What makes Gone Home so special is that finding this stuff is not necessary. It’s compelling to dig through the human detritus much more so than in any other game. It’s the journey that matters. Finding clues or being led from one location to the next is satisfying, even if it is obvious. The more stones overturned, the more stones appear. Discovery is the game's right hand. Inference is the left. The environment explored is one that belongs to people and that’s what spurs on the desire to keep investigating. It’s a human story.
Gone Home is a story of people. Fake people, yes, but approaching the real life a little too close for comfort. It’s a game that has flayed and pulled the bones out of classic design, leaving only the tender, succulent morsels. It can be bland if looked at games as something needing confrontation and challenge, but simultaneously simply perfect. Perfection in storytelling in only the way a game can achieve, but also not truly a game. Gone Home is something that needs to be experienced, but not by everyone.