Gone Home
I really cannot speak highly enough about indie developer Fullbright’s story-driven adventure game Gone Home. It’s not a horror game by any stretch of the imagination, but that doesn’t stop them from steadily building a sense of dread, which is added to slowly, in a very subtle way and with a deft hand until it all culminates in a big “reveal” at the end of the game.
I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t played it yet. It follows a young woman named Kaitlin, who comes home after being away for a substantial amount of time. The feeling that something is wrong is made immediately apparent thanks to the storm that’s brewing outside the empty, unfamiliar house. The story is told through a series of notes left by Kaitlin’s younger sister, Samantha, who has been having a rough time. Like Heavy Rain, Gone Home is driven entirely by its story, and it will likely resonate with anyone who grew up feeling like they’re “different” from everybody else.
It’s scary, but it’s nearly impossible to explain why it is without hinting at its ending. Just know that this is essentially a ‘coming of age’ story, and it is, in my opinion, a must-play. Kevin summed it up nicely in his review, where he called Gone Home a “genuine, heartfelt experience that will take some back to their childhood, while simply taking others on a journey that you must see to the end.”
You’ve made it to the end, congratulations. If you have something that affected you like the above games did to me, feel free to share it in the comments below!
