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Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
Game
Game2013
Gone Home
Developer Fullbright
Gone Home is a first-person walking simulator video game developed and published by The Fullbright Company. Gone Home was first released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux computers in August 2013, followed by console releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in January 2016, the Nintendo Switch in September 2018, and iOS in December 2018. Set in the year 1995, Gone Home puts the player in the role of a young… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
324 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
76
LovedLoved
176 positive · 55 negative
95% range 70–81%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 176 | 55 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 23 | 5 | 52 |
| Mastodon * | 6 | 0 | 7 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
11,411 of 14,816 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
78% recommend · 172 yes, 48 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 220 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (14,244 of 18,474 positive).
Players praise the game's emotional queer story and atmospheric exploration. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note it is a short walking simulator with no horror elements. [1][4][5] A few players found the story underwhelming or the gameplay dull. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [14]
I'm sorry but this just wasn't what I thought it would be. For $15 it was an extremely simple game to get through in a short amount of time and nothing like what I thought I was getting. [WARNING: SPOILERS] The game I thought I was purchasing: Girl returns home to visit family but everyone is gone with no notice. The family also lives in a large, creepy house that has a history to it. You must search the house to …
- [1]
It's a short game, a simple walking sim that tells the story of a family broken. And if anyone was expecting jumpscares or spooks, none here (to my relief lol) as someone who is able to relate to Sam in some way -keeping spoilers free - i found this game very touching. would recommend for those who have an hour or two to kill to just explore and immerse yourself in the story.
- [2]
First off, this is not a horror game, but the dread throughout the entire game is completely intentional. Some people don't seem to get that but that's how being queer is. This story cuts deep especially for queer people. This story is supposed to make you uncomfortable, sad, angry, and sick. And if you feel nothing from this game; did you even pay any attention? If you don't feel anything or don't see the world …
- [5]
I recommend the game overall, but only if you can grab it for under $3. It is a very short game, and a bit underwhelming. The atmosphere of the house was very cool and I loved the throwback to the 90's (as a 90's kid myself.) However...that being said, the plot was a bit juvenile. I was expecting more of a thriller-type game, and this was definitely not it. So, accept these things for what they are, grab this game …
- [3]
I first played Gone Home back in 2017, and I was actually so scared that something bad had happened to the family! There was such an ominous feeling all throughout the Greenbriar estate, I was certain somebody died. All I have to say now is that I'm SO glad I played this game. Such an emotional story, can't recommend it enough!!
Summarised from 34 of the 302 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Gone Home talk about emotional and touching queer story; those who didn't talk about very short with low replay value. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Gone Home received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Emily Morganti for Adventure Gamers commented that Gone Home had a "realistic, engrossing story that's beautifully told through environmental clues and audio narration" and that "many people read books for the opportunity to see life through someone else's eyes, but it's rare for a game to do it as well as this one does." The Financial Post's Matthew Braga also noted that "This is a game that some will hold up as forward-thinking evidence in the ongoing debate of games-as-art", adding that the game was made to "plumb the depths of experience outside of gaming's typically targeted white,…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 324 · most liked firstThis is correct. See, for instance, all the gamers who sent me angry DMs for my glowing review of Gone Home because that game had a "political agenda" (it focused on a high school romance between two teen girls) and games should be apolitical, like the Call of Duty games they liked so much.
positive · AI labelView post →I'm sorry but this just wasn't what I thought it would be. For $15 it was an extremely simple game to get through in a short amount of time and nothing like what I thought I was getting. [WARNING: SPOILERS] The game I thought I was purchasing: Girl returns home to visit family but everyone is gone with no notice. The family also lives in a large, creepy house that has a history to it. You must search the house to figure out what happened to your family all while a crazy storm is going on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gone Home ✅ I’ve been playing smaller games whilst I wait for Expedition 33 and this was perfect (finished it in one sitting lmao). I’m a sucker for a game where you explore a big house, find secret passageways and piece together the story.
positive · AI labelView post →Its a game setting off gamers collective PTSD and they think Zoe Quinn is going to put them in the basement again and make them play Gone Home forever.
neutral · AI labelView post →hmm love saving my game in Ocarina of Time and then loading it to find that Link has GONE HOME TO THE WOODS AND HAS TO TRAVERSE THE LANDS ONCE MORE....... the hell
neutral · AI labelView post →The Quiet Things is now LIVE ON STEAM! WOOHOO 🥳 If you enjoy indie narrative games like Gone Home or What Remains of Edith, you might like our little game ❤️ I have one favour to ask, if you do play it, please do leave us a review, it helps indie so much 🙏 store.steampowered.com/app/2288520/...
neutral · AI labelView post →i actually thought about 1920's avant garde art as a comparison point for my game Problem Attic, & i wasn't the only one during that period. but gamergaters were more mad about stuff like Gone Home and just confused if at all aware of the avant garde stuff, which is where this comparison breaks down
neutral · AI labelView post →now - when the discourse has moved on from both the hype and the anti-hype - is perhaps the best time to finally play Gone Home nebula.tv/videos/innue...
neutral · AI labelView post →i remember being in the trenches when GONE HOME was receiving all this critical acclaim. this neogaf thread (lol) from 2014 had people calling it "the worst game of all time" lol www.neogaf.com/threads/did-...
neutral · AI labelView post →39. Gone Home a walking sim video game where you're in an empty house in the 90s during a storm, and you have to solve puzzles to figure out the (very queer) story. it feels like a horror game but it's not. one of the only video games my mom has ever played (she enjoyed it a lot)
positive · AI labelView post →Got my boyfriend to play Gone Home, end up both of us CRYING during the ending. I love that game so much
positive · AI labelView post →I'll never forget finishing Gone Home and mentioning to a colleague who's played it how utterly impressed I was by how it disguised itself as a horror game only to pull off the most elegant and incredible bait-and-switch, and he said 'What are you talking about?'
positive · AI labelView post →All in all.. rather dull? It had the possibility to be something more but it's just a walking sim. You can pick up/interact with a few things that just feel kinda pointless? I feel like it could have been something but it just isnt
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Haunting of Joni Evers - Uncover The Mysteries of the Cunningham House | Full Game Playthrough This gave me "What Remeains of Edith Finch" and "Gone Home" vibes, really great game with a great story. Thank you to @causewaystudios.com for the key! youtu.be/B-0uyi3m7sw?...
neutral · AI labelView post →setting aside the absolute batshit drivel that follows, "the point of a game like Grand Theft Auto is to identify with the character" is a massively unhinged take. A game like the Gone Home or Life is Strange, sure. GTA? what??
neutral · AI labelView post →I got this before Steam introduced the refund feature way back in 2014 and I still feel ripped off.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →That Ian Bogost “perpetual adolescence” Gone Home article needing to be repeated every time a reasonably high budget art game comes out. Whoopee!
neutral · AI labelView post →a podcast! In case you have not heard me talk about the thing I talk about the most in public (it's Gone Home), or if you just want more for reasons known only to yourself, the lovely folks at Dev Game Club shall provide www.devgameclub.com/blog/2025/7/...
neutral · AI labelView post →This might be a hot take, but games like this and Dear Esther gives the whole walking sim genre a bad name. I know some people hated this game, because instead of a interesting mystery they got coming of age story instead. However, that's not the main issue. What is, is that it's a mediocre at best. The writing is often eyerollingly melodramatic and the ending reminded me of that one episode of Simpsons, where Marge, after reading the tale of Joan of Arc, makes up on the spot much happier…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When Gone Home came out, I too was once a stupid little punk who was like. “this is so lame. Not even a game. What a load.” And then suddenly I was a woman. I take it seriously and I played it and I was tearing up. Sad to see not everyone has gotten there yet.
positive · AI labelView post →He played all of Gone Home and never once noticed it presented itself as a horror game and didn't believe me that it did. I think of it all the time. It's vital to the design and he didn't just not see it, he argued that it didn't exist.
positive · AI labelView post →Throwback to that time I got high and spent all night taking every moveable item in Gone Home and rearranging them to look like a demonic ritual
neutral · AI labelView post →I'll never forget this really terrible article about accessibility that conflated "accommodations for people with disabilities," with "can run on weak hardware" and "isn't hard like Dark Souls" and tied it together saying that Gone Home was the most accessible game ever.
neutral · AI labelView post →"Where's the puzzles? Where's the mystery? There's no dead bodies or psychic premonitions or harsh orchestral stings as I turn a corner and a door closes on its own! There's nothing here but great voice acting and atmosphere and wistful remembrances of what I thought the world was like when I was a young person!" -- Direct quote from me, an idiot
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →5. If you do something repeatedly in the game, try to show it at least twice in the trailer! For example, if your game is a Zelda-like game then locked doors are a thing. But until we see evidence, your game could be a story driven game where there's only one locked door like in Gone Home.
neutral · AI labelView post →Wanderstop is another game that stood out during the SGF. The creators worked on Stanley Parable and Gone Home. Super excited to see the twists they've added to this "cozy" story about a fighter trying her best to slow down in a new life
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm taking my first crack at a spoopy game and I'm pretty excited about it. If you like What Remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home, Bluebeard's Bride, or Betrayal at the House on the Hill - you're gonna like this one.
neutral · AI labelView post →It's a short game, a simple walking sim that tells the story of a family broken. And if anyone was expecting jumpscares or spooks, none here (to my relief lol) as someone who is able to relate to Sam in some way -keeping spoilers free - i found this game very touching. would recommend for those who have an hour or two to kill to just explore and immerse yourself in the story.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gone Home was, alphabetically, the next unplayed game in my library, so I clicked Install and started playing without reading the description or user-defined tags first. And I loved it. It's a shame those who went into this expecting a poop-your-pants horror experience can't break from their own internal narrative to appreciate the narrative of another, but most of the negative reviews I've read say more about the psychology of the reviewer than they do about the story in the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not even a real game. One of the earliest forms of a walking simulator and something only non-gamers, art-house mongrels, and game journalists played. There is no gameplay. If you've played Amnesia The Dark Descent and screwed around with throwing objects in a room, THAT is the "gameplay". Story is: Rich upper class white American girl comes home from a vacation to Europe in the 90s and trashes her own family's house to find out her parents are getting a divorce (man's fault of course) and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →12 Memory Lane is a home exploration game in the style of Gone Home or What Remains of Edith Finch, but with unique logic puzzle elements. Here’s my review sightingames.wordpress.com/2026/03/05/r...
neutral · AI labelView post →The polycule are playing Gone Home and I kept hearing them mention "Ranger Rick" and I was so disappointed to learn the game does not actually have my favorite magazine from my own childhood in the 90's, just some guy named Rick who happens to be a ranger
neutral · AI labelView post →First off, this is not a horror game, but the dread throughout the entire game is completely intentional. Some people don't seem to get that but that's how being queer is. This story cuts deep especially for queer people. This story is supposed to make you uncomfortable, sad, angry, and sick. And if you feel nothing from this game; did you even pay any attention? If you don't feel anything or don't see the world differently because of this game, go take a long hard look in the mirror.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had fun, but Gone Home is a really specific kind of game that is difficult to recommend generally. I don't think this holds up anymore in an age when much more compelling walking simulators exist. I like the low-stakes nature of the game, but the mystery here just isn't that interesting.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Blue Prince is like if Gone Home and Outer Wilds had a baby. Been playing it all day, very interesting game.
neutral · AI labelView post →"Gone Home" is definitely a favourite among many at The Chinese Room. If you're yet to experience either game, our very own "Dear Esther" and equally atmospheric "Gone Home" are currently available together in a Steam bundle at a great price - store.steampowered.com/bundle/75941...
neutral · AI labelView post →the entire game is walking and reading but the movement is laggy and sometimes you have to read bad cursive. and the voiceover sounds sanctimonius.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played & finished Gone Home (2013), which I knew nothing about going in. It's a short adventure game where you come home and pick up clues about what's up w your sister, who you find out is in love. There's not a ton of game play, per se, but it's well done and emotional for what it is. I dug it.
positive · AI labelView post →Gone Home 2-5 hours to complete, Gone Home is a walking simulator where you play as Kaitlin Greenbriar, who after spending a year away for College, finds herself exploring the new house her family moved into in an attempt to figure out where her family is after being unable to contact them. Explore every room and piece together what happened, find out why everyone is missing and what happened while you were away. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3758513542 Overall, Gone…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dear prospective player, All of this is a nicely dressed up lie of a sales pitch, we were expecting an investigation or perhaps even some mysteries written in toilet paper (those who played will know) we tried everything, we hoped for anything but we were sorely dissapointed. The story is borishly linear, an uninspired mystery on nothing. In the end there is nothing to do in this game, it's a walking simulator in an empty house that promises much but in the end delivers nothing. As for our…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this games story is like you figuring out where your family went after you took a mid day nap lol
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’d say this goes as far back as Gone Home, a good game that was impossible to have a thorough conversation about.
positive · AI labelView post →Opened Steam for the first time in years. Games: Baba Is You, Return of the Obra Dinn, every single Cyan game in all possible versions, The Witness, The Invincible, SOMA, FEZ, Machinarium, Antichamber, Braid, The Dream Machine, Gone Home. I'm so first-person-adventure-game/metrioidbrainia brained
neutral · AI labelView post →I played this game more then 10 years ago for the first time and it left me very impressed. Recently when I got my steam deck I went back and played this game again since I was in a mood for a good but short story based game and I saw that they had added achievements. It was nostalgic to return and I knew the story was memorable and interesting, but after 10 years I had forgotten a lot of the details. Gome Home is a story exploration game with some light puzzles. You play as a young girl…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Choose 20 games that greatly influenced you. One game per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, no particular order. #GameChallenge #Games #GameDev #PromoSky _______ Day 9: Gone Home (2013, Fullbright)
neutral · AI labelView post →What was the first game you played that showed you the medium could be more than "just" entertainment? I think for me it was Gone Home.
positive · AI labelView post →STOP!☝️ You have reached the INDIE GAME checkpoint. You are now legally obligated to share your favorite indie game! Gone Home is in my Top 5 of all time and I cry just talking to friends about it
positive · AI labelView post →I recommend the game overall, but only if you can grab it for under $3. It is a very short game, and a bit underwhelming. The atmosphere of the house was very cool and I loved the throwback to the 90's (as a 90's kid myself.) However...that being said, the plot was a bit juvenile. I was expecting more of a thriller-type game, and this was definitely not it. So, accept these things for what they are, grab this game for cheap, and play it on a stormy evening to pass a couple of hours.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What you see is what you get, great little short story about a troubled family in the 90s. Only reason it sits at mostly positive is because people bought a story game and then got mad that it was story based.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →sweet story, fun finding all the hidden elements, kinda pricey for under two hours of playtime with no walkthrough, but worth getting on sale. BUT JEEZ FOR BEING A WALKING SIM YOU SURE WALK SLOW!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I never played this game when it first got big, but it's been on my list of games to check out for a long time, and I finally found myself in the mood for a walking sim yesterday. Wow. I really should have played this sooner. One of the most enjoyable stories in indie games. If, like me, you've never checked it out, stop reading this review and go spend the next couple hours playing through it. Don't read anything else, don't go in with any expectations, just go play. The rest of this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boy, are you gonna love the game Gone Home
neutral · AI labelView post →You plainly couched it as the "anti-censorship" claim that GamerGate was making in 2014 Which is just overtly a lie as, at the same time, GamerGate was still absolutely trying to censor any game that had any similarity to Gone Home, and would later vehemently try to censor any pride flags in games
neutral · AI labelView post →In addition to game of the year Kentucky Route Zero, I'm adding Gone Home, Dear Esther, & What Remains of Edith Finch. There are so many more.
neutral · AI labelView post →Was just gonna mention Gone Home lmao, the game is full of noises and eerie settings and you just expect the horror shoe to drop at any moment, but it never does
neutral · AI labelView post →I usually never type out reviews because I cannot be bothered, but I really wanted to type one here. I remember being like... maybe 10-12 years old when my father bought this game for me saying it was a "murder mystery" only for me to play it and be absolutely floored by the ending. This was WAY before I came to terms with my pansexuality--hell, I didn't even know what bisexual was! But I remember being a little girl watching the credits fading with that illuminating font and just... silent. I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Waking sim where you pick stuff up, kind of a mid reveal to the mystery
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super disappointing game. The setting and level design are both good, but the story leaves a lot to be desired. It essentially boils down to ‘girl is lesbian and her parents don’t like it so she runs away from home with her girlfriend,’ though ‘boils down to’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting, as I didn’t have to boil down much at all to get that summary. The characters are one dimensional and uninteresting, and the one instance I saw the game trying to avoid that fell flat because it was a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I first played Gone Home back in 2017, and I was actually so scared that something bad had happened to the family! There was such an ominous feeling all throughout the Greenbriar estate, I was certain somebody died. All I have to say now is that I'm SO glad I played this game. Such an emotional story, can't recommend it enough!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have zero evidence to back this up but it feels like Horses is being targeted bc it superficially "looks like" a transgressive art game in terms of its style. kind of like how conservatives used to hate Gone Home despite knowing nothing ab its content just based on the gay vibes it was putting off
neutral · AI labelView post →
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