure that you come back from this game enlightened at what the art of videogames can be.    … Expand
  30. gloriouspotato
    Nov 18, 2016
    6
    Ultimately, Gone Home is a story about the struggles of a teenager coping with the stigma of homosexuality and the sad realities of life, including the dysfunctions in her family and history of the setting the game takes place in. A well told story overall, but otherwise quite unremarkable in all other aspects of the game.
  31. SuperkenGaming
    Oct 4, 2017
    7
    Gone Home
    A Nostalgia Trip
    Gone Home is a 2 hr long walking Simulator where you play as Kaitlynn return home from Europe after studying abroad.. you come home to find a note from your little sister sam and an empty house you spend these 2 hours finding out where everyone went… the game is set in the mid 90s, it does a decent job at setting the house with nostalgic items like board    Gone Home
    A Nostalgia Trip
    Gone Home is a 2 hr long walking Simulator where you play as Kaitlynn return home from Europe after studying abroad.. you come home to find a note from your little sister sam and an empty house
    you spend these 2 hours finding out where everyone went…
    the game is set in the mid 90s, it does a decent job at setting the house with nostalgic items like board games, answering machines, vhs tapes, cassettes and game cartridges, though as a 90s kid myself.. none of this really hit me and brought me back…
    the house didn’t really feel 90s to me as everything sortve felt like decoration, the house didn’t really feel lived in to me…
    You can interactive with practically everything in the game, rotate items to inspect them, and the occasional note and letter will give more insight into what exactly happened, and who her parents were and what they did and their own problems theyre dealing with..
    Im not going to spoil the story, ill just say its really touching and heartbreaking at times..
    listening to the occasional voiced dialog while you explore this house is the best part of the game…
    however I feel this game is a tad bit overrated and I cant really go into why without spoiling the story…
    But once you play it I think the reason for this game getting such high scores will be fairly apparent..
    as the experience isn’t really that special… youre just looking through things, and stumbling on the occasional secret until you’ve found what you needed for the end game…
    I didn’t find game progression to be clever, I just felt my heartstring pulled on a little bit here and there…
    Gone Home is a good experience..
    but it isn’t this masterpiece you’ve been hearing about for years
    I give Gone Home
    a 7/10    … Expand
  32. frozen_flame123
    Jun 8, 2015
    7
    Gone Home is an interactive story where you play as Kaitlin, a girl who comes back from Europe to visit her family and her childhood home, only to find that her parents and sister Samantha are gone. The rest of the game is spent trying to piece together clues about where your sister is. You find, I forget, but I think it is 7 notes throughout the game. These 7 notes are the things thatGone Home is an interactive story where you play as Kaitlin, a girl who comes back from Europe to visit her family and her childhood home, only to find that her parents and sister Samantha are gone. The rest of the game is spent trying to piece together clues about where your sister is. You find, I forget, but I think it is 7 notes throughout the game. These 7 notes are the things that progress the story. Each note tells a different part of Sam's life. The game has very good atmosphere, it's not a horror game, but it has almost a creepy atmosphere. It's made on the Amnesia engine, so that probably has something to do with it. A lot of log hallways and big rooms with very dim lighting.

    What this game does very well, better than virtually all game out there, is environmental storytelling. The only character in the game is you, and there is no other dialogue with any other character. The story moves along as you find clues. As you find more and more clues, you really get a good feel for the world that you are in. Games do not do this enough.

    However, GH's biggest problem is that environmental storytelling is ALL that it does. In a story driven game character interactions are very important because it can give the characters more dimensions. All of the characters are very one dimensional. You don't ever go into any depth to find out the motivations or the facets of their characters. This is why you can't build a game around environmental storytelling. Environmental storytelling paired with dialogue can turn one dimensional characters into three dimensional characters. If the game allowed you to talk to Sam, your parents, or Lonnie, it could give you better insight into the personalities of each of them, allowing for a stronger story.    … Expand
  33. SondreVa
    Nov 1, 2015
    6
    Gone home is a game about Kaitlin, who have just come home from he backpacking trip in Europe. When she comes home no one is there, and she finds clues to where the rest of the family have gone.

    The good things about this “game” is that it has a somewhat great story, and you can interact with almost all the 1990s artifacts you find in the house. The amount of details the developers put    Gone home is a game about Kaitlin, who have just come home from he backpacking trip in Europe. When she comes home no one is there, and she finds clues to where the rest of the family have gone.

    The good things about this “game” is that it has a somewhat great story, and you can interact with almost all the 1990s artifacts you find in the house. The amount of details the developers put in to the house is also astounding. It is like they googled the 1990s and just put everything in the house. So if you are a 90s kid you will most likely get a nostalgic feeling. The journals were also really well written, and the voice actor for Samantha did an amazing job of making you invested in her, but the gameplay felt really slow, mainly because you could not sprint, so you had to take your time with everything. Which I personally don’t like, because I am really impatient. The graphics was not amazing, but they aren’t really the focus of the game either, and you cant expect really expect the most advanced graphics from a crew of 3-4 people.

    Gone home is a very short game, I spent 1-2 hours on the game, this includes the entire story, inspecting various 90s artefacts and even using the developer commentary. Because of the lack of length of gameplay I don’t think this game should be priced at 20$. And I personally would not really call this a game, sure it is interactive, but you would get the same experience from watching a short movie with the same plot.

    As I said I only spent about 2 hours on the game, so the story is not that long and it is not really detailed, and I would like to see journals written by both her parents, Daniel and Lonnie. It was an interesting concept to only follow Samantha, but the story became very predictable after 4 journals.

    It is not the best game I’ve played but it is certainly not the worst either. But I think Fullbright as a company has great potential, and Gone home is good steppingstone to make great games.    … Expand
  34. eliseefristad
    Nov 8, 2015
    6
    Gone home is a first person interactive adventure game set in 1995. The player takes on the role of Kaitlin, a girl who returns from a year abroad to find that the new house her family has moved into is completely empty. The player then has to search through the house for clues to locate where Kaitlin’s family could be. As you play you come over hidden secrets of the other family membersGone home is a first person interactive adventure game set in 1995. The player takes on the role of Kaitlin, a girl who returns from a year abroad to find that the new house her family has moved into is completely empty. The player then has to search through the house for clues to locate where Kaitlin’s family could be. As you play you come over hidden secrets of the other family members all while unsettling noises is to be heard everywhere…

    The first thing that hit me about this game is its flawless graphics, the game never fail to flow elegantly between different moves the player makes and I almost forgot I was looking at a game and not a real home. It was a brilliant idea to choose the narrative to be Kaitlin who along with the player is discovering the house for the first time.

    The tone of Gone Home sets it up to be a creepy and scary game. There is something unsettling about hearing the rain outside while you are walking through a large and unfamiliar house and I was constantly waiting for a jumpscare or something really scary and dramatic to happen and was a bit frustrated when I realized the whole gameplay contains of walking around the house solving puzzles and looking for clues. After I got over that I realized just how amazing the story was and I was astonished of how many details the creator put into it to make it feel like your dealing with real life people. The journal and voiceover part was done wonderfully and made you really connect with the character Samantha and sympathize with her.

    So, the 10. 000 dollar question: Is Gone Home a good game? I’m not sure if I would call it a game at all. It hits me more like a visual novel than anything else. The creators succeeded in making you feel that you are walking through a real home, looking through the belongings of a real family, which usually is not a characteristic for video games. Since I view video games as an escape mechanism from everyday life I cannot say that I enjoyed Gone home that much. But I appreciate the originality and it is a well-made and interesting game, no doubt in that. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a different kind of computer game that does not revolve around action and shooting stuff.    … Expand
  35. IAmCynical
    Dec 7, 2015
    7
    A good story told through setting.
    In a desolate empty house late at night, you walk through the hallways in search of answers. Where are your dad, mom and sister? Where have they gone? What has happened? That is what the game “Gone Home” is about.
    The game “Gone Home” is a first person one-player adventure/explorer style game. It is developed by Fullbright, designed by Steve Gaynor    A good story told through setting.
    In a desolate empty house late at night, you walk through the hallways in search of answers. Where are your dad, mom and sister? Where have they gone? What has happened? That is what the game “Gone Home” is about.

    The game “Gone Home” is a first person one-player adventure/explorer style game. It is developed by Fullbright, designed by Steve Gaynor and the music composed by Chris Remo. Also, it was released in august 2013.

    “Gone Home” is set in Oregon, USA in 1995. The person whom you play is Kaitlin, the older sister of the Greenbrier family. She has just returned home from studying abroad for exactly a year. Upon returning, she finds the house empty and that the doors are all locked. Then the game starts, with you not having a clue of what had happened. From there you must find the answers.
    I loved experiencing the environment and the story hidden within the house. The environment seemed completely unknown and new to me, as the furniture and the house itself looked quite antique. The atmosphere, which the environment gave off, actually further enhanced the story.

    The thing, which kept me interested in the game, was the story. It was quite a well-made story in my opinion and I really enjoyed it. The reason as for why I enjoyed the story was its way of storytelling. It told the story through the environment. Not some pieces of paper or person, but the environment itself. Through the audio messages, clues and the realism within them. That was how I experienced the story’s ephemeral little story.

    The game’s story and environment was quite good. But, there was still something that I disliked. That was the brightness at some places within the game. It was simply too dark. I know that the developers intended for it to be dark for the setting. But I believe that they went overboard. Because it was too dark, it became too hard to find the light switches (if there was one). You would just get annoyed at that point and you don’t feel like continuing for a bit. Therefore was the brightness one of the few aspects I disliked about the game.

    In the end, I would like to give this game a 7/10, mostly because of the story. Moreover, I would like to recommend this game to people who enjoy realistic stories or maybe got some interest in antique stuff from the 1990s. As this game got its 7/10 rate mostly because of its story, but also because of the environmental features. The game could have gotten a perfect score (10/10), but because of some minor details like bad brightness, it did not achieve it.    … Expand
  36. 14samajb
    Dec 7, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. GONE HOME - Created by Fullbright Company

    Gone Home is a computer game created and designed by the team in Fullbright Company. The game was first released 15th of August, 2013.

    The game takes place in a empty mansion in Arbor Hill, Oregon, America. The environment of the game is a mix of thriller and adventure. You as a player get to explore the mansion as Kaitlyn Greenbriar, who is one of the daughters of the Greenbriar family. It’s the 7th of June, 1995, in the game and Kaitlin has just returned home from a year long trip to Europe, but she comes home to an empty house. As Kaitlin we get to walk around the mansion and find clues about what's going on and where everyone has gone.

    What we didn’t like about the game it that the atmosphere of the game is giving you a scary impression, but in fact there is nothing scary happening throughout the game. The setting is dark, messy and mysterious. The rain is pouring outside and the thunder comes when you least expect it, which makes you believe that something or someone is about to scare you. I guess it’s a success from the creators side, but to us it just didn’t make any sense.

    But what we did like about the game was that we got to walk around the house by ourselves and decide which room we walked in to. There were objects around the house that we could pick up, for example letters and they gave us clues.

    Overall, it’s a nice game. We would recommend it to people in all ages. It’s a good game if you are a new gamer and don’t have a lot of gaming experience.

    By Kaja & Sandra    … Expand
  37. elinajao
    Dec 7, 2015
    5
    Gone home is made by The Fullbright Company, that was formed by Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonja, Johnnemann Nordhagen and Kate Craig.
    It is a adventure and interactive fiction game that was released 15th August 2013. When the game begins you play as a 21-year-old girl named Kaitlin Greenbriar in the 90´s. She comes home to Arbor Hill after a year long trip away from her family, only to find a    Gone home is made by The Fullbright Company, that was formed by Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonja, Johnnemann Nordhagen and Kate Craig.
    It is a adventure and interactive fiction game that was released 15th August 2013. When the game begins you play as a 21-year-old girl named Kaitlin Greenbriar in the 90´s. She comes home to Arbor Hill after a year long trip away from her family, only to find a note on the door from her sister Samantha saying that she should not try to find her or even looking for answers to where she is. As she walks in through the door she realizes that not even her parents are home. No one is.
    In my personal aspect I find the game interesting but almost a bit boring along the way. The game can be played out very fast and I think that is bad.
    But besides that Gone Home is a interesting game that makes you wondering what happened and what’s going on. I definitely thinks that it’s worth testing if your interested about the game.    … Expand
  38. olivialouise
    Dec 7, 2015
    6
    GONE HOME

    Developers: Fullbright Designers: Steve Gaynor Released in the year 2013 The game is set to the year 1995, in Portland, Oregon. We experience and play the game in the first-person, through Kaitlin Greenbriar, the oldest of two sisters. She has just come home from a year abroad in Europe, and find the new family house empty. She has no idea where her mother, father or    GONE HOME

    Developers: Fullbright
    Designers: Steve Gaynor
    Released in the year 2013

    The game is set to the year 1995, in Portland, Oregon. We experience and play the game in the first-person, through Kaitlin Greenbriar, the oldest of two sisters. She has just come home from a year abroad in Europe, and find the new family house empty. She has no idea where her mother, father or sister are. As she searches through the house she discovers well hidden secrets about her family.

    The house is very large, with many rooms and hidden passages. To explore the whole house must find these passages and keys. In order to do this, we need to find documents and codes. Gone Home’s designers has done a great job in making us feel like we actually are the person walking around in the house. We can grasp things, throw it away and get frustrated when we cannot open a door or a drawer because something is in the way.

    The game is as mentioned, set in 1995, which is easily recognizable with the styling and the old cassettes.

    The game atmosphere is scary. You are always on the edge, waiting for some sort of climax or something horrifying to happen, but this never occurs. The scary atmosphere comes from all the spooky sounds of both rain and thunder and all the creaking from walking and opening a drawer and a door. When you walk in to rooms the lights are always out and you can see lighting strikes regularly. Also the background music plays a major role when it comes to my first impression of the game.

    My first impression of this game was far from the same impression I was left with after playing it to the end. You start to play with the feeling that something terrible has happened, and that you will find a something like a dead body around the next corner. When you play your way to the end and find out where Katie’s family are, you get somewhat disappointed with the story.

    You feel more like a detective than a member of the family when you go through the house. I see similarities to the concept of "escape rooms"

    Gone Home is nothing like other games I have played, I really enjoyed the game concept but I had wished there was a better story behind it and more challenging.    … Expand
  39. Karolineemblem
    Dec 8, 2015
    6
    Gone Home

    The videogame “Gone Home” is developed by The Fullbright Company and designed by Steve Gaynor. It was published on August 15 2013. Gone Home is a mysterious and romantic video game. The game is set in Portland, Oregon in 1995. You play as the eldest daughter of the Greenbriar family, Kaitlin, who just arrived home after a year abroad. She expects her parents and sister to    Gone Home

    The videogame “Gone Home” is developed by The Fullbright Company and designed by Steve Gaynor. It was published on August 15 2013. Gone Home is a mysterious and romantic video game. The game is set in Portland, Oregon in 1995. You play as the eldest daughter of the Greenbriar family, Kaitlin, who just arrived home after a year abroad. She expects her parents and sister to greet her when she gets home, but instead Kaitlin only finds a deserted house, filled with secrets. What happened here? Where is everyone? These are both questions you will find answers to as you play the game.

    You can wander around the Greenbriar house and get to know what happened to the family by investigating the clues and secrets hidden around the house. There are no set goals in the game, however the game rewards and encourages you for exploring new areas of the house and finding all of the secret messages. All the clues lead you to one place that explains everything clearly.

    The game is very well designed. It allows you to open doors and drawers, and find out what´s inside. It even has furniture and small things like movies, which makes it feel extremely real, almost like you are actually in the house. In the beginning I was really confused because I did not know what I was looking for, but as I continued playing I understood what to do. After a while, I started to find the game a lot more interesting. I noticed that as you play and you start finding clues, you don´t want to stop, you just want to find more answers.

    Gone Home is also very different from most games because it has no fighting involved in it. Most games use combat as their main focus, but Gone Home is different. Because there is no risk of dying, it allows the player to carefully examine everything so they don’t miss any pieces of evidence. But this does not mean that you can relax when you are playing the game! If you aren’t very alert when you are playing the game, you could miss important clues and other pieces of the story.

    The main thing future buyers should be aware of is that when you complete the game, you can´t replay it with the same surprises, because you already know the what the outcome is. You can beat the game quickly because you will know the story line and all of the secret short cuts, and finding secrets won’t be as fun because you know them already. This means that after the first time you play, you will have completed the whole game.

    I would recommend this game to anyone who likes mysteries, uncovering secrets, and using their brain to think about what has happened. It could also be fun for people who are used to violent games, because it is so different from them, and opens a new world of video games to them. Even though you can only play it once, it is still a fun game and I would recommend you give it a try!    … Expand
  40. Broccolli
    Dec 9, 2015
    6
    Gone home is a mystery and exploring game set in 1995, in a big empty(?) house.
    Created by the Fullbright Company. It is a first person game and the gist of the game is that there is no real action. It is only a storytelling game that is very interactive, you can almost interact with anything in the game.
    Perhaps it’s not much game-wise, perhaps there’s not much mechanics in the game,    Gone home is a mystery and exploring game set in 1995, in a big empty(?) house.
    Created by the Fullbright Company. It is a first person game and the gist of the game is that there is no real action. It is only a storytelling game that is very interactive, you can almost interact with anything in the game.
    Perhaps it’s not much game-wise, perhaps there’s not much mechanics in the game, but that’s not what the game is about. This game is the well basically like the developers merely trying to create a story, but letting you think you’re doing much.
    It has a horror game setting, but the only reason you can feel the suspense is without it the game would be very boring. Yes perhaps there’s a great story, perhaps they are great characters but the feeling that any second there’s going to be a jumpscare is the suspense needed to make it a more, playable game. Granted it’s nothing compared to games like: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
    But that’s what the creators wanted, and they got it. They got a game that doesn’t include any action but tells a story. But that’s the fault with this game, most games very often include some sort of mechanic, some sort of action happening even if it’s a storytelling game, or if it’s just a chill game. Compared to bigger games such as Dragon Age the story isn’t really super deep and it mostly develops one character, while Dragon Age has a very vast amount of story, characters and depth.
    I can say hands down from the bottom of my heart that Gone Home isn’t the greatest game created, but it’s not bad. It’s as some may have said, a start to a new genre of games.
    You can see more and more story telling games popping up here and there which are also good sellers to the public eye.    … Expand
  41. DylanCEnglish
    Dec 15, 2015
    6
    The game, “Gone Home,” is a refreshing new take on the classic mystery and adventure genre, the player takes on the role of Kaitlyn Greenbriar, a young woman returning home for a visit from university, however upon arrival everyone is missing. You must take all the jumbled pieces to the puzzle that are hidden around the house and slowly piece the story in order to discover where everyoneThe game, “Gone Home,” is a refreshing new take on the classic mystery and adventure genre, the player takes on the role of Kaitlyn Greenbriar, a young woman returning home for a visit from university, however upon arrival everyone is missing. You must take all the jumbled pieces to the puzzle that are hidden around the house and slowly piece the story in order to discover where everyone has gone.
    Gone Home gets a lot of features correct, from how the music and sound attempt to pull the player in, and all of the visual effects in the house are simply superb. Upon first entering in the game, the player finds themselves on a dark and creaky porch outside of the house, a storm is raging and lighting crashes, these subtle tweaks add to the ominous overtones of the game. Then once inside it quiets, the only sounds that can be heard are your own footsteps as you slowly navigate the house searching for clues to pull you further in.
    The game is far from perfect, and has quite a few problems that prevent the player from fully immersing themselves in the story. The majority of the background story is narrated by Sam, the younger sister of Katie, it is done by walking around and triggering flashbacks or memories upon discovering and inspecting certain objects found in the house. While it is certainly a unique and novel idea, it lacks the elements of realism that the rest of the game strives so hard to achieve. The flashbacks tell Sam's story but because of the lack of connection to you the protagonist and the means of which they are deliver means the the message is not as effective as one might hope. Secondly while its mechanics provide a somewhat fresh and new experience in video games I find myself unconsciously wishing for a few more moment features to accompany the somewhat sparse controls provided to navigate the game. A sprint button to get from the top floor to the bottom would make the game much more enjoyable instead of slowing clomping your way down each set of stairs, and another wonderful idea would be a jumping mechanic. Hiding clues on top of objects would have added another element of realism and that ability to see on top of the bookshelves or cabinets would have made it so the player can immerse them self even further into the game.
    Gone Home attempts to break the generic restrictions that many video game titles face in this day and age, the belief that fast paced action and adventure are necessary to achieve success. Unfortunately, it ends up as a slightly disappointing mystery adventure game, with mechanics that make the player feel restricted and un-immersed because of the lackluster controls, however the plotline, audio and visual effect make up in part for these problems in order to create a game that for some could be described as enjoyable. 6/10    … Expand
  42. mhopeenglish
    Dec 15, 2015
    7
    The game, Gone Home, begins on a dark and stormy night on June 7, 1995. Kaitlin Greenbriar returns home to an empty mansion in Oregon after backpacking for a year through Europe. In the game, the gamer plays Kaitlin. Players are set loose in the empty mansion to find out what happened to Kaitlin’s mom, dad and younger sister, Sam.
    The gameplay in Gone Home focuses primarily on the    The game, Gone Home, begins on a dark and stormy night on June 7, 1995. Kaitlin Greenbriar returns home to an empty mansion in Oregon after backpacking for a year through Europe. In the game, the gamer plays Kaitlin. Players are set loose in the empty mansion to find out what happened to Kaitlin’s mom, dad and younger sister, Sam.
    The gameplay in Gone Home focuses primarily on the uncovering of clues to tell the story of the whereabouts of Kaitlin’s missing family. Whereas most video games (like Grand Theft Auto and Assassins Creed) operate under a set of rules and methods to drive players toward some sort of objective (like murder and zombie mass killings), Gone Home takes the interactive nature of video games and blends this with storytelling. In Gone Home, the story is everything. Players uncover the mystery of the missing family in an unguided way by learning through Sam’s audio journal, as well as through the presentation of environmental and audio clues.
    The graphics used in Gone Home look like those one sees in graphic novels published in the 1990s. The game allows the player to pick up the object and zoom in to get even more graphic details. Gone Home’s graphic treatment is in contrast to the more realistic (almost too realistic) computer generated graphics used in most video games today. In Gone Home, graphics are deliberately and specially placed by developers throughout the story so players can uncover the family story, especially when it comes to Kaitlin’s parents. The player essentially steps into the pages of the Greenbriar’s life storybook. For example, players look through Kaitlin’s parents’ things. Players find old novels that Terry wrote and published. The novels are based around the assassination of JFK and how the lead character knows the truth and must stop it. Players also learn that Kaitlin’s parents are at a Couples Retreat to get their marriage back on track.
    Sound is effectively used throughout Gone Home to set the mood and intrigue of the story. For example, players randomly hear rain and thunder throughout the story, and expect a zombie to jump out any moment from behind a dark corner. Environmental sounds, like lights turning off and on or a door opening, are also used to enhance the game and make the player feel like they are part of the story. It is like the storybook novel comes alive. Music is also an important component of Gone Home. For example, Sam’s interest in the Riot Grrrl music scene opens a window to a unique musical movement from the 90’s which helps portray the sexual awakening of Sam and Lonnie.
    I am not a fan of video games. In fact, I never play, and when I do, I am useless. However, I did have chills when playing Gone Home—not because it was so scary, but because it was so emotionally evocative. Being the eldest of three siblings, I could not imagine going through what Katie went through. Part of me wanted to rush through the game to just get through it. However, I ended up not rushing because I wanted to try my best to reflect upon how I (as Katie) would react in her situation. I would recommend this game highly, especially to non-gamers.    … Expand
  43. andrewwindmills
    Dec 16, 2015
    7
    The game Gone Home is a story about a girl named Katie who comes home from a European trip to find her family is missing. As you walk around the house there are artifacts and audio journals left from Katie’s family. As you find more and more artifacts you can put together the story piece by piece.
    I thought that the game was overall a good game. Some things that I liked about it is the    The game Gone Home is a story about a girl named Katie who comes home from a European trip to find her family is missing. As you walk around the house there are artifacts and audio journals left from Katie’s family. As you find more and more artifacts you can put together the story piece by piece.
    I thought that the game was overall a good game. Some things that I liked about it is the fact that I got to connect with the characters in the story in a different way then I would be reading a book normally. The game was played in first person, even though I am not a teenage girl named Katie it really felt like when I was playing the game that I had a sister named Sam and parents named Terry and Janice. This made me a lot more interested in the game and connected to the other characters. The other thing that I really enjoyed about this game is the story. This game is nothing without the story and I think it is interesting how it was presented.
    There are something’s I did not like about the game however. I didn’t like the game play very much, I thought it was slow and it really seemed boring at times. I often did not know what the game wanted me to do. It also felt like for a game there was a lot of reading. There were so many documents, articles, and letters it was often hard to decide which were important and that I had to read or whether it was something that wasn’t of as much importance. One other thing that I would have liked to have seen is the parents being more involved in the story. It often felt as though I had to make up a lot of the story about the parents and I think that could have been a whole new side of the story that the developers missed out on. It would have been nice to see some audio journal entries from the parents as well.
    In conclusion, overall this game was a fun and cool way to learn a story but I think it could have been better. I liked the character development throughout the story and the idea of a first person game to tell it. While it was a fun game I think it could have been better in that the parents are not shown in the story as much as I would have liked and the game play was pretty slow and somewhat boring at times.    … Expand
  44. Kastomono
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    Gone Home Review.

    Now, as this is a game review i’m going to take this slightly more seriously than my games of TF2. I’m going to shove this into a Pros/Cons system and give my rating afterwards. But first i’m going to make a short summary of the game. You play as Kaitlyn Greenbriar, a girl who has been in Europe for a year and has returned to her home in America. But no one is home    Gone Home Review.

    Now, as this is a game review i’m going to take this slightly more seriously than my games of TF2.
    I’m going to shove this into a Pros/Cons system and give my rating afterwards. But first i’m going to make a short summary of the game.

    You play as Kaitlyn Greenbriar, a girl who has been in Europe for a year and has returned to her home in America. But no one is home and she has to find out where everybody has gone.

    Pros:
    The game has some pretty good visuals if you set the graphics up.
    The story is really good and will surprise you on several occasions.
    I ADORE good lighting engines and this one was pretty.
    This is less of a game and more of a short novel than anything.
    Despite being set in a house there is still a bucketload to see.
    There is a lot of small objects you can pick up and hover in front of your face.
    The sound design is very satisfying.
    You can flush toilets.
    Light Switches exist.

    I’m going to mention that i spent 10 minutes shoving things into a box. It was oddly satisfying…

    Cons:
    It’s ridiculously short.
    Because of the aforementioned it is also very expensive on Steam.
    You walk very slowly for an exploration game. You can't even jog.
    You can complete this game in like 2 minutes if you know where to look.
    I don’t have legs! I want to see my legs!
    It’s not really a game and as such it doesn’t have any challenges.

    My conclusion is this: It’s an interesting experience but not a game. It’s also very expensive for its length. I’m going to rate this a 7 out of 10 Kasto Points due to it being a good story and fancy graphics and it’s pricing (ON STEAM) is pretty high.    … Expand
  45. Hannahklinge
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone home

    Gone home is about a girl that comes home after traveling a year in Europe. This girl called Katie has a sister called Samantha. Katie gets home, but the house is empty. But full of secrets and hidden surprises. Terrance walks through the house in Portland, Oregon to find out what's going on and where is her sister and the rest of the family?
    The game happens in a chronological way. The symbols that's have been
    It have been brought up several relationship between the people in this story. Samantha(Katie little sister) has an relationship whit a girl called Lonnie. She does not tell anyone about this. Their mom Janice Greenbriar is friend with this lady Carol. A boy named Daniel has also been in the picture.
    The main character in this game is Terrance, or yourself you can say. You can Walk around the house and see if you find some answers. The games variation of environment makes it more eventful. The game is an scary/spooky genre. It gives you a feeling of being alone and scared.
    The filming , mowing and the music was generally good. The music made ​​you completely into the tuning of the little nasty feeling of being alone in the old big house. The game is realistic and have quite good graphics. The game play in the game is quite good. It doesn't challenge you like big time. But it definitely makes you upset when you can't find what you are looking for. This game is all about understands, you need to read if you want to find anything. Some of the letters are extremely hard to read because of the bad written cursive handwriting. But some of the letters is easier than others. Some of the letters are more important than other. Some of the items you have to find before you move on. The game is very optional. You can choose to do whatever you want to do and go. The more you find out, the more you want to know the rest. I give the game a 7/10. Because it was an exiting game and very good made.    … Expand
  46. NoraHamzaoui
    Jan 28, 2016
    5
    The game is about a girl called Kaitlin that went to Europe in June. Her family lived in a big house, but when she came back a rainy and stormful night she found the house empty. No one was inside the house just the things the family owned. She investigates the house to find out where her family is. She found a lot of old letters and signs that helped her to find out where her family was.The game is about a girl called Kaitlin that went to Europe in June. Her family lived in a big house, but when she came back a rainy and stormful night she found the house empty. No one was inside the house just the things the family owned. She investigates the house to find out where her family is. She found a lot of old letters and signs that helped her to find out where her family was. She also found a lot of secrets about her sister Samantha. While gaming you have to pick up and search for things that will help you to find information and secret rooms. You’ll finish the game when you come in to the attic by using a key you’ll find while searching in the house.
    It’s bad for a family to leave the house without all the family members knowing it. I think the message is that Kaitlin’s family had a lot of problems and secrets that Kaitlin didn’t know before she visited the house after they disappeared.
    It was a bit difficult to understand the game in the beginning, but it got easier. I think that it’s easy for gamers to understand the game from the beginning. The story is told in the past, but you’re playing is like it’s happening now.
    It’s used signs and symbols, like letters, maps, religious symbols and other information you find to lead you. By reading/finding the signs, you can get info about the family, some secret things and where you have to go and so.
    Its pictures on walls, and a lot of other places. By looking at the pictures, you can find out how the family members looks like, and their names. While playing I heard sound tracks, where Kaitlin was talking about things. While searching in the house, you’ll see cassette players. If you find a CD, you can put it in the cassette player for some music.
    I didn’t like the game, because it was a lot to find, and a lot of places to go to. I wish the end was a lot better. I was very excited for the ending, I was expecting something terrible in the attic, but guess what. After playing the whole game, and finally finding the key to the attic, nothing happened. When I walked around in the attic, I saw a book on a table. When I opened the book, the game ended. I thought that the game ended with finding Sam. And because of that, I’ll give it 5/10.    … Expand
  47. isakbrattoy
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone Home is about a girl named Kaitlin Greenbriar. Her mission is to find her family that is gone. In the game you need to think a lot because it is letters from herself and her family.
    You need to remember a lot and seek in every corner in the house because it is things that are written places that you don’t think is important. There are letters that lead you closer to find out the big secret about your family. Sometimes you find letters and objects that triggers a story about your sister and your family’s life.
    The message in this game is that not everything look like what it is. It may be something else.
    This game jumps sometimes back and forth in time but I liked it. It helped me to get a feeling that I’m in the game. Some of the story’s in Gone Home are from your childhood and before you moved from your family.
    The peoples in Gone Home is very unknown, but sometimes it may be a letter from a person that you don’t know about in the game. And almost every person in the game that you hear about have an own story. Some of the people you get letters from in Gone Home are maybe in your family, just friends of you and your family or there are letter from peoples that are dead.
    The main character in this game is named Kaitlin Greenbriar. She needs to find things that take her closer to find where her family is. She can take up things and that triggers a new story from her sister that is closer than she thinks. The environment in this game is very nice.
    You are in the family Greenbriar`s old house and need find places that are hidden from you. Some places are dirty and nasty and other places are nice and clean.
    This game is very sad and sometimes scary. Sometimes when you go in dark places the scary music kicks in. The gameplay in Gone Home is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Because sometimes you know what`s going on an sometimes not. The game is very confusing because it is much back and forth. I don’t understand the whole story but what I know is that you need to find out what happened to your family and where your family is. The graphic in Gone Home is very nice and pretty. They made the pictures in the game look real and graphically at the same time. And the function in Gone Home is very good.
    You can pick up thing and look at it. You can open closets and doors. You can play music on music players and hear at phone calls from yourself and your family. And because of that I`ll give 7/10.    … Expand
  48. Maaagzboi
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    Gone Home

    The game. Kaitlin came home from a trip in Europe, her family had moved to a new house when Kaitlin where in Europa. When Kaitlin came to the new house, the house was empty. She started looking after her sister, and she found letters and tapes all around the house about her sister and her parents. She found out much information about her sister, and then she walk down to the    Gone Home

    The game.
    Kaitlin came home from a trip in Europe, her family had moved to a new house when Kaitlin where in Europa. When Kaitlin came to the new house, the house was empty. She started looking after her sister, and she found letters and tapes all around the house about her sister and her parents. She found out much information about her sister, and then she walk down to the basement...
    The game is very realistic and its look like you’re walking in to a real house but you’re doing it on an computer. The house looks like all other houses, or maybe it’s a bit old. The toilet looks realistic and there is magazine’s in the house that looks like It’s taken from the real life. The graphic could be better, but the rest I think was very good.
    The narrative style is chronological but you find much information from the old time. There are some letters and tapes that was made when the moved, and some letters that was made a long time ago.
    The main character function is that she’s coming home from a trip to Europe, when she came home there where no one home. Then she starts looking after her sister. There are one main character and that is Kaitlin , but there is also one more person that is very important in this game. You learn about some people when your playing the game. Kaitlin, Sam, her mother, her uncle, her father and some others.
    My experience after I played this game is that if you have been on a trip to somewhere, and your coming home, everything has maybe changed. It was not boring playing this game, and the game is has span lift in it.
    In last I would give this game and 7 out of 10 as an rating    … Expand
  49. Lolphy1234
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone home
    The game is about Kaitlin Greenbriar whose just arriving home from her trip to Europe?
    The main message of the game I think is that people can be quite different on the inside than it seems.
    The game is straight forwards but it jumps a bit back and forwards.
    Some symbols are used in the game but as far as I could see they did not have any particular meaning.
    Relationships that are mentioned are lovers and family relations.
    The main character is Kaitlin Greenbriar who is discovering her own past.
    The game enviorment is pretty dark not only because how the house progresses but also due to the feeling that something terrible has taken place in that house.
    The mood of the game is quite dark or psychopathic.
    The creators did a good job in making this game they did an amazing job with the music and imagery.
    The gameplay is a little bit to slow and sometimes the framerate dropped quite a bit (but that might just be the computer I played it on.
    I personaly think this game is a great idea for use in for example school, although it was kind of boring but still I enjoied the game a whole lot.    … Expand
  50. KarenNaalsund
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone home is a short story game about Sam Greenbriar, Kaitlin
    Greenbriar’s sister. Kaitlin is the person everyone who play the game are. Kaitlin is a 19 year old girl, who has been traveling around in Europe for a year. When she comes home, the year is 1995. In the past year her family has moved to a new house, and when she comes home again, she comes home to an empty and messy house. She starts walking around in the house, and finds a lot of clues, about what happened and where the sister is. The game is about finding out where her sister Sam is, and what has happened the last year. The main message is about Sam and Lonnie’s “forbidden” love for each other. It jumps a little bit in time, it just depends on which journal you find. The game is a short story with a touch of love in it, because as Kaitlin walks around in the house, she finds journals her sister left to her. In the journals you hear about Sam and Lonnie’s love, how it was for Sam to move and start on a new school, and how her life is after she moved here.
    The game is build up nice. The house is this big mansion, with a cabin look, (the walls is made of a dark three type, and old furniture, or not as modern. But I wouldn’t say it was that old, because this game takes place in 1995. The game where bugging a little bit, but that was the pc we used I think.
    I thought this game where fun to play, and I recommend it to both boys and girls in an age of 13 and up. The reason I will say from 13 years old is because it was a little bit hard to understand what the meaning of the game was at first.
    I will give the game from a scale from 1 to 10 a 7.    … Expand
  51. HeleneRos
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game review: Gone home
    In this game, you play a girl named Kaitlyn Greenbriar. After a year traveling around Europe you come home to your family's new house. The date is June 7, 1994 and the clock is 01:15 am. The rain is pouring down, it is lightning and thundering. But something is of. Your sister isn't home but she has left you notes and journals all around the house. Your next mission is to go around in the house and find out what has happened and where your sister. But you should know, the story does not end how you think it will end in the start. You will discover a moving story about not being accepted for who you are and about what some will do for true love.

    I think the games main message is that even your closest family may not know who you really are, and when they find out they may not understand. That even though you think you know your parents, they may be keeping a lot of secrets from you. And those secrets will come out one day. If you want to know them or not.
    If the story is chronologic or not depends on how you go forward. In the end you will get the whole story but at first it won’t really make sense unless you listen to all the journals in the correct order. So it kind jumps in time but that will even out.
    Gone home has an environment that really helps on the excitement of the game. The lightning, thunder and the rain makes a perfect environment for a game like this. When they also have added the creaking in the house and the sound of doors opening and closing it just makes it even creepier.
    In addition to the moving story about Kaitlyn’s sister Sam, they bring up important political meanings. Since Sam starts dating her friend Lonnie we hear about how Sam at first tries not to bring it up. But after a while she tells her parents. Sam thought that they would get angry at her but that they would have accepted it after a while. But she got really angry. Because her parents didn’t just get angry, they started saying that it was just a phase and that she and Lonnie was just good friends. Her parents wouldn’t let Sam and Lonnie hang out as much as they used to and they wouldn’t accept the fact that Sam was a lesbian.    … Expand
  52. Madelen
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    Gone Home – game review
    In the game Gone Home you play a 19 years old girl, named Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn has been on a trip to Europe for 1 year. When she arrived back home at 1:15 am, the first thing that she sees is a note in the door. The note I from her sister Sam. The note says that Sam has left and she don’t want anybody to look after her.
    In the game you get to go into your dead crazy    Gone Home – game review
    In the game Gone Home you play a 19 years old girl, named Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn has been on a trip to Europe for 1 year. When she arrived back home at 1:15 am, the first thing that she sees is a note in the door. The note I from her sister Sam. The note says that Sam has left and she don’t want anybody to look after her.
    In the game you get to go into your dead crazy uncle’s house and explore. It is many secrets in the house, and secret passages. In the game you find many journals that belongs to Sam. When you listen to them, you can hear about different stories that Sam Is telling, and you get to know her more.
    When you first start the game you might think it is a scary game, but after you have finished the game you realize that it is a nice story. The story has many small details but most of all it is about love.
    The graphics in the game was not bad, but it was not that good either. I think that the sounds was a bit creepy, but it was also fun. The game jumps a little in time, and it was hard to understand everything in the beginning. But after a while playing it, I began to understand more.
    I liked the game, it was funny to explore in the house, and find out Sam’s story. I will rate the game 7 out of 10.    … Expand
  53. Oskipromlg
    Jan 28, 2016
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After attending in Europe for a year Katie comes home to the states. In this timeline her family has moved to a new house. When she comes home she finds an empty note on the front door and an empty house. When you as the person in control enter the house the mood is dark and with the storm outside it gets kind of scary, you almost get the feeling that something is going to jump at you from around any corner.
    The gameplay is kind of boring and the graphics could be better. But the story itself is interesting with many twists and unexpected turns. There are turns about the main character Sam and her uncle Oscar.
    The function of the main character Sam is to make you want to play the game more, because she records herself, talking about her day and general stuff going on in her life. These cassettes you are going to find throughout the house and these are the “connectors” for the story to make sense.
    The whole game is played in 1st person, the music is kind of scary and sad, there are no cut scenes or “quick time events” in the game.
    My personal experience with the game wasn’t the best. I didn’t like the game because I thought the gameplay was a bit slow. I would give the game a 5/10.    … Expand
  54. Kamalias
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is about this girl who just came home from a year in Europe. Her family recently moved to her dead uncle’s house. She arrives at the new house in the middle of the night. You could hear the rain pouring down. The door is locked. On the door there is a note, written by her sister Sam. Where is everyone?

    There’s two parallel stories in the game. One is about her dead uncle, the other one is about love. The one with her dead uncle I assume was in the game to make it seem scary. However the main story is about difficult love. It gives the game some romance.
    It’s quite a realistic way of telling a story I think. Everything is truly well founded.

    There are several things you need to find to manage to get forward in the game. You can’t finish it without finding a lot of different notes and codes. This makes the game chronological.

    In almost every room in the house you can find a holy bible. If you're really good, you would notice this. The game uses this book to show her family's Christian beliefs. Sam writes a lot in her diary about this girl named Lonnie. Later in the game she opens up and tells that she's gay. You can imagine how her parents responded to this. This made the game a bit dramatic.

    The graphics were surprisingly good. As I said earlier they told the story in a realistic way, the display was three-dimensional which made the game look realistic as well. Despite of this, there were many things annoying me throughout the game. One of them was the darkness. Everywhere you went it was dark. It felt like I spent more time turning on the lights then actually playing the game. I also had some trouble to stand up after going low. This may have been the computer though. The music was okey. I didn't notice it that much really.
    What I did like with the game was the diary. As you walked through the house a girl suddenly started talking. This was Sam telling her diary. It gives you major clues. I needed these very badly. The best part was the end. It was unexpected and nice.

    To be honest, I don't like gaming at all. This of course had a huge impact on my experience. I liked the scary part with this game. Sam and her love story was not that great, but ok I think. I give it a 7 out of 10.    … Expand
  55. VidarM
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone Home

    You’re the 19 years old girl named Katie Greenbriar that comes home to a “new” house after being in Europe for a year. The year is 1995 and you’re family have moved to your dead uncles villa. When u come home to your “new” house the clock is 1:15 AM and there is a storm outside. When I come inside the house you discover that all the lights are off and nobody is home. While you’re progressing around the house looking for clues about where your family is gone and you find more and more weird notes from you’re Sister Sam Greenbriar.

    I think the key message is that you should be yourself and don’t act different for other people. A lot of people hide their self just so other people think they are “cool”. I think it’s wrong because everyone is different and there is nothing that u can call weird or unusual.
    Sam is lesbian but haven’t told it because she thinks her family would get mad at here because they were Christians.

    The game itself is chronologic but the notes are from different times so you need to put them in the right order to fully understand the story line. I’m pretty sure the whole game happens in one night but the notes give you years of information and you learn a lot more about your family trough the notes and diary entrances.
    The game got a lot of different symbols about the different thoughts and ways of life. You can find a skull in the first room that is from the day of the dead which is a Spanish celebration day for the dead. You can find a Demon ritual under the stairs and you can find a bible.

    The game talks a lot about human relationships. In the Diary entries you learn a lot about the family, and Sam’s struggles with “fitting” in. In the diary’s Sam talks about how she doesn’t like the other girls and how she’s only been a friend with a boy that was living to close to her before the family moved.

    The main characters is Sam but you’re playing as Katie which is kind of strange as not many games does that kind of style. Some of the Other characters are Terrence Greenbriar, Janice Greenbriar and Lonnie.

    The game is romantic/sad. The feeling of the game is pretty sad and reminds me of a Horror game when u walk around in the dark house and u hear the Rain hit the house walls and the thunder strikes outside. The music is slow and helps the sad feel of the game flow.

    The gameplay is pretty good because of the story and diary entries. The game got no Action because of the simple reason of being a story telling game and not a shooting game. The game functions pretty well but I had a hard time finding the hitboxes of some of the smaller objects and doors. Some of the objects that could move seemed a bit buged since if u closed spammed open and close at a door and walking into it u could get inside the door or just walk through the door.

    I personally really liked the game and it was well made. What Fulbright managed to do with the game is incredible and I liked the soundtrack, diaries and story.

    I rate the game 7/10    … Expand
  56. SiljeAG
    Jan 29, 2016
    5
    The game is about a girl named Kati who has been in Europa, and when she comes back to USA, her parents and sister are not at home. She goes inside the house and she finds many clues about where everyone is. She learns that her parents have moved to a new house, and her sister has run away to start a new and better life.
    In this short story, the main character tries to find out where her    The game is about a girl named Kati who has been in Europa, and when she comes back to USA, her parents and sister are not at home. She goes inside the house and she finds many clues about where everyone is. She learns that her parents have moved to a new house, and her sister has run away to start a new and better life.
    In this short story, the main character tries to find out where her family is. In addition, we see a lot of things and clues after Kati’s sister so she is almost the second main character. Her job is to give clues to her sister, in order to tell her where she is. She places a lot of different items and information in many secret rooms and all over the house. Some of those things we find are letters, pictures, music, articles, and many newspapers.
    The game has many journals from Sam that we can listen to in many different places in the house. All these things makes the game more exiting, because without them, the game would be a bit boring.
    The game can be played in chronological sequence, but it is not necessary because we find clues from many time periods. The game jump in time, actually. I think it is better to not to play the game in chronological sequence, because it makes the story more exiting.
    I think the key message is that when you leave your family, a lot of things can be different when you come home again. That means that you cannot accept that all things are the same, because all things changes.
    Personally, I think the game was a bit boring, because the only thing I did was going around in the house to find clues about where the family was. It would have been more exiting if we actually met her parents or sister. On a scale from 1-10, I give 5.    … Expand
  57. nathalieyoyo
    Jan 29, 2016
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game gone home it`s about a girl named Kaitlin Greenbriar and her empty house. Kaitlin returns from Europe and found out that no one it`s home. Samanta`s letter hang on the door, and Kaitlin will later find out where her sister and family is. Kaitlin have to find the keyhouse and escape the whole house to find out what just happened to her sister Samantha, her mom Janice and her father Terrence.

    Gone Home was a very interesting game at the beginning. Graphics in the game was a bit scary because all the colours was a bit dark. All the sounds in the game was a bit creepy, I can hear when Kaitlin walk, opened the doors and much more. Sound and the graphics combined together very well. That makes the game seems and sounds interesting and a bit scarier than I thought. Gone home was a bit sad because her sister Samantha has no friends except her best friend Loonie, and they ends up to be girlfriend/boyfriend. In the house, there was many secret rooms and secret doors, that was very interesting for me. Personally I mean the length of the game was not long enough and the ending was so badly. I just got opened Samantha's book and the game was just done already. In the kitchen I think I saw a calendar, the parents went one week on holiday to a wedding when Kaitlin finally came home. Samantha was just gone, and i don't know 100% where she is and what had happened to her. So that's the whole reason why the ending of the game was bad. Kaitlins parents should die and be a very scary, dangerous ghost or zombie. In that way, the game should be very god.

    I mean that we should play something adventure games like this gone home again, because I like it. Normal english lessons there we have to write much and read in the books it's not fun. It's much funnier and better when we can play games with a partner or alone. I learned how the game world was, I learned some new words in the game and I feel that I worked very well in this way.    … Expand
  58. calvarez
    May 27, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As Steve Gaynor, one of the seniors at the Fullbright Company, was set to bring out the simplicity in all of his games, he decided to create an interactive game for consoles, Gone Home. In this IGF-Award nominated game, you are placed in an unilluminated and unknown setting, in which you are encouraged to explore the empty house, the screeching drawers, and the notes thrown around the house.

    Gone Home takes place in 1995 as one of the family members arrives at their house and finds that there is nobody there. It is these moments, where you are still unaccustomed to the house and its setup, where the suspense of what has happened to the others that comes to mind. According to The Guardian, “the period is a time that many players of the game will have lived through and will be immediately familiar with” because of the fact that it is not period far from what we know today. Many people still live in environments like these where letters and books are used more than the internet and tablets.

    The main character in the PC game is Katie Greenbriar, who arrives to the house after a year of studying abroad, only to find a note on the front porch from her sister, Samantha, telling her not to go out looking for her. Although Steve states that his intention with this game was not to make it a game with “combat or puzzles in it,” it is easy to state that, from the very first moment when the note is found and you have to find a way into the house, that there are many puzzle pieces to find in order to crack Sam’s story.

    The game experience is more of a storytelling, but, as stated by The Guardian, it is done so “through design” rather than through an actual book. The story within the game develops as to find out what happened to Sam.

    Now, the storytelling game is not only about exploring the house in general, but it also seeks to explore the relationship and secrets of two sisters and how these secrets can lead to knowing about Katie’s sister, Sam, and her first lover from school, a girl she met after having so much in common. As more notes are found throughout the house and more rooms are unlocked only to find there are stories about Sam and her life feelings in each of them, the players are more engaged to find out why Sam has run away from her own house.

    The various clues, as I like to call them, around the house allow the players to engage in the middle-classed family and their personal struggles, as well as in their problems with the other people in the family itself. As Sam and her lover, Lonnie’s, relationship arouses through the playing of Nintendo games, ghost hunting, anarchic behaviors, and secret love letters, one is drawn into a world that Sam has created and imagined for herself and Lonnie to reside in without taking into account the possible consequences that these behaviors have had on her personality and on her piled up family problems.

    The release of the Slenderman game, Slender: The Eight Pages, came out in 2012 where one was placed in a single-player world with nothing but a flashlight in search of the eight pages that tell you the story of the horrifying, and totally fictional, creature of the Slenderman. This adventurous and exploring game can relate directly to the mysteries that can be found in Gone Home as Sam and Lonnie have tried to have first hand experiences with the supernatural world and a ghost who is thought to be haunting the house. Whilst investigating the possible outcomes of Sam and her departure, it comes to the player’s attention that a man called Oscar Masan died and that he may be the ghost that resided in the house, which may lead people to think that many of the clues around the house lead to the finding or the encounter of a ghost in the middle of the house.

    As stated by The Atlantic, with the rise of one relationship, comes the unknown story of Katie’s sister and how she can relate to Sam’s life. With the development of one story, it seems as if there are many others branching out of that one story. This comes to say as Sam and Lonnie's adventures started out with ghost hunting and, as time passed, it quickly escalated to Sam’s first cigarette, her first sexual experience, and her leaving this childish world behind only to start a life with someone who actually understands her: Lonnie.

    With a small team of workers building a PC game there came a great story told. As stated by Steve, “normal people's stories are really interesting if you are able to discover them.” This being said, a normal family’s problems and drawbacks cause for an exploration in a small house in search of the ending of such a metaphoric story wherein each clue and each of the notes left in the house call for another story to be told about the family itself.    … Expand
  59. Dco326
    Apr 10, 2021
    5
    I wouldnt ever never play this again. Bukvalno nikad vise ne bih pipnuo ovu igru.
  60. artificeprime
    May 27, 2017
    5
    Dramatically over-rated. While Gone Home offers a subtly crafted narrative and some interesting atmospheric story telling it is average or below average in nearly all other areas. In this case the user score is far more accurate than the critics score. I can see this game appealing to some people as a somewhat unique way of experiencing a story but even as a slightly interactive storyDramatically over-rated. While Gone Home offers a subtly crafted narrative and some interesting atmospheric story telling it is average or below average in nearly all other areas. In this case the user score is far more accurate than the critics score. I can see this game appealing to some people as a somewhat unique way of experiencing a story but even as a slightly interactive story there are many games that do it far better.

    There really isn't much gameplay to speak of. You walk through a house and pick up objects to investigate. The controls are extremely clunky, even simply movement feels awkward, sometimes just performing simple tasks was challenging just because the controls were poor. For a game where all you do is walk around, picking up and investigating items that should have been done far better. There are a few puzzles in the game but they aren't really puzzles, basically you just have to find a few pieces of codes and then use those codes together. There is no creative problem solving to speak of. The developers could have added some riddles or clever ways of solving puzzles to add some element of gameplay but they didn't.

    The Story and writing is what most people praise this game for but even that is way over-rated. The main story itself hints at having a lot of depth but ultimately is little more than an overly dramatic teenage drama. The way the game reveals the story is quite intriguing with the player needing to uncover hints by looking at little objects in the house but the supposed big twists are so obvious that by the time they are revealed fully they have very little impact. I guessed all of the twists long before they were revealed and so when I actually got to the big moments I was expecting that there would be more to the mystery, there wasn't. The ending is plays out as though it is supposed to be this big dramatic surprise but really it just left me asking "Is that it?" The story isn't bad, it would be good if it was a side quest in a game with more going on but as the central plot it is very underwhelming. There are no big ideas here. I suppose it gets a few points for telling the kind of story that isn't told often but that only goes so far.

    Where the game does shine, and why I gave it a 5 as opposed to a 2 or 3, is the atmospheric story
    telling. The main story is a pretty standard teenage drama but how the story is revealed with little items in the home is quite compelling. Also, there are things about the characters that are not told through the main narrative that can be discovered by finding certain objects and drawing the lines together yourself. Learning what happened to the family through their possessions is interesting and is the one thing that this game does that makes it stand out. Unfortunately those discovers have little to no impact on how the game plays out.

    Visually Gone Home is fine but the house itself really seems generic. With the house being the only set piece in the whole game the creators really could have put a lot more care into making it feel personal. It is supposed to be some kind of old mansion that has been in the family for many years but for the most part its design seems really basic. Many games that have dozens of houses have better ones than this one.

    The sound design is good for an indie game. The voice work is all good enough and the atmospheric sounds are nice. There are several similar interactive story games that have far better soundtracks though. For example, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Fire Watch.

    I can understand why some people might really enjoy this game as an experience. The story might really appeal to some people and the atmosphere might really appeal to you. That's fine but I think giving this game an 8 or a 9 for those reasons alone is an insult to games that have been crafted with far greater effort and artistic skill. The critical score for this game currently stands at an 86, that puts it in league with legendary games that are dramatically better in almost every way and that is truly unfortunate.

    I give Gone Home a 52%

    Gameplay - 2
    Story/Progression - 7
    World - 4
    Sound Design - 7
    Uniqueness/Ideas - 6
    Characters - 7
    Visual Style - 5
    Length/Amount of Content - 3
    Immersion - 6
    X-Factor - 5    … Expand
  61. dandalis
    Nov 2, 2016
    6
    This is barely a game. Its a mystery story that you have to unravel yourself by exploring a house and interacting with objects, mostly its just reading written messages. Gone Home made me understand that im not a fan of this kind of story telling, but that doesnt say i outright hated it or didnt enjoy it to some degree. It was a short and decent experience for me. Which i really liked wasThis is barely a game. Its a mystery story that you have to unravel yourself by exploring a house and interacting with objects, mostly its just reading written messages. Gone Home made me understand that im not a fan of this kind of story telling, but that doesnt say i outright hated it or didnt enjoy it to some degree. It was a short and decent experience for me. Which i really liked was the atmosphere and the ambience you get to experience by playing this, game feels kinda spooky and feeling of being all alone in the house worked really well.

    As for story, it was intriguing to see mid 90's from teen's perspective and i wanted to solve the mystery of main protagonist's missing family. Its just that once you do, you dont feel that rewarded. Once you find out to what has happaned to your little sister, which also is the game's main objective and the ending, will leave players either pissed or understanding, depedning how you look at the world, itll overall help you decide if you wasted your money on this game or not. I for myself feel that 20 $ is quite steep for what you get here considering the content and 2 - 3 hour gameplay if you play the game as devs intended that is.    … Expand
  62. Blackfury
    Nov 26, 2016
    5
    I played this game as an activity in my English class and before I even started playing it, I sort of knew what it was talking about. It is an interactive story driven game, that tries to tell the struggles of a young lady. This game contains a rich environment, that tries to talk about the family, their activities and their personalities.

    But to be honest the game falls flat real    I played this game as an activity in my English class and before I even started playing it, I sort of knew what it was talking about. It is an interactive story driven game, that tries to tell the struggles of a young lady. This game contains a rich environment, that tries to talk about the family, their activities and their personalities.

    But to be honest the game falls flat real quick. Yes, the environment feels full of things but same objects repeated again and again. I found the same toilet paper roll around the house in a large number. Everything looks bland. There are so many things in the mansion yet, it feels empty. There are people living in the house, yet it doesn't feel like it. It just feels meh.

    The story is a very predictable one. After playing one-fourth of the game, the player will know what will happen next. It is not bad, but it is not amazing. Everything surrounding the main character is great but the main story just falls flat. The relationship between the mother and the father, the school and the crazy uncle's story is all great but Lonnie's and Sam's relationship is meh.

    Overall, Gone Home is a slow and boring walking simulator that finishes with a story not good enough for my liking.    … Expand
  63. wonwoosuh
    Nov 27, 2016
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game Gone Home, was like a second-lasting magnificence. I really enjoyed playing it, but it was somewhat disappointing.
    First of all, like all the other reviews, the story itself were essentially well-made. Hidden stories of love and growing up of Sam Greenbriar were wisely distributed and placed through the empty mansion. Each clue was not so big or so small that I could follow the whole story flow naturally, and records played at particular moments or places of the game also helped me understand the stories. (Actaully my favorite part was the emergence of the character "Lonnie" after opening the locker, who actually takes almost same importance in the story as the protagonist(Sam) does.)
    However, the route to finding the story in the game was not that satisfying. Before finding the story, all I did was wandering around the mansion examining useless things like all the books in the whole house. Very first clues to "enter" the main story such as stuff in Sam's locker, or loose panels were too hard to find. For me, who have not ever played this kind of game before, spent almost eighty percent of whole playing time wandering around. But more disappointing thing was that the main story(after entering the secret door) was super fast. It took just five to ten minutes. As this was the most enjoyable part of this game, I wish this part should be much longer to be a good game. Actually, I even felt 'what have i done???' after opening the attic door and listening to ending clip. It takes too long to the starting line, and the track to rush is too short.
    For the technical reasons, I was a little disappointed again. At the very first moment playing this game, I had no idea how to pick or select objects. White dot in the center of the screen, or "cursor" is too small, and I could barely find the tutorial about this. It would be easier for players to enlarge the cursor and make it more visible.
    The game Gone Home was one of my first game experience in this mystery - exploration field, and it was quite an interesting experience!    … Expand
  64. jungyeon
    Nov 27, 2016
    6
    This game has a good story and an intriguing, pretty complicated plot. Also, the hidden message behind the story was pretty fun.
    What really got me were the details of the game. The voice acting was very good and realistic, and there were many details and parts that made the game a real-life experience. I could pick up anything from a pizza box to a letter from a girlfriend, or do    This game has a good story and an intriguing, pretty complicated plot. Also, the hidden message behind the story was pretty fun.
    What really got me were the details of the game. The voice acting was very good and realistic, and there were many details and parts that made the game a real-life experience. I could pick up anything from a pizza box to a letter from a girlfriend, or do anything, from meaningful things such as discovering a secret passage to very mundane and very non-meaningful things such as flushing a toilet or crouching down. The details were totally realistic, and it felt as if I were really in the American house itself.
    However, as an international player, anything else excluding the main plot was very hard to understand. There were tons of video game references and other 90’s American references that were impossible to understand. Without this, the game was, except for the actual plot, straightforward and dull. If I understood some things about American culture in the 90’s, it would have been kind of exciting and like a treasure hunt, but I could only relate to the main plot and nothing else. It was like watching ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them’ without reading Harry Potter. Nothing really caught me, and something was missing.
    Also, I would have liked to know about the other characters a bit more as well. It would have been nice if there was more evidence and more references for the other characters, leading to their own stories as well. Uncle Oscar deserved a bigger role, and Katie’s parents did as well. There was nothing about Katie as well, and although I understand the concept of the game and that Katie is only a strictly third-person narrator, it would have been better if there were more quips or narrations with her opinion. The evidence was too matter-of-fact, and the narrator was too calm and composed. Wouldn’t it be better if the narrator was more… human?
    Since I got this file for free during class, I can’t complain about its price. However, I think the price is too extreme for this one-time experience. If you want to purchase this file, I recommend you reconsider. It’s nice enough, but not worth your 20 dollars. Go buy yourself something delicious, watch a movie, or buy a present for someone you love. Although this is a good experience, I can think of a million things better to do with this amount of money.    … Expand
  65. mintchoco0
    Nov 27, 2016
    5
    For me, this was almost the first video game that I have played with my computer. Although I did not have a computer mouse so the controlling of the game was not smooth as expected, it was an interesting game with specific details that lead people back to the aura of the 1900s.
    This is a general exploration game of an unfamiliar house that the main character has encountered. If you look    For me, this was almost the first video game that I have played with my computer. Although I did not have a computer mouse so the controlling of the game was not smooth as expected, it was an interesting game with specific details that lead people back to the aura of the 1900s.
    This is a general exploration game of an unfamiliar house that the main character has encountered. If you look around the house, you can observe fascinating details that the developers has hidden into the corner of every house. Not only the visual details, but there are also auditory details just scattered around the floor or on the furniture. It is just astonishing how they cared about something as little as hand-written like letters to crumpled notes. Never in any escaping game that I have seen such a complete story and little clues that match up for the whole story. Also, there were some missing information that you could not obtain unless you have looked thoroughly through all the house. It leads you to continue the game even after you have finished it, because finishing the game does not mean that you have understood everything about the relationships between the characters. Even if you have poked every end of the house, it gives very different impression. The conclusion that you lead differes depending on your experience, and that makes the game attractive.
    However, the ending of the game was not as I have expected. You can just end the game by chance, if you go to the right place. This was the most critical disadvantage of the game. There is no worthy reward for finishing the game. There is no more information given because you have successfully finished the game. Exploring is more emphasized then playing the game and seeing the ending, which was a disappointing point for me. The game just threw us a house, and nothing else.
    The graphics were okay, and the control was hard since I did not have a mouse, so had to use the mouse pad so the character sometimes did not move as I have wanted her to move. Therefore I rated this game as 5 for the extraordinary details and the game that has nothing but details.    … Expand
  66. Explicit
    Nov 27, 2016
    7
    I am a high school student living in Korea, and I have played through this game a few times as it was included in the curriculum in my English class. Although I was a frequent steam user, I have only got to know about this game in class since games of this type, walking simulators, are not exactly of my interest. I felt very uncomfortable and even irritated as I was playing this game atI am a high school student living in Korea, and I have played through this game a few times as it was included in the curriculum in my English class. Although I was a frequent steam user, I have only got to know about this game in class since games of this type, walking simulators, are not exactly of my interest. I felt very uncomfortable and even irritated as I was playing this game at first. However, as I played through the game a few times and found more and more evidences scattered throughout the house, the complexity of the story intertwined in each and every clue has started to catch my interest, and eventually I found myself looking for more possible story-lines that might have been hidden from my view.
    I would like to comment on the technical parts of the game than the story itself. One thing that I think is important for a walking simulator game, is its realistic environment. I am not a person who really cares much about the graphics of a game. It does not affect my game-play so much whether I have the highest or lowest graphics setting. However, one thing I have to talk about is the game’s ‘head bobbing’ affect. This ‘head bobbing’ effect in the video setting actually gives much more reality into the game itself, and give users the feeling that they are actually walking around the house. However, if you are not used to this kind of setting, this might in contrast create dizziness and eventually make you sick. There is a choice for turning off the bobbing effect though, so it does not really matter if you care enough to look for the button. Also, I have felt that this game, a walking simulator game, is much slower than a first-person-shooter games, too much that I felt frustrated that I could not ‘sprint’ in this game. But this also helped me look for evidences much more carefully and provided me more time to think about the story rather than simply running around looking for evidences.
    The technical part of the game Gone Home was in fact frustrating and made me impatient at first. However, as I have gotten used to the game, these factors actually helped me think and concentrate much better on the game. And although it is not mentioned in this review, the storyline of the story has been very interesting thus I would give this game a 7 out of 10.    … Expand
  67. Nocturne2521
    Nov 28, 2016
    5
    The best part was the atmosphere of this game.
    I was able to concentrate on the play time of this game with the unusual atmosphere and background photographs and background music. When I first turned on this game, I felt like I was really in this house alone, and the feeling of euphoria was real enough. The background music was something that the company thought was a big hit, so I    The best part was the atmosphere of this game.
    I was able to concentrate on the play time of this game with the unusual atmosphere and background photographs and background music. When I first turned on this game, I felt like I was really in this house alone, and the feeling of euphoria was real enough. The background music was something that the company thought was a big hit, so I thought it would be fascinating to those who missed that time by placing cassette tapes of music that fit the times.
    I was also impressed by the fact that the details for the hardcore player are arranged according to the manufacturer's intentions. I was also impressed that I could indirectly know the personality of the characters through report cards, various documents, and letters. In this way, I have focused more on the relationship between the characters than on the way of direct personality, and it seems that I have seen the clues without fail.
    But I am not American, and since I did not live in the 1990s, it was difficult and emotional to agree with the theme that penetrated the game. I could not sympathize with JFK conspiracy theories, feminism, rock culture that appeared in this game, and it was very difficult to understand when the contents of this part appeared.
    Playing time was also a little less than the price. GTA, Skyrim, Civilization, and other famous games are priced from $ 60 to $ 100, but the games have content that I can play for 10 hours, 100 hours, or even 1000 hours. But the game is worth $ 20 and the play time is 2 hours. I think the price of 5 to 10 dollars is a reasonable price.
    I could also picked up things such as business cards and books so that I could see them while rotating, which I think is unnecessary. Even if you only see some important things like that, you'll see almost the same detail, and development costs and time will be lower.    … Expand
  68. stayathome
    Nov 27, 2016
    6
    Gone Home, overall, was a refreshing experience, to say the least. I’m not saying this in a positive or negative way—just that it was something new for me. Actually, I had to play this game for a class and to be honest, I don’t know if having been required to play the game made it more or less enjoyable. I tend to get bored of stuff easily (the main reason why I never seem to finish anyGone Home, overall, was a refreshing experience, to say the least. I’m not saying this in a positive or negative way—just that it was something new for me. Actually, I had to play this game for a class and to be honest, I don’t know if having been required to play the game made it more or less enjoyable. I tend to get bored of stuff easily (the main reason why I never seem to finish any video games, TV shows, or anime series), so at least the requirement forced me to even finish the game, something I’m not sure I would’ve done if I was just playing it out of my own will. On the other hand, being required to play the game made me, even if just a little bit, view it as classwork, which, let’s be honest, isn’t really something people typically enjoy.

    The game’s graphics were fine, I guess. I had to play the game on the lowest graphics setting, but even so, they were still okay. For gamers, the graphics were probably just average, but for non-gamers, they were probably already beautiful. At least by not having pixelated graphics, the mood of the game wasn’t affected and I was able to play the game without noticing how crappy the graphics were every now and then. For the interface, it’s just the average stuff. Nothing special. I mean, the game doesn’t really require much so… Everything needed to experience the game was there. The simplicity has its own beauty I guess, as there are no unnecessary controls that distract from the story.

    The mood of the game was, especially in the beginning, dark and ominous. It was like there’s always something around the corner preparing to kill you. I was looking out for jumpscares all the time. I even had to search if Gone Home is a horror game, just to put my fears to rest. But even after that, I was still constantly unnerved by the continuous pouring of the rain, occasional sound of thunder, and the flickering lights. The game just builds up so much tension and keeps you hanging, which I think, is really clever. It keeps you thinking—where is this story/game really going? And then you just get kind of surprised or dumbfounded as the story progresses that it was nothing like you thought it would be.

    Actually, I would say that Gone Home is more of a story than a game. To say in better terminology… an interactive movie? It’s a refreshing way to tell a story, and that’s what I like about it. It’s unconventional. The story, by itself, however, is nothing really special. In its core, it’s just about coming of age (and coming out of the closet haha) and the rebelliousness and confusion experienced by youth. Although, I would say that it’s amazing how we get to see the characters develop so much without even seeing them. The characters were colorful. They had different personalities that were amazingly apparent through a bunch of stuff scattered on the floor. The misleading setting also has its own charm. A seemingly haunted house and a dark, stormy night… who would’ve thought the story would turn out like that? It’s like a plot twist without really being a plot twist. I also found the side stories very interesting, and contributed a whole lot to the main plot without really distracting from it. It’s also nice that the story itself tries to send a message, one that is very relevant to our society nowadays.

    I do admit that, from a gaming viewpoint, I consider Gone Home to be boring. I mean, I don’t think you even ‘game’ in this game. But, putting all the factors together, it was quite worth it.    … Expand
  69. spikedloop
    Jan 2, 2017
    7
    Don't view every pencil and pen. It's useless. I advise concentrate only on note from your sister and note about your uncle, only then you probably feel the pleasure from game.
  70. Muyrka
    Apr 26, 2020
    5
    Got this game for free, so I would be more lax.
    OK immersive mansion walking simulator. Story in my view is weak, a bit cliche and not thrilling enough. Somewhere at the middle of a game you understand what is happening and it becomes boring.
    If you want something like this one but better - try "What happened to Edith Finch". It is much much better.
  71. Aloof
    Sep 30, 2021
    5
    I didn't like it at all, and to be honest, thank goodness I played it for free via Epic Games. It didn't involve me, I found it flat, banal, with a gameplay absent to the nth degree. The ratings it got from the critics were incredible so maybe I'm the wrong one.
  72. Gracz-org
    Aug 8, 2017
    7
    Gone Home jest tytułem idealnym dla osób, dla których w grach liczy się coś więcej niż ciągła akcja. Przemierzając zakamarki tytułowego domu nie nudziłem się ani na chwilę, a odkrywanie fabuły krok po kroku uświadomiło mi jak wiele twórcy mogą nam jeszcze zaprezentować w tego typu produkcjach. Co prawda grę tą można przejść w niecałą godzinę, ale… zdecydowanie wystarczyło to jednak, bymGone Home jest tytułem idealnym dla osób, dla których w grach liczy się coś więcej niż ciągła akcja. Przemierzając zakamarki tytułowego domu nie nudziłem się ani na chwilę, a odkrywanie fabuły krok po kroku uświadomiło mi jak wiele twórcy mogą nam jeszcze zaprezentować w tego typu produkcjach. Co prawda grę tą można przejść w niecałą godzinę, ale… zdecydowanie wystarczyło to jednak, bym zapamiętał ją oraz opowiedzianą w niej historię na długi czas ;-) Gorąco polecam!

    Pełna recenzja dostępna jest na blogu Gracz.org    … Expand
  73. treakj
    Jan 16, 2018
    6
    Not a bad game, but VERY SHORT. I thought it was a horror movie. The game itself is used only as a vehicle to tell a story. Reminds me of "Heavy Rain". The visuals are acceptable, the sound is good. Voice acting is very good. It is interesting to piece the stories (like in Resident Evil, Bioshock, etc), but I think the story could be deeper. Since the story was the main point of this game,Not a bad game, but VERY SHORT. I thought it was a horror movie. The game itself is used only as a vehicle to tell a story. Reminds me of "Heavy Rain". The visuals are acceptable, the sound is good. Voice acting is very good. It is interesting to piece the stories (like in Resident Evil, Bioshock, etc), but I think the story could be deeper. Since the story was the main point of this game, it could try to achieve storytelling as, for example, "To the Moon".
    If there was some kind of replayability, like changing the player and the timing, changing points of view, putting more story and arcs, this game could have been very good.    … Expand
  74. michaelb1928
    Apr 17, 2020
    7
    There is a lot of love put into this game. Sure its short , theres no gameplay and no puzzles which is a missed opportunity but its still really immersive to lose yourself in the house. The story is decent and theres a nice twist at the end. Overall i enjoyed my experience, it still holds up in 2020.
  75. DJKrimson
    Nov 9, 2020
    6
    An okay slowpaced walking telltale game. I like the story told about Sam, and it's a good voice actor that are nice to listen to. But it feels a bit hollow, they could've done more with the story and they could've included some puzzling or something.
  76. ourendlesseason
    Dec 15, 2019
    6
    GH è una fusione fra una mostra in un museo dove ci fermiamo, nella maggior parte dei casi, a lanciare più di una semplice occhiata a tutto quello che ci circonda, ed un gioco investigativo. Non vediamo mai la protagonista in volto, la prospettiva è in prima persona: questa scelta non è così cattiva in quanto aiuta chi gioca a concentrarsi di più su quello che lo circonda e a sentirsiGH è una fusione fra una mostra in un museo dove ci fermiamo, nella maggior parte dei casi, a lanciare più di una semplice occhiata a tutto quello che ci circonda, ed un gioco investigativo. Non vediamo mai la protagonista in volto, la prospettiva è in prima persona: questa scelta non è così cattiva in quanto aiuta chi gioca a concentrarsi di più su quello che lo circonda e a sentirsi parte del gioco.
    L'obiettivo del gioco è quello di scoprire cosa si cela dietro la famiglia della protagonista, ma nessuna paura, nulla di pauroso succederà. Quello che si viene a scoprire è scioccante fino ad un certo punto: ci aspettiamo già che il gioco tratterà di argomenti delicati, in caso contrario la famiglia non si sarebbe presa la briga di nascondere le prove.
    Tutto molto interessante, ma poco avventuroso: non ci sono puzzle difficili e luoghi che non siano la casa.

    Gioco molto tranquillo, utile se si vuole passare qualche ora senza volersi scervellare troppo, ma non adatto a chi preferisce qualcosa con più azione.    … Expand
  77. Alexb1096
    Jul 24, 2020
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ITALIAN:
    Gioco carino perchè molto breve (dura circa 3 ore) però poteva essere gestito meglio.

    Nel gioco impersoni una ragazza che torna a casa negli USA dopo un lungo viaggio in Europa e non trova nessuno ad aspettarla.
    L'obiettivo del gioco è capire cosa sia successo, visto che sembra che i tuoi genitori e tua sorella siano scappati.

    Grafica carina ma non personale, audio invece molto bello con un'ottima colonna sonora e stupendi monologhi.
    Il gameplay è molto semplice dato che bisogna solo girare per casa ed interagire con gli oggetti.

    Un aspetto positivo ma gestito male è la possibilità di interagire con quasi tutti gli oggetti presenti. Trovata interessante che però non ha quasi utilità pratica. Inoltre alcuni oggetti sono presenti ripetuti in gran quantità all'interno della casa e quindi dopo aver trovato il primo di questi capisci che anche gli altri non servono a niente.

    La storia invece è carina ed empatica, ma lascia alcune cose in sospeso.
    Aggiungo qualche dettaglio nella sezione spoiler.

    Voto: 6.5/10

    SPOILER: Viene spiegata bene la storia della sorella, che lentamente si riesce anche ad intuire ed è molto carina, però l'assenza dei genitori è giustificata solo dal calendario presente in cucina e se non lo si dovesse trovare non si capirebbe più di tanto (si capisce che i genitori sono in crisi ma non viene mai citato il viaggio).    … Expand
  78. Almas_kz
    Apr 24, 2020
    7
    Плохая оптимизация, неудобное управление и сложный сюжет хотя в конце я начал вникать в него, но все же полностью понять не смог, даже в конце я узнал что главная героиня и ее подружка являются лесбиянками, но тайны и замки, закрытые кейсы чуть развеселили меня + презервативы в родительской комнате тоже, вообщем игра не совсем стоит своих денег и я бы не советовал бы покупать.Плохая оптимизация, неудобное управление и сложный сюжет хотя в конце я начал вникать в него, но все же полностью понять не смог, даже в конце я узнал что главная героиня и ее подружка являются лесбиянками, но тайны и замки, закрытые кейсы чуть развеселили меня + презервативы в родительской комнате тоже, вообщем игра не совсем стоит своих денег и я бы не советовал бы покупать.
  79. Skurttish
    Jan 12, 2022
    7
    An okay, short game. It was basically a movie, both in how long it was and in how little gameplay there is. I played it curled up on the couch and it was good for a quiet evening.
  80. Eniusza
    Apr 13, 2021
    7
    It's a very interesting story, with a cool atmosphere. There are some gameplay stuff that are bothering me, I don't see any point in picking up toilet paper billion times etc, and sometimes looking at objects wasn't working properly, or the fact that there was no actual model of character I'm playing (shame), but other than that I had fun playing.
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best PC Game of 2013
11
#11 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
3
#3 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 56
  3. Negative: 0 out of 56
  1. JeuxActu
    Feb 10, 2015
    85
    Grow Home is an interesting surprise from a publisher who get used to mismanaging his own IP's. This platformer like no other has everything going for you and for a very low price tag. You can easily give it a try.
    Read full review
  2. IGN Italia
    Jan 5, 2014
    95
    A beautiful, emotionally engaging, artfully crafted game, completely centered around exploration and telling a mature story through interaction.
    Read full review
  3. RPG Fan
    Dec 2, 2013
    75
    A story that will move some and alienate others.
    Read full review
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