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. 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
  2. lillybratland
    Nov 1, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game, “Gone home”, takes place in 1995 and presents the Greenbriar family and the returning of the oldest sister in the family, Kaitlin Greenbriar, who is the character you play. She has been away for a year and are expecting to come home to a lot of greetings and celebrations, but the game takes a dramatic twist. You now have to go trough the scary, haunted house, which the family just moved to, to figure out where they are and what has happened.

    If I should point out the negative sides in this game, I would say that the lightning could have been better. I know the dark rooms play a great role in making the game scarier, but the lightening really bothered me. In some rooms I could not see anything at all and it took me some time to find the switch and I do not like wasting time. Something else I was not as happy with, was that the ending of the game was kind of obvious and boring. I felt like I could predict the ending and I figured out what the clues were about before I actually knew.

    But of course there are not only negative sides with the game. I really loved that the game took place in 1995 because it made the game spookier and everything seemed more mystical and scary. The sounds and music in the game also participated with the scary parts, because the floor cracked when you walked on it and outside it was raining and there were crashes of thunder. You also have to solve many puzzles in the game to get to know what is really going on. When you start at the foyer you have to get in to the house and search around the house to figure out where to get to other rooms, where everyone is and what has happened when you were away. When you are getting towards the end you, hopefully, have gotten to know some characters who I, at least, though was very interesting characters.

    To sum this up I would say that I really liked the game because you are playing a role who has to figure out what is really going on, you have to be a detective which is the type of game I like. So if you are the type of person who likes to figure things out based on clues and objects you find this is the game for you!    … Expand
  3. leaveit
    Oct 2, 2015
    0
    Essentially a book with a boring old Seventh Heaven story and a clumsy interface for turning the pages. The "game" can literally be beaten in 1 minute.

    UPDATE: The developers have banned me from the Steam forums for summing up the game in 3 words when prompted: "People Buy Anything." Seeing as how this violates neither the Steam rules nor any local rules, and no reason was given other    Essentially a book with a boring old Seventh Heaven story and a clumsy interface for turning the pages. The "game" can literally be beaten in 1 minute.

    UPDATE: The developers have banned me from the Steam forums for summing up the game in 3 words when prompted: "People Buy Anything." Seeing as how this violates neither the Steam rules nor any local rules, and no reason was given other than action being taken on that post (which was then deleted), I can only conclude that the developers either do PR censorship/cleanup or trawl ancient forum threads - this one was at least 3 months old at the time - to reassure themselves or immaturely silence their detractors. So bravo, Fullbright, you managed to do exactly what Derek Smart is infamous for doing but without catching any flack for it.    … Expand
  4. everin
    Oct 1, 2015
    8
    Tier 2
    + An emotionally engaging and well-conceived narrative
    + Uses the few game mechanics it possesses on offer, tying exploration and narration together expertly ? Obviously leaves debate open as to whether or not its actually a game, though this does little to stop it from being a great narrative experience - Despite the great story, the emptiness of the house can feel a little    Tier 2
    + An emotionally engaging and well-conceived narrative
    + Uses the few game mechanics it possesses on offer, tying exploration and narration together expertly
    ? Obviously leaves debate open as to whether or not its actually a game, though this does little to stop it from being a great narrative experience
    - Despite the great story, the emptiness of the house can feel a little bizarre and off-putting    … Expand
  5. 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
  6. Frosty1979
    Jul 29, 2015
    0
    Played this because of the good reviews from professional sites. Geez, after playing this "game" I feel like the victim of a prank now.

    At first I thought it's some kind of horror game, but in the end it was just a little love story about your lesbian sister running away with her lover. Well great,,, what a wast e of time.
  7. abraxas31415
    Jul 26, 2015
    0
    A game perfect for hipsters and SWs, so a piece of **** for any sane person. I played it for 40 minutes and I could not continue because I was too bored. Much later, I checked the ending and was relived that I did not miss anything interesting. This game got good reviews from the "gaming press" because it is aligned with a SJW and hipster mentality. If you want a great meditative game, buyA game perfect for hipsters and SWs, so a piece of **** for any sane person. I played it for 40 minutes and I could not continue because I was too bored. Much later, I checked the ending and was relived that I did not miss anything interesting. This game got good reviews from the "gaming press" because it is aligned with a SJW and hipster mentality. If you want a great meditative game, buy Journey, or Dear Esther for a proper writing.… Expand
  8. dolphan
    Jul 22, 2015
    8
    I know that most people hate this game due to its outrageous asking price (Yes, $20 IS a ripoff I must agree) for such a short game, but I enjoyed the setting of the game, despite the rather lacking story. I would say that at less than $10, it may have gotten better reviews, so I personally believe you should only get it on sale, although this game isn't for everyone.
  9. thelion71
    Jul 20, 2015
    1
    The numbers first:
    Graphics - 2/10
    Story - 2/10 Voice acting - 4/10 I was honestly disappointed that this even has the title of game! It would be better defined as an interactive story and not a very good one at that. There are elements that seem wildly out of place and do not add anything to 'the story' at all. I was sure that I just was not getting what this was about, so I had two    The numbers first:
    Graphics - 2/10
    Story - 2/10
    Voice acting - 4/10
    I was honestly disappointed that this even has the title of game! It would be better defined as an interactive story and not a very good one at that. There are elements that seem wildly out of place and do not add anything to 'the story' at all.
    I was sure that I just was not getting what this was about, so I had two of my friends play it (both of whom are girls) and they also panned it.
    DO NOT BUY THIS GAME!    … Expand
  10. filiphendrickx
    Jul 19, 2015
    3
    I only made a account on metacritic just to warn people of this game. Although it has a nice soundtrack and the intention of the game developers probably was in the right direction, the end results is an abomination. The gameplay is horrible (click on everything until you can proceed, even bad for a click and point), the story has a lot of red herrings and the game is just TWO hours long!I only made a account on metacritic just to warn people of this game. Although it has a nice soundtrack and the intention of the game developers probably was in the right direction, the end results is an abomination. The gameplay is horrible (click on everything until you can proceed, even bad for a click and point), the story has a lot of red herrings and the game is just TWO hours long! If this were a free game I would give it an okay score, but this isn't the case. This game gets a lot attention because of the 'deep message' it conveys to the player. But unless you're a homophobic red neck who still believes in male supremacy, you will find the story ( and especially the ending) not groundbreaking but boring as hell.… Expand
  11. 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
  12. coustoe
    Jul 2, 2015
    1
    This isn't really a game, its just a boring marginal social justice story, it has no gameplay elements all yo do is walk around a house and find out that a girl has a lesbian lover and thats the story, no surprises twist interactive mutliple outcomes decisions nothing, this is not a game, and people who fall for this because the Social justice media tells them to like it are fools.
  13. douggernaut
    Jun 29, 2015
    0
    A lesbian coming of age story!! The very least they could do is tell you that. I heard stories of finding yourself alone in your home looking for your missing family. Sounded interesting..but no one would say anything more about it. Not what I was expecting. Feeling duped. If that is what you are looking for then enjoy! But it needs to be said out front...this is the story of a lesbianA lesbian coming of age story!! The very least they could do is tell you that. I heard stories of finding yourself alone in your home looking for your missing family. Sounded interesting..but no one would say anything more about it. Not what I was expecting. Feeling duped. If that is what you are looking for then enjoy! But it needs to be said out front...this is the story of a lesbian family member! That is all.… Expand
  14. Atr0s
    Jun 19, 2015
    4
    At first sight, it's a decent-looking game and you can interact with a lot of what you can see, and it's something you are supposed to do to get some insight in your character and everyone else involved. Unfortunately the game is about it, exploring an empty house and piecing together minor facts from the characters that advances the story toward the ending (with a few plot twists). TheAt first sight, it's a decent-looking game and you can interact with a lot of what you can see, and it's something you are supposed to do to get some insight in your character and everyone else involved. Unfortunately the game is about it, exploring an empty house and piecing together minor facts from the characters that advances the story toward the ending (with a few plot twists). The challenge is non-existent, there are no puzzles or any other sort of minigame, so this is more like an interactive book than a conventional game. A very short book, I must add.… Expand
  15. 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
  16. Mauraer
    May 31, 2015
    0
    If you enjoy pink haired hipster pretentious "art" pieces, passing as a videogame... you will enjoy this... else avoid at all cost...
    Not worth a penny
  17. RosstheBoss0
    May 7, 2015
    1
    Frankly a supreme warning, this game is simply walking around a house for 20 mins, while you listen to a girl tell you why she's not home, where it then ends. Nothing special, at all, this game is over hyped beyond belief most likely for its support by "feminist" and "lgbt" groups, whether or not they think its good representation, it by no means makes a good game.

    Barely worth £4 or    Frankly a supreme warning, this game is simply walking around a house for 20 mins, while you listen to a girl tell you why she's not home, where it then ends. Nothing special, at all, this game is over hyped beyond belief most likely for its support by "feminist" and "lgbt" groups, whether or not they think its good representation, it by no means makes a good game.

    Barely worth £4 or $6, it really isn't.    … Expand
  18. mariels
    Apr 21, 2015
    10
    Short and sweet first person point-and-click game. The story is the main selling point, so do not expect any heavy action. Do not buy this if you want anything action packed. Do buy this if you want to play a game that unfolds a really touching story. Excellent voice actiong.
  19. MikeMichaels
    Apr 14, 2015
    0
    This is not a game. At all. Tetris is a game. Fallout 3 is a game. This is a walking-around-the-house-when-you-have-nothing-better-to-do simulator.
  20. burntham113
    Apr 1, 2015
    10
    The most powerful game I have ever had the privilege of playing. It changed me, truly. Some people complain about the price, but I can tell you with no uncertainty, if this were a book or a movie I'd pay whatever I had to to get it.
  21. 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.
  22. AsraiLuna
    Mar 25, 2015
    8
    Gone Home has an intriguing storyline that can easily draw you in and keep you wondering what is going to happen next. The game is rather short and doesn't pretend to tell an epic level story, but rather tells the story of everyday individuals going through normal issues. When it comes to the mechanics of the game, the game is very obviously an exploration based game that is just tryingGone Home has an intriguing storyline that can easily draw you in and keep you wondering what is going to happen next. The game is rather short and doesn't pretend to tell an epic level story, but rather tells the story of everyday individuals going through normal issues. When it comes to the mechanics of the game, the game is very obviously an exploration based game that is just trying to get the story across. This can be seen as a negative thing, but I simply see it as different. It seems rather evident that the game would have suffered had it tried to make the game a survival or strategy type game, It just wouldn't make sense given the storyline. The graphics are nice and most importantly the game is fun.… Expand
  23. demacabre
    Mar 24, 2015
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the game why I no longer trust big publication reviewers. I bought this game for $20 based solely on the hype from video game reviewers. If it had a perfect score, it had to be good right? I cannot stress enough: "This is not a game." You walk around an empty house and click items to read. You can beat it in an hour, and the twist is as dull as it comes.… Expand
  24. justinconnell
    Mar 19, 2015
    8
    As we approach the second anniversary of Gone Home's release, I have somehow managed to dodge any major spoilers for this game. If you are fortunate enough to have the pleasure of playing through Gone Home under the same set of circumstances as I, you will be treated to a unique, multi-faceted story, that will keep you guessing from the start, all the way to credit roll. In an effort toAs we approach the second anniversary of Gone Home's release, I have somehow managed to dodge any major spoilers for this game. If you are fortunate enough to have the pleasure of playing through Gone Home under the same set of circumstances as I, you will be treated to a unique, multi-faceted story, that will keep you guessing from the start, all the way to credit roll. In an effort to praise this game without peeping even a fragment of a spoiler, all I can really say is this is a well written gem that can be played (and enjoyed), by all. Do yourself a favor, clear out an afternoon, put on your favorite headphones, and get to it.… Expand
  25. Taylor_
    Mar 16, 2015
    0
    a game with no gameplay,no way of losing ,no enemy's or challenges

    the focus is on the story ,a fanficion level joke that is so pretentious is laughable

    if you want a game with good LGBT characters go play a Telltale game
  26. theInsaneThief
    Mar 4, 2015
    2
    i will give a two because the music wasn't so bad i guess.
    i sure love video games where you do nothing at all,not everything must be action-filled to hell and back,but i would have rather spend this money on a good book or movie.
  27. PPartisan
    Feb 11, 2015
    9
    Very powerful game. I'll freely admit this isn't going to be to everyone's tastes, but I absolutely loved it. I would compare to Dear Esther, so if you enjoyed that, then I think it's safe to say you'll enjoy this too. In case you aren't familiar with Dear Esther, this game is unlikely to be like anything you've ever played before. Rather than a "game" in the traditional sense, this is aVery powerful game. I'll freely admit this isn't going to be to everyone's tastes, but I absolutely loved it. I would compare to Dear Esther, so if you enjoyed that, then I think it's safe to say you'll enjoy this too. In case you aren't familiar with Dear Esther, this game is unlikely to be like anything you've ever played before. Rather than a "game" in the traditional sense, this is a semi-structured, interactive story. You're roughly guided along a path, but along the way your own curiosity will allow you piece together the events that preceded your arrival. I feel it did this extremely well, so it gets a good score from me.

    This game had me hooked from the premise, "girl arrives home from a year abroad to find her house empty and family gone," and from there it never let me go. If this sounds boring to you, then the game isn't for you. If this has whet you're appetite though, then I think you'l love it.

    You spend your time in the game (I'd say between two to four hours gameplay) searching through the house, digging into the history of your family and the property, piecing together the bits of information you find into a narrative so that you can untangle the events that preceded to your arrival. The game helps you construct an image of the characters described along the way through discovered notes, newspaper clippings, sound-byte journals, audio cassettes and visual cues.

    If I could give one, very slight criticism, it was that I had a pretty good idea of what the ending was going to be a good time before it happened. However, there were enough up and downs along the way to keep me guessing. Overall a brilliant, subtle, and I would add very touching, that would be more accurately designed as an "experience" than a game. Brilliant work, well done.    … Expand
  28. Marcusdw
    Feb 4, 2015
    0
    Dreadful. Note really a game at all - wander round a house, uncover a rather dull story about a tedious family. Ghosts? Nah. Puzzles? Nah. Surprises? Nah. Save your money.
  29. DarkLordGig
    Jan 24, 2015
    0
    Why would any one play this. $20 for a **** story and no gameplay. You know what you should do with your $20 buy a better game such as LISA the painful RPG
  30. CJanrsgc
    Jan 21, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Gone Home, is a first person interactive story game set in year 1995, developed and published by The Fullbright Company. The player’s goal is to navigate Kaitlin Greenbriar, a 21 year old, through a mansion to finding clues. The game starts on June 7, 1995, when Kaitlin returns home to her family’s mansion in Arbor Hill, Oregon. When she arrives, she spots a note on the door from her sister, Samantha, telling her not to go looking for answers as to where she is. As she scouts out her new home, she realizes that no one is home. Where are her parents? What happened to Sam?
    The player takes control of Kaitlin, who can view objects in the game by picking them up and examining them. There is no direction given to you at all in the game, it’s an open world for you to discover, with much of the interactivity resting upon the player looking at objects and examining them on his or her own. The player does have a map, which they can access anytime in the game to see where they have been and where they are, some objects open new areas of the map for you, such as keys and old notes. The first puzzle in the game is to open the front door of the house. You are put in a small-enclosed space, which seems to be the front patio, the doors to the mansion are locked, and without direction, you must find the keys. Once the doors are open, you are submerged into the life of the Greenbriar family. For a game released in 2013, the design and graphics of the mansion and artifacts are at average. The developers who worked on Gone Home, also worked on a DLC pack for Bioshock II, and both show very similar art design and feel to each other.
    As you go deeper into the Greenbriar residence, you come across telephone messages, notes, and diary entries that give clues for you to unveil the dark corners of this family. You unravel the story of Kaitlin’s teenage sister coming of age, and the complicated details of your parent’s marriage. Kaitlin finds out through investigation that her sister is a lesbian, and has a girlfriend named Lonnie. As you uncover more of the map, queued narratives, voiced by Sarah Grayson (the voice of Samantha), start to play, unveiling the story of Sam and Lonnie, which eventually leads to the end of the game. The sound in this game is the most important factor. When you first enter the game it’s raining, you have no idea what is going on, you don’t know if this is suppose to be a horror game, or a murder mystery, you’re just put there. At first you feel a sense of fear, a fear of not knowing what’s to happen, and when you’re just casually strolling through the mansion, there will be a crack of thunder, put there to scary the bejesus out of you. The sound sets the mood; it creates mystery, causes you brain to come up with theories as to what is happening.
    Gone Home proves that a game focused on story and exploration, starring a non-traditional cast of characters can be quite enjoying. Even though I very much enjoyed this game, this may not be the game for the average gamer, but for someone like myself, who enjoys the combination of a good book and a video game, Gone Home is the perfect game. I would highly recommend this game, and give it a 9/10.    … Expand
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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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