Title of the Game: Gone Home
Game Developer/Studio: The Fullbright Company
Game Genre: First-person, interactive exploration simulator
Audience: Grades 9-12
Learning Objectives and Standards Addressed: Communication and collaboration, character development, story analysis, social and emotional learning (SEL), self-reflection, critical analysis of evidence, and theme.
Context: Gone Home was developed and released worldwide in 2013. Originally, the game was released for Windows, OS, and Linux computers. However, Gone Home was available for Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and iOS by the end of 2018.
Goals and Rules of the Game: There are no specific goals for this game. Players are encouraged to play at their own pace and to use their powers of observation to piece together the story of the Greenbriar family. To progress through the game, players must explore the house, search for messages, and find and inspect objects that allow them to unlock access to other parts of the house and unravel the mystery.
Storyline/Narrative: In Gone Home, Katie arrives home after a year of living abroad. Expecting her family to be home, Katie is surprised to find the house deserted and a note from her sister begging her not to investigate what happened while she was gone. After locating the hidden house key, Katie enters the house and discovers most of the family’s possessions still in boxes. To figure out what has happened to her family, Katie must piece together clues to uncover the mystery of what happened to her family while she was gone.
Number of Players & Player Interaction: Gone Home is a single-player, interactive exploration game. Many consider Gone Home to be a “walking simulator” since it lacks the normal interactivity one expects in video games. However, the diverse, engaging story captures the attention of players. With the freedom to explore at their own pace, players examine items, journals, and other items left in the house to determine what happened to Katie’s family.
Spaces or Environments: Set in Oregon, Gone Home takes place in the mid-90s. Nods to the era are sprinkled throughout the game- notes passed between characters splashed with teenage humor, Street Fighter II references, a zine the characters make, and bootleg tapes scattered about. When players first enter the game, they find themselves on the front porch of an old house. Players navigate around the house using common gaming controls. The house is mostly empty, with minimum furnishings. Throughout the house, players will see similar sideboards, books, fixtures, and accessories in every room. Arbor House is filled with various trinkets that players can pick up and investigate. These trinkets contain hidden clues that help explain the family’s backstory and help players unlock new areas of the house and hidden passageways.
Core Mechanics: In the game, players walk through the house, picking up objects and examining them for potential clues. Players can open and close doors, turn lights on and off, and pick up and investigate items. Throughout the house, players will find notes and recordings that they can read and listen to as they try to better understand the Greenbriar’s struggle with uncertainty, heartache, and change.
Description of Gameplay: After living abroad for the last year, Katie arrives home late at night. Expecting to find her family waiting for her, she is surprised to find an empty house. The only sign of her family is a cryptic note from her sister. To get into the house, Katie must find the hidden house key to unlock the door. Once players help Katie to find the key, they are unable to unlock the door. However, when they enter the house, players are introduced to the main characters, aka the Greenbriar Family, through documents, voice recordings, and artifacts dispersed throughout the foyer. Players must travel through this room before choosing to head up the main staircase or down the west hall. From that point on, players control how they move through the game. Players move through the house, inspecting objects and gathering clues about the family’s disappearance.
Audiovisuals: The game’s designers focused more on environmental storytelling than action-driven gameplay. Throughout the game, narrative elements are used to support players as the explore story elements. Due to the small size of the development team, the team decided to make the house more like a regular household without any other visible characters to simplify game design. Much of the game’s art is influenced by the riot grrrl movement of the mid-1990s. Throughout the game, remnants of 90’s paraphernalia appear as items around the house including a Pulp Fiction ticket stub, VHS tapes, Magic Eye autostereograms. The game features music from the riot grrrl bands Heavens to Betsy and Bratmobile. The game’s original musical score was composed by Chris Remo and featuring over 30 minutes of music that accompany the game’s main exploration gameplay, with unique music also scored to each of the game’s audio logs.
Progression & Levels: Gone Home does not require players to navigate through a specific sequence. Instead, players have the option to explore rooms at their own pace. Since not every player would not necessarily find every narrative clue, the game designers make the story flexible enough that every player could understand the narrative without seeing every element of the game. The level of difficulty remains the same throughout the game. Although, there are no specific goals to pursue, players not left completely on their own. The game offers gentle guidance through gated areas that are unlocked as they find keys or secret passages. Although there is a definite end to the game, much of the context and story details are left up to the player’s imagination.
Academic Content: Gone Home does not address academic content directly. The game does not require any prior knowledge. Academic content is not used as a tool for achieving goals. Instead, players must collect evidence and use the clues to uncover themes within the story. Using the clues they collect, players are encouraged to engage in story analysis and personal contemplation.
Cognitive Processes Required: The primary cognitive process required in Gone Home is analysis of setting, character development, evidence, and theme. Players apply clues they collect while playing to determine what happened to the Greenbriar family. Relatable characters and an engrossing storyline promote personal reflection and story analysis from a social and emotional angle.
Learning Theories Embodied: Constructionism is the primary learning theory of Gone Home. In the game, players are trying to figure out what happened to the Greenbriar family. There is no clear-cut path to “win” the game. Instead, players travel through the house in their own way at their own pace. Along the way, players discover new information and make connections between the various clues they collect along the way. Players construct meaning and draw conclusions by pairing the clues within the story with their own personal experiences.
Instructional Strategies Incorporated: Although Gone Home is a simple, walking simulator, the developers engage players in the game by building mystery and intrigue. It takes a little creativity to make this game work in the classroom. The game itself does not have any built-in assessment or scaffolding strategies. However, teachers can use journals or annotated screenshots to aid students as they collect evidence in the game.
Overall Evaluation: Gone Home’s greatest strength is how it utilizes storytelling elements to help the player learn about the Greenbriar family and what has happened in their lives since Katie’s been gone. The game respects the player and allows the player to make sense of the evidence collected to form their own conclusions about the game’s characters.
The biggest drawback for the game is that it lacks adventure and competition. As mentioned, the game is considered a walking simulation without any goals or challenges. Since game play mostly involves moving from room to room examining objects, many players may become bored. If players do not connect with the storyline, they may lack the motivation needed to follow through to the end of the game.
Reflection: Despite the low risk of failure in Gone Home, I still had trouble with the game. I choose toplay the game on my iPad, which probably made it more difficult to move around the house than if I had played on my computer. Since I am not familiar with first-person, interactive simulations, I found myself wasting a lot of time as I tried moving from room to room. However, I didn’t feel pressure to move fast, and I appreciated the fact that I was able to move through the house at my own speed. Like many people who reviewed the game, I found myself intrigued by the story. The story was realistic, and I was motivated to keep going because I wanted to learn more about the Greenbriar family.