Critical Play: Play Like a Feminist

Gone Home

Target Audience: who wants to explore feminist themes games

Creator: The Fullbright Company

Platform: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Gone Home is an exploration game that focused on narratives that can be analyzed through feminist lenses. Players follow the story of Katie Greenbriar, a young woman who returns home to find her family mysteriously absent. As players explore the house, they uncover personal artifacts and diary entries that piece together the narrative.

The game is good at portraying female characters, providing a refreshing departure from typical video game tropes. It challenges the traditional notion of femininity by focusing on intimate and emotional storytelling, rather than relying on action-packed sequences.

However, the game’s feminist exploration has its limitations. Gone Home fails to fully deconstruct traditional notions of femininity or gender through its gameplay mechanics. While it offers a female protagonist, it lacks the clever subversion of gender roles found in games like Lara Croft or Bayonetta. Additionally, the absence of any challenges or conflicts related to gender or queerness limits the game’s potential to engage with these themes more deeply.

“The house has a traditional white American setup, and the diary too. I wish there was more diversity.”

To improve Gone Home to incorporate more feminist perspective, we could also explore the experiences of people of color, queer individuals, or individuals with diverse backgrounds to provide a more nuanced representation of identities.

Another games in this genre are Florence and Monument Valley 2 where the game celebrates emotional labor by exploring the nuances of a relationship. Gone Home could similarly emphasize the emotional and relational aspects of the characters’ lives, while still maintaining its core exploration mechanics. Gone Home could offer a unique and empowering perspective on familiar roles by centering on emotional connections and familial bonds.

Discussion question: How do we still target audience at the same time as trying to be inclusive because they seem to go in different direction?