http://www.gonehomegame.com/

I hadn't heard about this game but it looks really interesting, and it will be out in less than two weeks.

This is a exploration-based game made by veterans of 2k Marin and Irrational games. You play as a girl coming home after a year abroad to find your house empty and no sign of your family, you must then explore the house, open every drawer, pick objects and look for clues as to what happened.

I just wish it was coming here. I get why it's on Steam, they offered a place to all the IGF finalists, but they also have a DRM-free version on their website, so I see no reason for them not to be here as well.

I like the Penumbra-esque gameplay. It will probably show up here eventually.

Oh yeah, remember reading a preview several months ago and hadn't heard about it since. Indeed, the game doesn't seem to be getting much coverage. Seems *very* interesting, though.

Looks a bit amateurish for devs like these. Also going along with the new "art games" thing. Something along the lines of this.

Well, Dinner Date is fucking awful and it's just 15min of hearing an annoying man bitch about his life while all you do is make the very important choices of "eat biscuit" or "drink coffee".

This game seems interesting because they seem to be making the entire house fully interactive, and instead of being a set of scripted occurences, the story moves forward according to your actions exploring the house.

P.S.: In case you haven't noticed, I really, really hate Dinner Date.

Well, this looks like an extended version of Dinner Date where you get to walk around. The chick will look at stuff in her old house, reminisce about her family and younger years. I mean, if this is just a slightly different version of a point & click where there's actually a decent story planned out and you have to do something to finish it - cool. If you're just walking around the house and pressing on items and hear the story in little bits - seems like a waste of talent.

Don't worry, I'll draw you a 'Congratulations, you have won!' card that you can slap on your screen once you put the entire story together.

Really looking forward to this one. Always loved games based on exploration and environmental storytelling.

Thanks, wish that would make the game look any better.

Of course if this ends up not being another pretentious "game", maybe I won't even need your card.

The game came out today. Already bought it. Might post some first impressions later.

Oh good, it made it out on schedule. I'll be getting it myself, though probably will kick myself for it later when it comes to GOG cheaper and with extras. Still, it's supporting good developers who are taking a chance at something different.

Alright, I played it for a while now.

Gameplay is limited, yes, it focuses only on exploration as advertised, but it's still engaging. It really feels like you are slowly uncovering a mystery. You pick up a letter here, a bookmark with some scribbles there and you start to get a feel for the history of this family. Like any good mystery, there's an urge to try and solve it before the story is done, and I think I know what happened; but I half expect it to surprise me at some point and prove me wrong, which is a good thing of course.

You don't have access to the entire house right at the start though, at the moment I have two locked doors and a locker to which I still haven't found the keys, or combination, for.

If you are the type of gamer that craves mechanics or challenge then you probably already know this isn't for you, but if you are the type that enjoys exploration, both in the environment and story sense, then you should definitely give it a shot.

Doesn't even look like a game to me tbh, just a 3D walkthrough of a house. Are there puzzles?

No, like I said it's an exploration-based game.

I have heard about it and developer's team and the game itself look interesting. I would like to try it. Their Buy Now button doesn't work however it looks like they sell it via HumbleBundle. I guess GOG will lose another sale from me.

EDIT: I see there is working button at the bottom. $18 for probably short game and without demo is too high for me, though. I'll wait for price drop.