Play Make Write Think

5:10: I am about to start playing the game Gone Home. I read some of my classmates’ posts and from what I saw, I’m expecting the game to be gloomy and mysterious–especially towards the beginning. Now I’m starting to get scared! I’ll keep you updated on this prediction as I walk you through my live experience playing Gone Home.

5:15: So here goes nothing… I’m standing on the porch. The vivid sound of the rustling wind creates an erie feeling for sure, and the darkness aside from the porch lamps doesn’t make me feel any safer. The game establishes a setting in a suburban neighborhood in Portland. I actually used to live there so this makes me feel even more creeped out. Does the game know me or something? Since I am alone and there is no dialogue between myself and other characters, I the game designers still make it feel like a conversation because I am prompted to do various things and interact with certain objects and clues. I predict this game will head to me looking for my family and never finding them. Perhaps something bad will happen to my character during this process. I am prompted to open the door and see this note addressed to me:

5:20: I feel even more startled now. Home alone in the suburbs in my big house? This just doesn’t feel right at all. I wonder what’s going on–it’s certainly not something good. Pulsating with fear, I conquer my anxieties and step inside. 

5:25: Wow! Isn’t my house nice! A beautiful velvet stairway extends before me. I look around and this is the grandest foyer I’ve ever seen. At least my parents left me with something… if I predicted right that they are gone. 

5:29: I open the drawer as prompted to and see a note written in loopy cursive handwriting. 

On this note are instructions and a map to a new house. At least that’s what I think it says. I’m having quite a bit of trouble reading this handwriting. I feel confused. I wonder… Am I supposed to follow this map or is it old? Who wrote it? Was I meant to find it or was it written for someone else? I’ll just hold onto this information for later if it comes in handy. 

5:34: I walk over to the desk in the foyer and see another myserious piece of paper. It looks like some sort of financial record or bill. I wonder what it’s for? 

Terrence Greenbriar… that must be my dad. I see the date on the top says August ‘94. This makes a lot of sense since the house does not have a modern feel nor did I see any electronics, such as a flat-screen TV or telephone. The grand total is $2750. For all the items listed, I would assume they would cost more. But I guess things were cheaper back in the ‘90s. 

5:41: I’m beginning to feel frustrated. I keep trying to open doors but many of them are locked. And I can’t seem to find the keys anywhere. I finally did come across something interesting, though. I opened a drawer and found this note from my roommate. It’s purple around the edges and glows in a way. 

It seems like this girl Carol and I were really good friends. I wonder how long ago this letter was written. She seems very inquisitive about my life. Maybe I am bad at keeping in touch? Oh wait… seems like she’s talking about me and leaving on my “European adventure.” This letter must’ve been written to my mom not so long ago since I just got back from my travels in Europe. The letter was opened so my mom must’ve been here not so long ago. I wonder where she is? I miss her a lot. I am having a lot of trouble piecing these clues together. I miss my family and wish I knew how to find them. I’ll need to keep playing another time to find where they went and why I’m stuck alone in this spooky mansion.

Gone Home begins with a very slow and ominous introduction. It’s interesting how it doesn’t begin with any imagery like a usual game, and just jumps into some random dialogue. It then proceeds to show a black elongated title and setting screen to hold suspense. It’s also interesting how the creepy plot twisting note on the door is left by “Sam”, a character who has not been introduced yet. The only character we know is the main (first person) character, who can be matched to the dialogue from the beginning. The first scene is supposed to be spooky, with rain pouring and darkness in every direction you look, even inside the house. I think the storyline of Gone Home is going to be scary and suspenseful, and gameplay will definitely be captivating.

22:01 Entering to the lounge: “Oh shit my mouse is too sensitive that I cannot control my cursor well. Why I am moving so slow?”

22:04 Searching things on the right side: “Oh, I can open the shelf. Oh, here is a map. Wait, do I need this map after I go outside of this building?”

22:08 Opening the closest door on the right side “Oh no… I feel like there will be a creepy thing inside… Oh, it’s just a closet. There is a name tag. I should take a look at it. Oh my god, my screen is lagging.”

22:17 Looking at the shelf on the right side: “Is there anything behind the shelf? Oh wait, there is a question mark. Let me click on it. Oh, what is this. I’m going inside. Oh, there is a key to go to attic. Nice! I’m probably going to need this later. I feel like there are more hidden entrances.”

22:28 Finding out that the right door is locked: “Oh my god. This game might take longer time than what I am expecting. I should have started this game in the morning.”

22:30 Starting search the left side of the lounge and hearing a sudden Sam’s voice: “There is a folder. Oh, so they just moved here? Seriously? Do I have to memorize all the things? (Taking a picture of this instead…) Oh ****! (I freaked out by the Sam’s narration.)”

22:32 Finding a letter to Sam talking about Daniel: “This guy is pretty suspicious…”

22:35 Finding a letter from the principal and hearing a sudden Sam’s voice again: “Okay… (Taking a picture of the letter…) Oh ****! (I freaked out again by the Sam’s narration.) I cannot get used to this sudden narration. Oh, so this house is haunted…”

22:42 Looking around the parent’s room (?): “JFK… I don’t know how these things are all related…”

23:15 Finding an “interesting” magazine: “Oh, this is a book about JFK. I see. Yikes. (opening the ‘interesting’ magazine) Wait, I thought this game is horror.”

23:18 Finding the combination: “Oh there is a folder again. This number should be the combination for something.”

23:32 Starting to realize what is going on: “Oh so Lonnie and Sam love each other. There might be a problem between them, and that is why Sam probably left.”

00:12 Guessing the combination correctly: “I already know the last three digits. I should just guess one digit. Easy. Oh there is a key to basement.”

00:30 Finding out about the relationship between Sam and Lonnie and what happened to Lonnie: “Yeah, I kinda knew it. Oh that’s kinda sad. Did Same leave to find Lonnie?”

00:51 Finding the entrance to attic and searching around attic: “Finally I found the attic. Oh Lonnie asked Sam to meet her again. Oh there is a green book. Is this ending? I did not even explore basement. Oops.”

This game is not a mystery game or a horror game. This is more like a “story” for me. As I played through the game, I learned what the game is about. I probably should not realize that there was a hidden door to get the key to the attic. Although the sequence of how I played was probably not right, I believe that I got some key points of this game. This game tries to reproduce the atmosphere in 1995 by placing many items that were common back in 1995 like a radio. Also, I believe that LGBT was not considered a positive factor in 1995 and that fact could be inferred from the story. However, I could see her father’s effort to understand Sam’s situation. Each member in the family could not see each other’s effort, but there was the warmth of the family.

#sq3

8:03pm – Just started the game and I’m already getting very creepy vibes. After my character comes back from studying abroad she arrives at a large, dark house on a rainy night. The first thing I noticed about this game was the sound design was very good. With headphones in I can hear the direction of the rain changing as I move the character. After walking around the house for a little bit I’m impressed by how many objects in the game I can interact with: from a phone to and answering machine, to random pencils and pens in drawers. The dates on the pieces of paper I pick up and lack of cellphone access make the setting unmistakably the 90s, which I think makes the game more interesting.

Another thing I’ve noticed about this game is that it is very dark. Even after I adjusted my brightness I have to turn on every light in the room before I can see what I’m doing clearly. This is a challenge for me and I hope it doesn’t get too irritating as I continue the game.

8:45pm – I’ve continued the game since the last post: walking around the house in search of clues for where my family went. I am oftentimes a perfectionist in story-driven games such as Gone Home, so I like to read most of the clues that are laid out. One interesting thing I’ve figured out about the family is that they (or at least one of them) are Kennedy Assassination conspiracy theorists. I found one book at first in the TV room, but then I later found a whole stockpile of them in a closet. I don’t know if this is relevant to the story, but I find these side details very interesting and I hope to investigate them further. For now though, it seems the main plot pertains to the friendship of Lonnie and my sister Samantha. After hearing the audio of Sam dyeing Lonnie’s hair, I’m beginning to suspect they might be more than friends.

Start game: 4:00 PM

Link back to course website: https://eng101s20.davidmorgen.org/quests/side-quests/side-quest-3-liveblogging-gone-home/

4:10: Some of the first clues I found are screenshots underneath. The audio quality in this game is excellent, my foot steps, sound of rain, thunder and relative positions in the house makes the game feel realistic. The sound of raining is much louder on the porch than inside. And each drawer, sliding door makes their unique sound during opening and closing. I am amazed by how detailed and realistic this game is.

4:22: I found a lot of notes from drawer, and reading them is becoming a little bit boring. I keep looking around the house for details and looked through every room, drawer and anything that can be picked up.

4:30: At 2nd floor, I found a clue about the secret room in parent’s bedroom, it was really cool to discover that door. I was a bit scared of the darkness inside, and the spiderweb after I turned on the light. The visual message is dark and intense, which is what I expected to find in this kind of puzzle game. The lighting and darkness are really helpful to convey that kind of emotion. I feel more involved in this game as first person. Still, I am trying to figure out

4:35: clues keep coming and I found 3 hidden cabinets in different rooms. Unlocking the lock was easier than I expected, I thought I have to figure out how to turn the lock, but I don’t need to. Time, background and setting are very much set up by the letters and as I read more, I started to understand more about the history of the family. I think this will lead to a murder case, and I hope I will not see blood or body in this game.

4:50: I really like the hand-writing style of the papers I pick up. The marking on my map makes it easier for me to track the spots. Also the ghost hunters makes it more dreadful. The tapes that I picked up can be used to play and give more clues as story progresses. Different media types for information input is useful to make this game more intriguing and involving.

5:08: I like this red color in complete darkness, I look forward to figure out what is behind that door.