Your House Review
Your House
Publisher: PATRONES & ESCONDITES
Developer: PATRONES & ESCONDITES
Genre:
PEGI:
Comments:
Your House is an interactive, text-based mystery game that couples dynamic puzzles with vivid storytelling and delivers a video game experience pushing the limits of books and videogames alike. Your House by Patrones & Escondites, creators of critically acclaimed title Unmemory, is a 1990s-set prequel adventure. The game traces the story of Debbie, a troublesome teen, as she unravels the mysteries of an unknown mansion following an anonymous birthday postcard and key.
The game is based on the groundbreaking idea of “text as gameplay.” The player engages with the spotlight words in the text to navigate from room to room, search for clues, and complete puzzles. The game is hence turned into an interactive book, where action and word are purposeful and significant. The puzzles are difficult and escape-room-like, very well integrated into the narrative to add to the experience without hindering the story flow.
The plot is set out in five chapters, with each following the themes of identity, motherhood, and the price of freedom even deeper. Debbie’s journey is haunting and moving when she finds secret doors, hidden rooms, and hidden passages within the mansion. The house itself is a living dilemma that reveals nested tales of individuals who go against society to fulfill their own dreams.
The noir comic look of the game is impressive, having an atmospheric setting that casts the same mystery over the story. Besides that, voiceovers throughout the story and stunning sound design enhance the experience.
Strengths
Innovative Gameplay: The text-based interaction is captivating and promotes close reading.
Immersive Storytelling: The combination of gaming and literature provides a new and interesting way of storytelling.
Challenge Puzzles: The escape-room-style challenges are well thought out and intriguing.
Weaknesses
Short Length: The game is too short for some players, leaving them wanting more.
Hint System: The hints, although useful, sometimes are prone to misleading or pointing to out-of-sight items.
Verdict
Your House is a gem of an indie game, with a dense story, new gameplay mechanics, and a strictly visual experience. With its brevity and intermittent hint system glitch issues, it is nonetheless an offbeat and unrememberable one. As a fan of mystery or interactive novel games, you owe it to yourself to try this title.
Trailer
Article By Kevin Austin
Kevin Austin has been in gaming journalism in one way or another since the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube. Married and father of 3 children he has been gaming since the ripe age of 6 when he got his first NES system and over 30 years later he is still gaming almost daily. Kevin is also co-founder of the Play Some Video Games (PSVG) Podcast network which was founded over five years ago and is still going strong. Some of his favorite gaming series includes Fallout and Far Cry, he is a sucker for single player adventure games (hence his big reviews for Playstation), and can frequently be found getting down in one battle royale or another. If it's an oddball game, odds are he's all about it.
Follow Kevin Austin on:
Twitter: @PSVGKevin