As someone working on literary spaces, this game friggin struck me. It plays almost like a chamber piece, using a single setting as a masterful example of environmental storytelling. I also find it funny that a conspiracy theorist, speculative fiction writer father is having a hard time accepting that his daughter is gay. Bachelard would adore this game.

I never played this game when it first got big, but it's been on my list of games to check out for a long time, and I finally found myself in the mood for a walking sim yesterday. Wow. I really should have played this sooner. One of the most enjoyable stories in indie games. If, like me, you've never checked it out, stop reading this review and go spend the next couple hours playing through it. Don't read anything else, don't go in with any expectations, just go play. The rest of this review will contain major spoilers. You have been warned.

I think my favorite thing about Gone Home is the way it plays with expectations and uses "vibes" as a red herring, only to constantly subvert them. The setup is basically a classic "haunted house in the woods" trope, and the developers want you to come in feeling creeped out and on-edge. The story beautifully teases what appears to be dark mysteries and painful secrets, only to constantly reveal characters who you never see or talk to but who feel like real, authentic people just trying to get through life. So at first you think you might be dealing with a scary supernatural situation, then you start wondering if it's more of a murder mystery kind of set up, and over the course of the game it gradually dawns on you that what you're really experiencing is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about a young woman figuring out who she is and what she wants out of life.

Supporting all of this is a well-painted picture of two middle-aged parents each dealing with their own midlife crises and past issues, and trying to figure out how to go on in their marriage as their two daughters reach adulthood.

I think, oddly enough, one of my favorite moments in the game is when Samantha's childhood friend, Daniel, who she has described as a "weirdo" and has been built up as though he might be nefarious and have done something to her, instead simply turns out to be... a good friend. This sort of reverse-betrayal is one of my favorite things in fiction these days, when somebody surprisingly turns out to be a much better person than you expected. And it's emblematic of the game's entire clever premise; pull you in by teasing darkness, then reveal light instead.

A wonderful, well-crafted game worthy of all its acclaim.

Gone Home nails the concept. The house-as-a-story idea, environmental storytelling, and low-friction narrative exploration are genuinely well done and still impressive for its time. Wandering, piecing things together, and letting the space talk to you works. I really loved the concept.

That said, the actual story didn’t land for me at all. Sam, the central focus, comes off as painfully pretentious and self-centered, and instead of feeling emotionally resonant, her narration often felt smug and overwrought. I kept waiting for depth or self-awareness that never really showed up.

Worth playing if you’re interested in narrative design or walking sims as a genre benchmark. Just don’t expect the story itself to be universally compelling.