Overview:

The critical and public reception to Gone Home has certainly been...interesting. Is it a game? Is it not a game? How can something that isn't a game be game of the year? Who gets to own the definition of terms, by what metrics, and to what end? And why, if the "point" of Gone Home is its story, should it be expressed as a game in the first place? These questions of what makes a game, how interactivity and player agency provide meaning, and of what design philosophy and specific techniques were used in Gone Home to create an interactive experience that resonated deeply with players and critics will be addressed from the perspective of a designer that brought years of AAA experience to bear on a small, self-funded indie title that made some of 2013's biggest waves.