Gone Home
A first-person exploratory game taking place in 1995 in which Katie, a university student back from Europe, arrives at her family's newly inherited mansion only to find nobody there, with a note from her younger sister Sam suggesting that she's left home. Katie must explore the mansion to put together the stories of where her parents have gone and why Sam has decided to leave.
What it feels like
An enigmatic pull of secrets half-glimpsed propels exploration—where is everyone and why has Sam left? The game invites reflection on family, identity, and the stories people keep hidden, without rushing judgment. A pervasive wistfulness underlies the discovery of family tensions, absent parents, and Sam's departure.
What it's about
Unraveling the central hidden truths—the family's circumstances and Sam's reasons—structures the entire experience. Family bonds, absence, and unspoken tensions are central to understanding why parents are gone and Sam has left. Sam's self-discovery and coming out as a lesbian anchors the emotional core of her departure.
How it plays
Core interaction is clicking hotspots to examine objects, read notes, and interact with the environment. Light puzzle-solving through observation and piecing together clues from the physical environment and found items. Searching scenes for objects, notes, and clues embedded in the environment drives the exploration loop.
How it looks and sounds
The entire game is played from a first-person perspective, seeing the mansion directly through Katie's eyes. Interface elements integrate into the fiction—examining objects and notes as part of the narrative exploration.
How it's structured
Designed exclusively for solo play with no multiplayer component; the entire experience is a single-player narrative exploration. A complete, self-contained experience finishable in 2-3 hours, designed as a brief, focused narrative encounter. Every room, object, and environmental detail in the mansion is deliberately authored by designers to tell interconnected stories.
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