Gone Home
A first-person exploration game set in an empty Oregon home.
Gone Home is a first-person exploration game, often described as a walking simulator, created by The Fullbright Company. The studio both developed and published it. Initially launched for Windows, OS X, and Linux computers in August 2013, it later arrived on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2016, followed by the Nintendo Switch and iOS in September and December 2018, respectively. The story takes place in 1995, casting the player as a young woman who has just returned from abroad to her family home in rural Oregon. She discovers the house empty and her relatives gone, prompting her to reconstruct what happened by moving through the rooms, inspecting objects, and reading journals.
The player controls Katie from a first-person perspective, allowing movement through the house and interaction with various items. There are no explicit objectives; instead, the game rewards exploration of new areas and discovery of messages. Most interaction involves looking at objects and notes. Progress depends on finding specific items that unlock access to further parts of the house.
On June 7, 1995, 21-year-old Katie Greenbriar (voiced by Sarah Elmaleh) arrives at her family’s new home in fictional Boon County, Oregon. Her father, Terry, is a failed writer who now reviews home electronics. Her mother, Janice, works as a wildlife conservationist and has recently been promoted to director. Her 17-year-old sister, Samantha (voiced by Sarah Grayson), has left a note on the door asking Katie not to investigate. As Katie searches the house, she uncovers the story of Sam’s difficult adjustment to a new high school, her friendship with Yolanda “Lonnie” DeSoto—a JROTC cadet—and their shared love of *Street Fighter*, punk rock, grunge, and the riot grrrl movement. After sneaking to a concert, the two became romantically involved. When Sam’s parents discovered the relationship, they forbade Sam from closing her bedroom door while Lonnie was present and denied that their daughter is a lesbian. With Lonnie set to begin military service, Sam was devastated. Two days after Lonnie’s farewell show—the same day Katie returns home, and during the week Sam’s parents are supposedly on a camping trip (actually a counseling trip)—Lonnie departs but later calls from a payphone in Salem, saying she left the bus and wants them to be together.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Gone Home
- Developer
- The Fullbright Company · BlitWorks (Switch)
- Publisher
- The Fullbright Company · Majesco (PS4, Xbox One) · Annapurna Interactive (Switch)
- Engine
- Unity
- Platforms
- Linux · Windows · OS X · PlayStation 4 · Xbox One · Nintendo Switch · iOS
- Released
- Windows, OS X, LinuxWW · 15 August 2013PS4, Xbox OneNA · 12 January 2016 · PAL · 12 February 2016SwitchWW · 6 September 2018iOSWW · 11 December 2018
- Genre
- Walking simulator
- Modes
- Single-player
- Designer
- Steve Gaynor
- Programmer
- Johnnemann Nordhagen
- Artist
- Karla Zimonja · Kate Craig · Emily Carroll
- Composer
- Chris Remo
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Fullbright Company was founded by Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonja, and Johnnemann Nordhagen, who had previously worked together at 2K Games on BioShock 2: Minerva's Den. They left 2K Games to form Fullbright, drawn by the prospect of developing an exploration game influenced by Minerva's Den through a small independent team. To reduce costs, the team moved into a house together in Portland, Oregon, and set up the office in the basement. The game was first prototyped in Amnesia: The Dark Descent's HPL Engine 2 before being completed in the Unity 4 game engine. The budget was less than $200,000, and development took seventeen months.
The initial concept involved a smart house with a central artificial intelligence and robots, but the team scaled this back to a regular household with no other characters visibly present, simplifying development. The narrative was designed around family, placing the player as a family member to remove morality concerns about exploring a house that did not belong to them. The game was set in 1995 because it was the most recent year in which technology had not made most communication digital, allowing the team to avoid accounting for digital communication in their storytelling. Inspiration also came from urban exploration, particularly Japanese haikyo.
Reader's Guide
Gone Home received generally positive reviews at release and is considered a landmark title in the walking simulator genre. The Fullbright team took concepts from their work on BioShock 2: Minerva's Den, particularly its focus on environmental storytelling and non-linear levels, to craft an exploration game that engages the player in uncovering narration through non-linear progression by searching the house. The game does not feature much interactivity but instead encourages the player to explore at their own pace and determine what has transpired by examining items, journals, and other objects. The team recognized that not every player would find every narrative clue, so they made the story flexible enough that players could understand the narratives without seeing every element. Gaynor was aware this approach was unconventional and considered the game a proof of concept that such games could be immersive, drawing the player in to fully explore and understand the narrative themselves. The reduced scope of the game—eliminating the need for character modelers or animators—allowed the small team to complete the project within seventeen months.
Did You Know?
- The Fullbright team previously worked together on BioShock 2: Minerva's Den.
- The game's budget was less than $200,000.
- The game is set in 1995 to avoid accounting for digital communication in storytelling.
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