Graydon Webb – Thnkfl fr th Mmrs

Gone Home (The Fullbright Company)

Credit: The Fullbright Company

A little disclaimer before we begin: I’m fully aware of the Fullbright controversy and the problematic person in charge of the team behind Gone Home. However, I think the game as a full product can and should be judged aside from that, as it is something truly special.

I vividly remember when I was first introduced to Gone Home. My friends in high school had been mercilessly making fun of it – as had the YouTube commenters of the time – because it was a walking simulator that could be technically finished in five minutes if you knew where to look. If you aren’t familiar with the game, Gone Home follows a young girl who returns home from school to find the house abandoned and full of various items that piece together the game’s story, as well as the mystery at hand. Finding the last clue is simple as walking through the door, looking behind a panel in the wall and heading to the attic, but doing so will have you miss out on one of the greatest indie game stories ever told.

It’s for this reason that Gone Home impacted me so much. Having seen the nearly perfect reviews across the board, I was intrigued, and played the game on the lowest settings while I was home sick with my mom’s laptop one day. I never could have imagined just how emotional I’d get on this 5-hour-or-so ride, but needless to say I watched the credits through a waterfall of tears. The most gripping aspect of Gone Home’s narrative is the forbidden love story at its core. Having a queer partner myself and often feeling like an outsider looking in on the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community, I always appreciate a well-written story that tackles these issues. Gone Home sucks you in immediately, and while the details are fuzzy because I haven’t played it in a while, I definitely recall putting the computer down and feeling deeply affected by the characters’ STRUGGLES.

If you’ve never played Gine Hime yourself, I can’t recommend it enough. I knew I wanted to mention it here because it’s one of those extremely special game experiences that changes your life the minute you take a chance on it. I chose Gone Home when most other people turned away from it, and instead I was led down a path of breathtaking indies, discovering the beauty of “walking sims” for the first time and really finding out how IMPACTFUL a narrative can be with very little interaction. Environmental storytelling, that’s what Gone Home exceeds with, and again this game turned me into a fan of said genre for years to come. Gone Home changed my life in so many ways, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

While each game we talked about we are thankful for, just remember that what a video game means to one person can mean something entirely different for another. Take care, be kind to each other, and from us at VGU to you, Happy Thanksgiving.