Gone Home isn’t really a game or at least I’m not sure it is. It’s an exploration simulator, if that makes any sense.
Basically, you play a girl who returns home after a year away and you expect to see your family at home. Instead, the house is empty and you end up exploring around the house to learn what happened and consequently, you learn about the people and their lives.
Anyway, I may not grab it right away, but I do plan on playing it when I get a chance. I’m curious about the whole thing and it sounds like a neat project. It will unlock on Steam tomorrow and will also be available DRM-free from the website. It’s $20, though I have no idea if it is a 2-hour or 10-hour game.
I just finished it and would compare it to “To The Moon”. A story with very few game elements in i.
It’s quite nice, though I would wait for a sale to pick it up. It’s getting rave reviews, which are a little high in their estimation, I think. It’s good, but sadly, not great.
Just bumping this to say I bought it, and recently played it. I won’t spoil it except to say that even though I only spent something over 3 hours on it, for me it was totally worth it. Very emotionally engaging. I guess it doesn’t hurt that I have a 3-years-younger sister, like the protagonist in this game does.
I seriously recommend not reading about the plot if you haven’t already. If you get it on sale, just know that it’s basically no puzzles, no combat, and you’re a young woman who returns home from Europe to find her family’s house missing both parents and sister, messages from her younger sister apologizing for not being there, and a mystery about what’s happened.
For those who’ve already played it:
I cried my goddamned eyes out at the end. And though in real life I wouldn’t advocate what happened, it worked here. I found I really liked her sister, very much.