27 Nov 2013

Games I've been playing

8:52 am on 27 November 2013

I thought I would share with you all some of the games I’ve played recently that I’ve really enjoyed. So here they are!

Gone Home

The first time I heard about the game Gone Home was when its maker, The Fullbright Company, decided to pull out of the PAX conference due to issues with the owners of the conference. Curious I found the synopsis to the game on their website.

June 7, 1995. 1:15 AM.

You arrive home after a year abroad. You expect your family to greet you, but the house is empty. Something's not right. Where is everyone? And what's happened here?

Gone home is an interactive exploration simulator. Interrogate every detail of a seemingly normal house to discover the story of the people who live there. Open any drawer and door. Pick up objects and examine them to discover clues. Uncover the events of one family's lives by investigating what they've left behind.

Go home again.

First let’s talk about what Gone Home is. It’s a first person interactive story video game. The plot focuses on exploration of its setting, your family’s home. You’ve gone on your OE, have returned to an empty house. Your job, to find out what has happened to your family.

I found this game quite immersive when I put on my noise cancelling headphones. The highly detailed environment is great and you’re able to interact with just about every item in the game. You can open a drawer, a cupboard or even pick up toilet paper.

I don’t want to spoil too much but I really loved the story. As I found clues around the house, the story grew into something I didn’t expect, in a good way.

Fetch! A boy and his dog

I am going to be completely honest. I want a puppy. So I downloaded this game onto my iPad one night because it had a dog in it. No other reason. What I was surprised about was the cute game I actually ended up playing.

The game is free to download to give you a taste of what you’re potentially buying. The artwork is cute. The shading is really pretty with vibrant colours. The characters are simple and cute. The main story is based around a boy named Milo, whose best friend (Bear) gets kidnapped. Your job? To find your best friend, of course!

Milo and his best friend Bear

Milo and his best friend Bear Photo: Fetch!

Fetch! is an adventure game with some smaller arcade games inside. You go through levels to track down your beloved dog Bear. It kept my attention throughout the levels which can be hard sometimes. I do recommend playing this on a tablet, rather than a mobile, to get the full awesome of the artwork and of the backgrounds within the game. It is a short game but for $1.29 (for the full game) I thought it was worth the price.

Fetch! A boy and his dog is available on iTunes. Unfortunately it’s not on other platforms.

Hopefully these are some boredom busters for you. I hope you enjoy them. Are there some games you think I should have a go at? Let me know via Twitter or Email.