Gone Home Review

Game: Gone Home
Year (s): 2013
Company: dev. The Fullbright Company
pub. The Fullbright Company
Engine: Unity
Type: Exploration, Story-telling
Viewpoint: First-Person
Metacritic Score: 86
My Score: A short, simple, nostalgic, feel-good game.


Price (as of July 16, 2014)


Regular list price on Steam: $19.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (excluding Steam activation keys): $35


My Game Time: about 2 hours


Obligatory Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXCJVEY5Lus






Plot and Gameplay


You play the part of a college-aged girl that catches a late flight home. It's storming, it's the wee hours, and you arrive to an empty house. Where is everyone?


The gameplay consists of turning on the lights and ransacking the place. In the process you read notes and activate narration.


Playing Street Fighter at 7-11, Don't Ask Don't Tell, VHS tapes, and bands from the 90's are brought up, which is cool if you're also my age.






Save System


Manual Save? Yes
Quick Save? No
Area Load Save? No
Checkpoint Save? I don't think so.






Final Thoughts



This is a nice little game. It's loosely similar to Dear Esther, except the ending is certain and the whole thing is more accessible. If you're looking for a neat short story-telling game without any combat, check this one out.