Favourite Games of 2013: Number 1 - Gone Home

(PC)

I have been following news on Gone Home for a while and have been waiting patiently for its release on PC; my excitement and anticipation only grew when I heard that Steve Gaynor was involved in it, who previously worked on the excellent Minerva’s Den DLC for Bioshock 2 as writer and lead designer.

According to the official website Gone Home is an “interactive exploration simulator.”  Set in the 1990s the simulation has you returning home after a year abroad expecting your family to be at the door waiting to greet you, only to find that the house is empty.  The rest of the game is spent exploring the house for details of where your family are, and has you wondering if anything has happened to them.

A certain age group should find Gone Home to be a very emotional nostalgia trip down memory lane, noticing all those VHS X Files tapes stacked on the bookshelf or listening to the Grunge/Punk music found on the various cassette tapes scattered throughout the house - should strike a chord with individuals that grew up as a teenager during the 90s.

Gone Home is very much a game that follows the rule ‘the more you put into the game, then the more you receive out of it,’ meaning that more thorough investigation will reveal greater facets of the story and also even unravel other elements that are not essential to the main story, but help better understand characters and gain a whole new meaning to the overall story.

Gone Home will take approximately 4 hours to complete, thus it is best experienced by setting aside a few hours and playing in one sitting – oh, and do not forget those headphones for complete immersion.