@ IceBrain:

Good point, but then again who are we to question the authors choice of medium when telling a story. You don’t usually see people criticizing a movie by saying it would have worked better as a novel. Or a comic book by saying it would have been much better it it was realized as a television series.

I like to think that games can be, like any other medium, a conduit for artistic expression. One that can, and should be used to tell any story and explore any subject. Whether or not a mechanic works for a specific subject is perfectly valid discussion to be having. For example, I don’t think Shelter gameplay worked at all. But that does not mean it should not have been made in the first place. I think it’s important that games like that are made, because it opens up the medium to different types of stories people want to tell. And even if this particular game doesn’t work, or isn’t great it still teaches us something about game design and interactive storytelling. It’s difficult to invent brand new paradigms of gaming without taking some baby steps and making some mistakes along the way.

That said, I really do think the mechanics of Gone Home do work. It doesn’t really seem that exciting when you read about it, or watch a short clip of gameplay, but when you are playing it becomes very immersive. There is just something about picking up objects and rotating them that feels natural, and the story sucks you in. There was a moment near the end when I actually dreaded going into the attic because I half expected to find Sam’s body there.

But that’s my opinion. Saying this particular mechanic did not work for the story is also a valid opinion. We can compare experiences, discuss problems with the approach, and how they shape the narrative, and how things could have been done better. That’s a constructive discussion. We are talking about existing games, what makes them work, and how to improve things. We are not trying to de-legitimize titles based on the subject matter, or create artificial barriers for entry. Saying that the themes and topic matter of Gone Home is not appropriate for a game however is rather problematic because you start of by putting hard limits on what should and should not be done with the medium. For example, why is heroes journey style story appropriate but teenage romance isn’t? What is the benefit for having such limits?

I mean, it’s not like there is a limited space on the internet. The medium isn’t going to fill up with unconventional indie games. They will have zero impact on the mainstream AAA releases because they are not even in the same galaxy content/gameplay wise. They don’t hurt anything or anyone by existing. In fact, I would say they enrich the medium by providing original and unique alternatives to mainstream titles.

@ Liudvikas:

Yeah, the price is a little steep. I grabbed ot for $7 when it went on sale on Valentines Day so that was nice.

It seems interesting, but the price is a bit too steep for a 2.5 hour game. I will add it to my wishlist and buy it on summer sale. Nevertheless it’s a good thing we are getting games with something other than heterosexual white male as a protagonist.

So, I like your post, but I’ll push back a little, if you don’t mind ;)

While I’m certainly not going to claim “this is not a game” or write scathing reviews or tell people who like it to “kill themselves” – because I’m not, you know, an asshole – I have to wonder what about that story makes a game the best medium for telling it. Because to be frank, the whole idea of pushing for storytelling games feels like the opposite of content-first design; we have this medium, now we want to fill it with content regardless of whether it fits or not.

The story as you described reminded me of something I’ve read earlier this year, a graphics novel called Blue Is the Warmest Color, which features similar themes, and at the time I felt the drawings really added an emotional layer to the story (particularly the colors). But here, I just don’t see what is to be gained from telling this story through game mechanics.

This is not to say I think games must lack a good story, obviously not. But I do think it should flow from the gameplay and not the other way.