You show up at your parents' home after returning from a flight abroad, but nobody's there. It's up to you to find out what's happened by examining clues and diary entries left behind by the occupants, your family. Although it may sound like the set-up to a thriller, Gone Home is a first-person interactive adventure driven purely by its story and characters. Set in the mid-1990s there are lots of references to things we all grew up loving: VHS tapes filled with X-Files re-runs, punk rock tapes and Super Nintendo cartridges. As your character explores the house, you find out a lot of things about your virtual family, their hopes, dreams, fears, especially those of your younger sister, whose life experiences keep the story moving forward. The environment feels organic and fully realized although a bit sparse. It's a solitary experience, but in the end, it's all heart. A true experiential, absorbing, interactive story, Gone Home is worth a look.
