For this week’s exquisite edition of my horror show, we’re all going to gather round and gape in disgust at a fantastic game I bought for 49p in the Steam Halloween sale.

Let me put that in context: for 49p you could buy 49 penny-sweets, or you could buy two Freddos. OR you could buy an excellent and provocative indie game. Home is a 2D horror/murder mystery presented in that nostalgic pixelated style that is so popular amongst indie devs. The protagonist, who looks like an early 90s rendition of Nathan Drake, wakes up in a strange house and finds a dead body. After several sinister discoveries, which lead the main character through blood-soaked tunnels and an abandoned factory, one goal becomes clear: he needs to get home quickly. He needs an explanation.

The game play is very simple and offers no challenge. The player moves the character from left to right, exploring the relevant environment for clues and puzzle items The puzzles aren’t complex, and usually just involve finding a key and then using it on the appropriate door. There are no enemies and no danger. Theoretically, the player could probably plough through the game in half an hour if they ignore the flavour text and go straight through door after door, but for the story to make sense, exploration is essential. The flavour text is all well-written and elaborates on the narrative, but also more importantly, the flavour text elaborates on the main character’s state of mind. The only window the player has into the mind of the man they’re controlling is through his description of the things he encounters.

The key mechanic of Home is giving the player choice. The story is told retrospectively, and at many points through-out the game, the main character will ask the player ‘Did I do this?’, and the player then has to choose whether or not the character did. The result is that each player will have a completely subjective experience. I completed the game twice, and each play through was vastly different. Most of the time, the choices are fairly throw-away and don’t alter the story to any significant degree, but the less important questions lead the player into a false sense of security. Eventually, the player is hit with a question that completely alters the story. I cannot remember the last time I felt so immensely pressured by a video game, and I haven’t felt so guilty as a result of a choice made in a video game for a while either. I was playing and enjoying Home for about an hour when all of sudden, I was hit with this horrible question, and I was the one who had to answer. It’s worth playing Home just for that amazingly horrific moment.

In terms of its credibility as a horror game, Home isn’t that scary. The fact that the main character is never in any kind of peril reduces the fear factor that most horror games attempt to capitalise on. For the most part, Home is more eerie and unnerving than downright terrifying. As body after body is discovered, each worryingly connected to the protagonist, the player will be disconcerted by a deep-lying sense of dread, coupled only by the burgeoning realisation that this nightmare will probably not have a happy ending, if it has any ending at all.

Atmospheric to the last, Home uses grim environments and a subtle soundtrack to scare the player. For the most part, the game is silent except for footsteps and the player’s actions such as opening doors. Occasionally a loud noise will startle the player, but not to any significant degree. But despite its lack of shrieks, grotesque mutants and people getting their faces ripped off, Home managed to shake me up with one simple question: ‘Did I ….. .. …… ….?’ You’ll have to find out for yourself.

I really would recommend playing this game. It’s unique, intelligent and engrossing. The story, warped by the player’s decisions, will continue to engage long after the hour it takes to complete it. It’s cheap and I’ve never played anything like it before, and that’s a beautiful combination.

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