Okay. So. I know this game has been out for quite a while, but I hadn’t played it before and it seemed like both the perfect game to restart my streaming efforts and also a game worth playing in general. I found the game rather circuitously – first buying Tacoma based on the name alone, and then realizing the same studio had another, earlier game. Being a person who likes to play things in order, even if they’re unconnected, I promptly left both games in my Steam library for a year for no real reason.
The game starts, as good mysteries do, on a stormy night around 1 AM with the player returning to the family home after being away for months. A note on the door addressed to Katie (we the player), begs us not to go looking for our sister, Sam. Naturally you know we aren’t going to go to sleep, we’re going to wander around the house trying to figure out what’s up with our baby sister.
My favorite part of the game is that you can poke through any old cupboard or closet, and my least favorite part is that there’s almost always something you can pick up and examine that has nothing to do with anything. I tried to explore everything (and have since discovered that I still missed parts), and there was still so very much to see. I couldn’t trust anything to be irrelevant, which meant that despite the hall tables never having anything in the corner sections I still checked every time. I know when I eventually play this again I’ll find even more things lurking in nooks and crannies I completely missed the first go around.
The background music is very subdued and doesn’t overpower the storm outside, but the cassettes you can find around the house are a the true musical gems. They’re a delightful mix of 90’s Riot Grrrl bands, including pre-Sleater-Kinney Corin Tucker’s band Heavens to Betsy. Bratmobile and The Youngins are also *chef’s kiss* excellent soundtrack additions.
Digging around in other peoples things was both satisfying and a bit sad. The graphics are solid enough to feel like a properly stocked home in a slightly stylized manner. They hold up after seven years, letting me enjoy dissecting these people’s lives without distracting pixelation. Similarly, investigating the house is easy with the point-and-click play-style, minimal inventory, and a self-populating map keeps the controls bare but effective.
I’m mad it took me so long to pick this up, and madder still I let it sit unplayed for even longer. A short (around two hours), atmospheric narrative game that is both wistful and charming. I did spend more time then I would have liked picking up toilet paper and pens, but that won’t stop me from saying it’s a well worth playing. Preferably on a dark and stormy night, but I’m not your boss, play it whenever you like.
Rating: 9/10
Synopsis: A daughter comes home to an empty house and searches for answers to where her sister went, while uncovering other family secrets along the way.
Book recommendation: If you enjoyed the teen romance in the midst of family drama, I’d recommend It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura. Alternatively, if you’re really fascinated by the idea of a time traveler going back to the Kennedy assassination, 11/22/63 by Stephen King might be for you.
AO3 Tags: angst, that soundtrack though, first messy parents room ive ever seen, why are there so many markers and empty binders, i still want that goose though
Content/Trigger Warning: See Page 2
Gone Home
- Developed by: The Fullbright Company, Blitworks (Switch)
- Published by: The Fullbright Company, Majestico Entertainment (PS4, XBox One), Annapurna Interactive (Switch, iOS)
- Available systems: PC, iOS, OS X, Linux, Switch, PS4, XBox One
- Original release date: August 15, 2013
- Gameplay: First person, exploration, adventure
Eva's Corner 