by Imagine waking up in a strange house and having no recollection of what happened to your wife, your friends, your job, your home, and the rest of your life as you know it. Only by meandering through the darkness and stumbling upon grim clues can you begin to piece together the horrific tale that lies at the heart of Home. But exactly what that tale is depends on the choices you make and how you perceive each twist you encounter along the way. An experiment in interactive storytelling, Home is equal parts unsettling and puzzling. It’s an absorbing – albeit terribly brief – journey that will ultimately leave many of your burning questions unanswered.
Home builds a strong sense of atmosphere and tension from the get-go. As the nameless protagonist, you’ll set out to explore your surroundings armed with only the dim illumination from a pixelated flashlight. Since you can only see what’s within reach of its glow, you never know what you’ll stumble upon until you’re right on top of it. This, paired with a medley of eerie sound effects that pop up sporadically, generates a feeling of uneasiness to the adventure. The introspective storytelling helps too, adding layers to the back-story that add to the mystery and creepiness.
Minimalistic gameplay helps you focus on the unfolding tale. Aside from moving left and right through side-scrolling pixel art settings, you can tap on interactive elements to bring up dialogue about them or use doors and stairways. The actual puzzles you encounter are pretty minor – a few levers to pull, a few keys to find – but they do add to the experience without getting in the way. Many items you pick up actually appear to play into the story, influencing how it takes shape and which optional asides you witness. The fact that the tale changes based on your decisions is a cool touch, although burning through this game in just over an hour leaves you feeling a bit unsatisfied, since the assorted resolutions don’t quite fill in the gaps. That’s by design, but you’ll inevitably want more from this quirky experiment.
The bottom line. A great spooky aesthetic plus ample atmosphere enhance the unsettling storytelling in this indie adventure, though it’s just a bit too compact and open-ended.
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