Author: Jay

The video game “Gone Home” starts off by showing an image of a big house, which turns out to be the house of the narrator, located in between trees. This image of a grand house reminds me of typical haunted houses full of mysteries that we see in scary movies. If you take a look at the image more carefully, you can notice that there is only one room with the lights turned on. The low, heavy background music plays a part in creating a creepy mood. The time and the background cannot be neglected. It is 1:15 in the morning, and the narrator has come back from the Europe trip. In the background, there is a heavy rain and thunderstorm, a great setting which creates a heavy, scary and covert atmosphere. I would not be surprised if the ghost or zombie comes out of nowhere during the game.

This game is peculiar in a sense that it is the first person narrator but in a confused manner. There are many first person narrator games out in public, but majority of them, as far as I know, have clear instructions and can be easily followed through the written message or the verbal voice. Though there are written messages and the verbal voice in this game, they are not as clear as other games I have played. Also, the “instructions” or clues you can get are not given, but from the various things the narrator picks up as the narrator moves around. To illustrate, when the game first started, the narrator was standing in front of the door of her house; I was confused with what to do with the narrator. The narrator was in the closed area, and the way out was through the door, but it was locked. I did not know that I had to look for key until I actually found it, because there wasn’t any message or sign to look for the key. Normally, most games I have played give direct hints about what to do in the beginning. The only message we get in the very beginning in “Gone Home” is the letter from Sam posted in front of the door which says do not look for Sam herself. Unclear instructions challenge us in a sense that we do not know how the plot of the game will unfold. It enforces us to pay attention to all the details of the game we encounter.

Even though the only message in the very beginning tells us not to look for Sam, it arises enough curiosity for us to put ourselves in the shoes of the narrator and continue searching for clues to find Sam. In fact, there is another mystery within the mystery, bringing us to delve into what really happens to Sam. In general, “Gone Home” is the type of game I have not played before. Though unclear instructions are challenging, I found it intriguing; I was surprised by myself that I was so immersed in the role of the narrator looking for Sam.