It does not rely on monsters, ghosts or murder to create fear for the player. Gone Home is a perfect example of visual design creating fear. A lot of the time good art direction is just as important to a game’s scares as the gameplay itself or the monsters”. In his blog post, “Creating Horror in Videogames: Topics, Tropes and Atmosphere” Panzadolphin56 states that “visual design is a key factor in atmosphere, and thus tension, and thus fear. Video of the player entering the basement in Gone Home: -wHuffn3g?t=489

We are sure every person at one point in their life has been uneasy about entering a dark basement and made a beeline for the light switch in the same way the player does in Gone Home. This moment of the game is incredibly immersive because of how relatable it is to real life and the associations being made in each player’s mind. We have all seen enough horror movies to know that it is never a good idea to go into dark basements, especially if you are alone. One of the strongest visual horror moments in Gone Home is when the player has to enter the pitch black basement. At every turn in Gone Home the developers rely on well-known horror tropes to mislead the player into believing they are about to uncover something terrible all the while telling a beautiful love story. The natural response of players upon finding these objects, is to wonder if the house is haunted, which is another popular horror trope.

Furthermore, as the player progresses in the game they come across a Ouija board accompanied by a note written by the dead owner of the house, and a pentagram in a secret room under the stairs. However, this feeling is only momentary as the keen eyed player will soon discover that it is not blood in the bathtub, but hair dye. If the initial tone set by the house is not enough, early in the game a bloody bathtub is found by the player thus adding to the players’ earlier suspicions. The game uses the horror trope called “nothing is scarier” in which the player “ desperately wishes to know what has happened, so imagination fills in the blanks and their minds provide the content, using what the individual considers scary, which has an advantage over Show, Don’t Tell because not everyone finds the same thing scary”. Gone Home refuses to explicitly state what is going on, and invites the player to explore a dark and perhaps abandoned house. The setting of the game is a large, unoccupied dark house. As the player continues to explore the house, many subtle allusions are made to various horror movies. The house is mostly dark, apart from the main foyer, which is the only room that is illuminated. Within minutes of exploring the house and observing the surroundings, an unsettling atmosphere and tone is set, making it easy to suspect that something terrible has happened at 1 Arbor Hill. Players are intentionally mislead through the game’s visuals, sounds, lighting, clues, and written notes. Gone Home does not simply rely on narrating a story, but instead encourages each player to create a unique narrative in their heads. Various horror themes and tropes are utilized in order to set the atmosphere of the game world, and misdirect players into following a false narrative that heightens suspense and creates a deeply immersive game-play experience.

Gone Home is a game that uses each component of its content for a specific and well thought out purpose.

Some direct movies, others write literary novels or draw, but no matter the medium they choose to employ, there is always a purpose to their work. There are numerous forms of media that artists can utilize in order to convey the themes that resonate with them.

Gone home tvtropes