Diversity & Inclusion, Gameful Experiences, Higher Education & Scholarship, Playable Stories Archive

Gone Home

https://gonehome.com/

Entry by Kevin Ghouchandra

A. BASIC INFORMATION

Creators: The Fullbright Company (https://fullbrig.ht/)

  • Steve Gaynor (Design, Writing)
  • Johnnemann Nordhagen (Programming)
  • Karla Zimonja (Art)
  • Kate Craig (Art)
  • Emily Caroll (Art)
  • Chris Remo (Composition)

Creation technology: Unity

Publisher: The Fullbright Company and Majesco Entertainment (PlayStation 4/Xbox One), Annapurna Interactive (Nintendo Switch/iOS)

Date of original release: 15 August 2013 (Linux, Windows, OS X)

Platforms: Linux, Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Google Play

Version used for entry: Nintendo Switch Ver 1.0.4

Peripherals required: Speakers/ Headphones

Rating: ESRB Mature 17+

Awards/Distinctions:

  • Independent Games Festival 2013: Excellence in Narrative
  • British Academy Games Awards 2013: Best Debut Game
  • Polygon Game of the Year 2013
  • Game Developers Choice Awards 2014: Best Debut (The Fullbright Company), Game of the Year (Nominated)

B. GAME INFORMATION

Game/eLit Genres: Adventure, Mystery, Walking Simulator

Time to complete: Main Story, 2 Hours; Completionist, 3 Hours (from How Long to Beat)

Replay required/useful? A single attentive playthrough will reveal the full story. 

Gameplay: While the atmosphere of the game (an empty old house at night time during a storm) evokes familiar tropes from the horror genre, there are no dangers that the player character, Katie, will encounter. The player plays Katie from a first-person perspective, and the gameplay consists of Katie walking around the house and examining objects to piece together the events of the story. This consists of reading the text on objects, noting contextual clues, listening to Sam’s audio journal entries, turning lights on, getting past locked doors, and finding secret areas using maps left behind by Sam. Objects that can be picked up can be rotated to inspect them from all angles. Certain objects like keys and codes need to be found in order to access particular areas of the house.

C. LITERARY INFORMATION

Related Literary Genres: LGBTQ+ Fiction, Mystery Fiction, Horror Fiction, Coming of Age Novel

Story/Plot Summary 

On a stormy evening in June 1995, Katie Greenbriar, after a year in Europe, arrives at the Oregan home her family moved into while she was away to find it deserted, and a note on the front door from her younger sister Samantha (Sam), telling Katie not to look for her. Katie (the player character) explores the empty house and pieces together what has happened to Sam and their parents. The story, as it emerges from Katie’s exploration, is summarized as follows: 

Terry, the father, is a struggling author who has published two alternate history science fiction-adventure-thrillers focused on a protagonist named John Russell, the plots of which appear to revolve around the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Due to the low sales of these books, Terry was dropped by his publisher. A friend gets him a job writing tech reviews for a magazine, but his increasing depression causes his reviewing to suffer, until even that job is threatened. His depression also puts a strain on his marriage. A possible reason for this increasing depression is suggested by clues alluding to an estrangement between Oscar Masan, the uncle he inherited the house from, and Terry’s parents when Terry was a pre-teen. When a publisher specializing in esoteric books offers to republish his novels, Terry finds his passion for writing revived, even inspiring a new John Russell manuscript. 

Janice, the mother, works for the state forestry service, and is dissatisfied with her home life due to increasing distance from both Sam and Terry. A ranger named Richard Patermach is transferred to her station, with whom Janice quickly finds a connection. As she spends more time in and out of work with Rick, her letters confiding in her old college roommate Carol and her indulgence in romance novels featuring hunky forest rangers suggest her growing feelings for Rick. Upon being invited to a concert with Rick, she finds out that he has a girlfriend, and Janice’s crush comes to an abrupt halt.

Terry and Janice eventually decide to go on an impromptu couples counseling retreat disguised as an anniversary trip, which explains their absence from the house when Katie arrives.

Sam is the main focus of the story. In Katie’s absence, she decided to record her thoughts in journals, framed as letters to her sister, scattered throughout the house. Initially she struggles to make friends in her new environment and becomes known as the ‘psycho-house girl’ due to her great-uncle Oscar’s reclusive reputation in the town (after suddenly selling his pharmacy business). She finds a connection with another girl at school, Yolanda “Lonnie” Desoto, who is not fazed by Sam’s reputation. The two begin to bond over exploring the secret areas of the house, reading up on the supernatural (including holding a seance to summon Oscar’s ghost), listening to Riot Grrrl music (featuring music from the real Riot Grrrl bands Bratmobile and Heavens to Betsy), dyeing Lonnie’s hair, and sneaking off to a concert. The two develop romantic feelings and begin a relationship in secret. 

As time passes, Sam begins to dream of a long-term relationship with Lonnie. Sam’s dropping grades and a field trip where Sam and Lonnie get lost and almost get left behind raise Terry’s and Janice’s concerns about Lonnie‘s influence on Sam. After her parents confront her about this, Sam tells them about her relationship with Lonnie. They respond with denial. 

Lonnie plans to enlist in the army after graduating at the end of that school year, generating anxiety in Sam about their future together. As Lonnie’s date to leave for basic training comes close, the two resolve to make the most of the time they have left together. The two spend their last night together in the attic and when Sam wakes up, Lonnie is gone. However, it turns out that Lonnie has decided not to go to basic training if it means her and Sam being apart, and she asks Sam to run away with her. Sam packs up her things, leaves a note on the front door telling Katie not to look for her, and leaves to start her life with Lonnie.

Suitability for Teaching

Gone Home features a developing romance between two young women and thus can be studied as an LGBTQ+ story. Gone Home features a nuclear family, but problematizes this heteronormative structure with each of the characters, demonstrating how the ideal of the nuclear family does not match real life. Sam comes out as lesbian and ultimately chooses happiness with Lonnie, Janice considers having an affair, Terry is both not the stereotypical breadwinner of the family and has his own history of an unhealthy, possibly abusive, relationship with his uncle (as well as his father).

The 1990s setting, the presence of Riot Grrrl cassettes around the house, and zines made by Sam and Lonnie, make Gone Home an excellent depiction of youth culture in this time period. Sam’s development as an individual tracks the youth-to-adult course of many coming-of-age stories, although, rather than growing into her ‘proper’ place in society, as in the conventional bildungsroman, Sam chooses to reject conventional family and social life, and strike out on her own path in life. Much of the game focuses on Sam’s inner and outer turmoil as she understands and realizes the life she wants to live. Sam develops her own sense of art (through zines and music), sexuality (through her relationship with Lonnie), and independence (through leaving). 

Because much of the game consists of finding clues around the house to piece  together what has happened, Gone Home is an strong example of environmental storytelling. Henry Jenkins describes how games use space as part of the narrative experience, arguing game spaces “can provide a staging ground where narrative events are enacted; they may embed narrative information within their mise-en-scene.” This creates space for interpretations of the motivations and what happened in the past to the Greenbriars. The house is the character that Katie is mostly interacting with, and it provides most of the story to her and the audience.

In a fundamental way, Gone Home is a mystery story, where the player, as Katie has to find and interpret clues to discover what has happened to her sister and parents, who she expects will be home to greet her after her return from Europe. Like other mystery stories, the player must make inferences and construct hypotheses about what has happened based on clues found in the house. As such, Gone Home would be suitable for a course focused on mystery fiction.

Additionally, Katie arrives at night in a storm at a large, old, and unknown house, which clearly invokes familiar tropes of the horror genre. The game uses this atmosphere to create tension and apprehension in the player, although these fears are ultimately diffused as the exploration proceeds. For example, when walking into the upstairs bathroom, the bathtub is covered in a red liquid that is easily mistaken for blood, until looking closer and seeing the bottle of red hair dye, or hearing about dyeing Lonnie’s hair in one of Sam’s journal entries reveals it is not blood. Throughout Sam’s journal entries, she makes vague references to the attic and leaves notes that imply that Katie will not find her, which might lead the player to believe that Sam’s absence is a result of her committing suicide in the attic. Instead, we are given a happy and heartwarming ending. Gone Home is an interesting example of a work that uses horror tropes to impact the player emotionally without being a work of horror.

D. WALKTHROUGH

General tip: Turn lamps and lights on; it is helpful to leave lights on to establish where you have been already (though the map does this as well). Also pay attention to the text that appears to prompt object interaction, as this can sometimes communicate Katie’s feelings about the objects to the player. The map will update as you find clues about secret passages as well as explored rooms, and will prevent you from getting too lost.

First Floor (west wing)

Front Porch

The game begins with a voicemail from Katie announcing her return home (from Europe), and the date: early in the morning of June 7th, 1995. The luggage tag on Katie’s bag repeats this information and establishes the setting as Oregon. Walk up to the front door to find a note for Katie from Sam, telling her not to do exactly what you will be doing and establishing that something is wrong at the Greenbriar house. The front door is locked, but on the porch there is a cupboard with a lamp on it. Open the cupboard door to find the Greenbriar’s Christmas duck. Under the Christmas duck is the front door key.

Foyer

Once inside, in the Foyer, head left of the front door to find a folder with a mover’s invoice, dated August 1st, 1994. This prompts Sam’s first audio journal “At the New House,” establishing Sam’s fears about moving and about Katie being gone. The bathroom nearby contains nothing of note for the story, only a writer’s magazine, presumably belonging to Terry. Heading counter-clockwise around the Foyer, immediately to the right of the front door there is a set of drawers. In the top drawer there is a map to Janice’s work location titled “Directions to work from nowhere,” indicating the house as ‘nowhere.’ On the left, tucked behind the drawers, is a birthday card for Sam from an Uncle Harvey, informing you that Sam is 17. The nearby closet contains a school jacket (fun fact: the owl logo is loosely based on the logo from the Bioshock 2 DLC, Minerva’s Den, which the founders of the Fullbright company worked on prior to Gone Home), and Jan’s jacket with an I.D. indicating her position as a Senior Conservationist with the Forestry Service. 

Continue around the Foyer to find a locked door and a sideboard with a letter to Janice in the top drawer from her old college roommate Carol, congratulating her on moving into a “mansion.” The bookcase next to the sideboard has two of Katie’s track trophies from five years previous (indicating the approximate age gap between the sisters), and a green ceramic sugar skull from Mexico (which we learn more about later). Skip the stairs for now. A small table with a drawer next to the stairs contains information about Kaite’s departure to Amsterdam last year, dated July 6th, 1994. As this is before the date on the mover’s invoice, this means that Katie has never been to this house and has the same amount of information about it as the player. Turn left and read the note about the Greenbriars’ neighbor at their previous house, a friend of Sam’s named Daniel, then check the answering machine. The first two messages are for Sam from someone you don’t know (but will get to know later), and the third is Katie’s message that plays at the opening of the game. Left of the phone is a family portrait of the Greenbriars (Sam is on the left and Katie is in the back).

Hallway (west wing)

Head left down the hallway. A closet on the left contains Sam’s backpack with a list of things she’ll need for school (note that all are crossed off except ‘A positive attitude,’ indicating Sam’s feelings) which will prompt the journal entry “First Day of School.” Continue down the hallway and open the top drawer of the table to find a picture of a girl with pink hair and an army uniform, and an obituary for Oscar Masan, Terry’s uncle (note that Boon county is the same as that of the mover’s invoice). Pass by the closed door on the right for now and pick up a crumpled note next to the wastebasket just past the door to get a taste of Sam’s school life.

TV Room

A little further there is a door on the left; go through it to find someone left the TV on (an emergency station warning of severe weather in this area plays repeatedly). Head straight and read the note on the small table to the right of the TV, discussing Terry’s job reviewing tech products. Pick up the book on the left of the TV stand to find that Terry has gotten it for Sam in the hope of easing her transition. Sam’s journal, “Big Gold Star,” tells of a girl who has caught Sam’s attention. Also of note are the recordings of The X Files and The Dark Crystal in the TV stand (the tapes with all caps writing are Terry’s and the rest are Sam’s; Janice has tapes too, but not here). Turn around to find a couch fort with a book about hauntings under it.

Look in the closet to the left of the TV to find a story written by a second-grade Sam about a Captain Allegra and her adventures. The shelves left of the closet are littered with VHS tapes with more X-Files episodes, and other sci-fi classics. Keep looking left to the next set of shelves, and look to the bottom shelf with a cardboard box full of copies of the novel The Accidental Savior. The copy on the right prompts the comment from Katie (via the interaction text) that Terry is the author. The letter on the left informs us that the low sales of Terry’s novels has led to his turn to tech review writing. Before leaving the TV room, you can find a cassette on the table next to the door. All the cassettes in this game are functional and can be played by inserting them into nearby tape players, featuring music from the real Riot Grrrl bands Bratmobile and Heavens to Betsy, and a fictional band Girlscout. 

Dad’s Office

Leave the TV room and go through the closed door you passed earlier into Terry’s office. There are a lot of small clues that hint at Terry’s feelings here: above the desk on the south wall there is a corkboard with evidence of Terry struggling to write a book; near this desk there are discarded drafts next to the wastebasket; the typewriter contains an unfinished tech review; there is a book on the chair in the middle of the room offering a theory about JFK’s death (integral to the central conflict of Terry’s books, which are about preventing his assassination); and, finally, the bottle of whiskey hiding on top of the bookshelf on the west wall. Take out the binder from the left drawer in the desk to find a ‘?’ for Katie’s prompt text. Interact with it to find the drawer has a false bottom, and inside is a letter from Oscar Masan to Terry, dated 1972. Oscar says he is glad of Terry’s then recent marriage and what it means for his development and says that his home is always open though he would understand if he did not come. The top drawer of the desk on the north wall contains a form that explains some of the flickering lights. Note the locked filing cabinet on the east wall.

Library

Head north through the door to the library. Walk towards the sitting area and look under the newspaper to find more evidence of Terry struggling with his writing. Turn to face south and spot a small cabinet at the end of the row of bookshelves. Here you can find copies of Terry’s second book, The Accidental Pariah. Move them aside to find a adult magazine that Terry has stashed away. Walk right past the cabinet you just looked into and, on a bookshelf on the left, you will see a white book. It seems Terry is feeling distant from Sam. Finally, on the bookshelf in the southwest corner lies a folder with a letter demonstrating that Terry is struggling with review writing (note the date on the letter: November 1994 is a ‘few months’ after the move), and a set of numbers scribbled onto the folder, 0451. Head back to Terry’s office and input this number into the filing cabinet lock. Inside is Oscar Masan’s will, confirming that this is his house, which he has bequeathed to Terry.

Music Room

Go back to the hallway and continue past the TV room. On the table is a forestry manual for prescribed burns, presumably Janice’s. Head through the closed door on the left to find the music room. On the west wall of the music room, on the small table next to the armchair, is a homework assignment of Sam’s that seems to have not been received well. Tucked on the bottom shelf behind the bar is a letter from Terry’s publisher, officially dropping his series (note the year, 1976, meaning that Terry has not published a book in some time), and more booze. The closet in the music room contains yet more copies of Terry’s books, and tucked into a jacket pocket, a letter about a visit from Daniel (Sam’s old neighbor friend) that the journal entry “Default Friends” will elaborate on. 

Leave the music room and continue down the hallway. On top of the chest-of-drawers is another note from Sam to Katie, and in the bottom drawer is a note from Sam to Lonnie, triggering the journal entry “Best-Laid Plans”, elaborating on how they met. Look left and read the note in the wastepaper basket to find a discarded but troubling note from Sam about the attic. The door at the end of the hall leading to the basement is locked. 

Second Floor

Return to the foyer and head up the stairs. The table at the top of the stairs contains a newspaper clipping elaborating on Janice’s work from late last year (the controlled burn). Head into the upstairs hallway and look left. Open the drawer to find out that Janice is getting a new transfer to her station to help with the controlled burn. Open the cabinet at the bottom of the bookshelf down the hall. Pick up the Bratmobile cassette tape to hear Sam’s journal entry “Hanging Out With Girls”. Keep heading down the hallway and read the notes on the cork board to hear more about Daniel and Sam’s relationship with her parents.

Sam’s Room

Unsurprisingly, the door with the ‘Keep Out’ sign is to Sam’s room. There is a lot of ground to cover here, so for ease, go through things counterclockwise (relative to the map) from the door. The first chest of drawers contains another Bratmobile cassette in the top drawer. The TV stand is littered with SNES cartridges, and peeking out from under the TV stand are Sam’s notes for using Chun Li (presumably to try and beat Lonnie around the time they first met). In the closet, open the small cabinet to find another addition to Captain Allegra’s story (it seems Allegra confronts possibly losing someone important to her). Underneath the colorful folder in the box that Katie observes hasn’t been used in awhile is a bible that Sam seems to have put away. Hiding in the back of the closet on top of a box is a collar for a pet named Mitten. 

Move the white pillow in the middle of the floor to find a note between Sam and Lonnie. The locker is locked and requires another code. On the floor beneath the foot of the bed is a mark for another of Sam’s assignments. On the floor beneath the head of the bed is an ad for a motorcycle with a note from Lonnie. The nightstand has a couple issues of Groove Magazine. The door leads back to the hallway so skip it for now. Read the crumpled note in the wastebasket to find a little more about Lonnie’s troubles at school. On the blue desk, note the Miss-fits button and read the brochure on the left side to find that it’s not all doom and gloom for Sam at school, and get a glimpse of her thoughts about the future.

Hallway and Bathroom

Head out the west door (not the one you entered) back into the hall to find a secret alcove in the wall that was left open. Under the Ouija board seems to be evidence of Sam trying to connect with the deceased Oscar. In here you can also find a piece of the combination to Sam’s locker. Turn right and head north up the hallway to find another note between Sam and Lonnie making plans. Open the door at the end of the hallway to find the tub in the bathroom apparently covered in blood. Inspect the bottle on the floor next to the tub to find that it’s not blood, but red hair dye and listen to the “Dealing with Roots” diary entry. 

Mom & Dad’s Bedroom

Leave the bathroom and head south down the hall. Go straight through the closed door to find Janice’s and Terry’s bedroom. Look in the bottom right drawer of the first dresser near the door to find a condom (to Katie’s discomfort). In the armoire there are more VHS tapes with Terry’s handwriting and a new one (Janice’s, who seems to be a romantic). On top of the second white dresser, you can find an answer to who Mitten is. Go through the closed door to find Janice and Terry’s bathroom. Go through the sliding door and look on the table next to the toilet to find (to Katie’s further discomfort) a book that shows that Jan and Terry are working on their relationship (including sexually, hence the condom). Head through the slightly open door and find a ghost-themed board game and a watercolor painting book in the closet. After exiting the closet, open the nightstand drawer to find another letter from Carol, confirming that Janice and Terry are having problems due to Terry’s ‘slump’ (related to his writing struggles no doubt), and pressing Janice for details about a ‘Ranger Rick’ (the new transfer mentioned earlier). Peek under the bed to find a copy of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman and inspect the bookmark to find out that it’s none other than the new Ranger Rick who lent Janice the book. Head around the bed to the other nightstand to find a postcard from Katie during her time in Europe, and a business card from a publisher (not the one that dropped Terry) in the drawer. 

Guest Room

Leave the bedroom and head left down the hall. Read the note on the floor in front of the door to find that this was meant to be Katie’s room. Enter, and look on the two small tables at the back of the room to find a note from Lonnie and a book documenting their search for the ghost of Oscar (explaining the pillow fort, Ouija board, and other ghost related paraphernalia around the house). 

Sitting Room

Leave the guest room and turn right. The door to the attic, a.k.a. Sam’s darkroom, is locked. The note below says not to enter when the lights are on, but according to Sam’s note, Katie will not find her, so something is up. Instead head through the door into the sitting room. Head straight and pick up the note on the small round table next to the armchair to find Janice’s performance review of Rick: she wants to keep him around. Open the drawer in the cabinets to find an invitation from Lonnie for Sam to go see a show and listen to the journal entry “Lie-to-Mom-and-Dad Situation”. Note the painting supplies set up here, and the presence of Janice’s work review suggesting that the watercolor book in her closet is hers. On the wooden chair in the southwest corner there is a Heavens to Betsy cassette (and a tape deck on the table by the west wall if you want to listen to it).

Sewing Room

Head through the west door to find the sewing room. Open the top box on the right to find that someone has stashed a steamy fireman novel in it. Open the armoire to see that someone has been using the sewing room and look on the inside of the right door to see Sam’s plans for making real costumes for her and Lonnie inspired by the adventures of Captain Allegra. Finally, turn and open the folder on the table by the door to find that Sam discovered a secret passage at the back of Janice and Terry’s closet.

Secret Passage to Library

Head back to the closet and enter the passage: the walls are covered in very old clippings of mixed-gender clothing. Inspect the note left by Sam to find two other hidden alcoves around the house, in addition to the one outside Sam’s room. There is also a crucifix, which likely doesn’t belong to Sam, so it’s probably Oscar’s. Continue through the secret passage to find yourself back in the library. Conveniently, one of the hidden alcoves is in the southwest corner. Inside is an ad from the show Sam and Lonnie went to, which triggers the journal entry “Adjusting to the Dark.”

The second hidden alcove is behind the first panel in the hallway on the right when entering the hallway from the foyer. Inside is the other piece of Sam’s locker combination and another chapter of Captain Allegra’s story. Now that you have Sam’s locker combination, return to her room and open it (check your backpack to see the combination). Inside the locker, note the cigarette packs and stolen shirts. Look at the bottom of the locker to find that Sam has another issue of the same adult magazine Terry kept in the library. On the inside of the locker door, there is a picture of Lonnie (with red hair like the dye in the bathroom), and the basement key, which will trigger the “There Was Nothing Wrong” journal entry. 

Basement

You have explored all areas of the house that are accessible without the basement key, so head there. At the bottom of the stairs, look under the white binder on the table to the left to find out that Lonnie and Sam each had dinner with the family of the other. Look on a box just underneath the nearby light bulb to find a pink note with “S+L” in a heart and the journal entry “It’s Different Now.” Head to the south wall and look under the other light bulb to find that the same sex ed assignment Sam had been reprimanded for was ‘perfectly’ done by Katie. Head through the nearby door and turn left at the furnace (the lamp in this area is leaning against a pile of stuff, follow the cord coming from the ceiling if you are having trouble finding it). Along the west wall near the lamp, there is a note on top of a box congratulating Sam on her entry into the summer program you found a brochure for in her room and the journal entry “Ship Date.” Still along the west wall, in the back corner, there is “one of Granddad’s books,” this being Dr. Richard Greenbriar, Terry’s father, an academic. Turn around to find a portrait of Terry’s father, with the head cut out. Underneath the lamp, there is a brown trunk, and inside there is a clipping of a gold heart necklace in two halves, with ‘L+S’ written next to it. Move past the trunk to find a copy of Terry’s first novel on a small round table. There is a letter from Terry’s father stuck to the back. Near the table on top of a box is Janice’s citizenship paperwork. Head north from the table with Richard Greenbriar’s letter around the pile of stuff to find a newspaper clipping on the floor under a collapsed cardboard box. The clipping is about the new soda foundation at Oscar’s pharmacy, and describes him as a ‘fixture of main street’, a far cry from his reclusive ‘psycho house’ reputation Sam encounters.

Servant’s Quarters

From this room there are two doors, one to the south and one to the east. Go south first to find the servant’s quarters. On the right on the floor by the radiator is a Girlscout cassette (there’s a player on the nightstand). Hidden in the pile of clothes to the right of the radiator is the order form for the necklace Sam had a clipping of in the previous room. Look on the south wall and pick up the setlist taped to the wall to trigger the “I Can Sing” journal entry. Look on the shelf of the nightstand to find a letter from Lonnie that came from Mexico. Look on the floor on the left of the nightstand behind the wastebasket to find a very personal account from Sam about a sexual encounter with Lonnie that Katie will put down and refuse to read further no matter what you do. 

Head down the hallway to find a map of the first floor (including the part you have yet to explore) on the wall and a safe which requires another combination. Turn and look at the corner of the wall to find that Oscar was keeping track of a young Terry’s height, though the marks stop in 1963 (the same year Terry’s books take place), when Terry was 12. Continue down the hall to a dark room with a large pile of chopped wood and a toy horse hidden among it. On the floor is a scrap of what seems to be evidence of booze smuggling during the 1920’s, possibly explaining the abundance of secret places in the house.

Junk Room

Leave the servant’s quarters and head through the other door (on the right) to the junk room. Head straight to the table with the lantern on it to find another postcard from Katie and the “Stick With The Group” journal entry (just to the right of this there is a mint-colored octagonal box near the wall with a ledger from Oscar’s pharmacy leaning against it, though you can’t read it). Head left and open the nightstand under the overturned bed. Inside is a clipping from 1965, when Oscar suddenly sold the pharmacy. Turn to find an opened secret passage hidden behind a bookshelf. 

First Floor (east wing)

Secret (Zine) Room

The secret room contains Sam and Lonnie’s zine-making things. The table near the door with the lamp has some scraps from Sam. The large table with the chairs next to it has a letter on it that expands on Sam and Lonnie’s school life and the “Getting Lonnie” journal entry. The grey table with the overturned lamp has another Heavens to Betsy cassette on the bottom shelf (the player is on the large table). In the box, you can inspect the zine they made. This room has two exits, to the north (just left of the door you came in from heading out of the junk room) and south. Head down the north exit and up the stairs to find a closed secret door and a handle that opens it, leading out to the guest room. Underneath where the secret door was, there is a note on a slip from Oscar’s pharmacy with four numbers, 1-96-3. This must be the combination to Oscar’s safe, so head back to the servant’s quarters and open it. Inside are supplies for regular morphine use, as well as a returned unopened letter from Oscar to Terry’s mother, dated 1973, a year after the letter to Terry that was in his office. In it he asks for forgiveness for a supposed ‘transgression’, but it seems that Terry’s mother was not receptive (there are a couple of readings of Oscar and Terry’s story, but one of the most accepted versions is described here). 

Hallway (east wing)

Head back to the zine room and take the other exit. You are now in the hallway that is accessed through the door (locked) in the foyer to the right of the stairs, so head right and unlock the door, giving you access to the section of the first floor that you have already explored (the west wing). Look under the couch on the right side to find a receipt from an expensive salon visit (doesn’t seem like Sam’s style so probably Janice’s), dated February 22nd. On the table on the other side of the couch is a letter for Janice dated a couple of days later, offering her a promotion that is closer to home. In the folder is another note between Sam and Lonnie about Sam’s parents, showing the increasing tension. Close the folder and examine the TV Guide clip to hear “The Nunnery” journal entry (also note the notes about Daniel on the front of the folder). Head east down the hallway and pick up the ticket sticking out of the vent on the north wall to find that someone went to an Earth, Wind & Fire concert (dated the day after Janice’s makeover; note that there is also an Earth, Wind & Fire poster in her and Terry’s bedroom). 

Open the closet door to the north and look in the shoe box to find the source of the Mexican green sugar skull in the foyer. Then go through the east door into the dining room.

Dining Room

Look left to the small round table and look under both Janice’s purse and the forestry manual. It seems Rick was the one who invited Janice to the Earth, Wind & Fire concert and prompted her makeover. On the dining room table next to a copy of Sam and Lonnie’s zine is a folder. Inspect the pink slip to hear the “A Very Long Phase” journal entry and then the yellow letter to see Janice and Terry’s reaction. Head to the south corner and inspect Terry’s manuscript, with a supportive note from Janice. 

Kitchen

The south door leads back to the hallway. Head straight across the hall into the kitchen. Immediately to the right of the door, look in the drawer of the table with the tape deck to find a Bratmobile cassette. Look on the bottom shelf of the table to find one of Terry’s books, with a new cover and a new publisher (the company whose business card you found in Terry’s nightstand). Turn and look at the fridge to find Sam’s work schedule and an invitation to Ranger Rick’s wedding. Look on the table to find a much older story by Sam and to hear the end of Daniel’s story in the “Daniel” journal entry. Inspect the letter on the cork board above the counter with the white cabinetry to find that Janice accepted the promotion (two months after they sent the initial letter). On the wall nearby is a calendar that shows the date for Rick’s wedding crossed out and an wedding anniversary trip scheduled for June 3-7th (as Katie’s arrival is early in the morning of June 7th, this explains their absence from the house). The southmost door to the pantry contains nothing of importance, so take the other door that leads to the garage. 

Garage

On the table there is a letter for Terry from his new publisher, asking to reprint his first two books (copies of which you have already found). Head into the garage proper and look above the bike to read a note from Terry to Sam. Pick up the hat beneath the bike for the “Just Gone” journal entry. You can also find Sam’s Crown Burger uniform and name tag, and another note between Sam and Lonnie in the green garbage bin.

Laundry and Green House

Head back through the kitchen to the hallway and turn right to the end of the hall and see another of Katie’s postcards on the little table. Look left and see another secret alcove with a crumpled ad for Girlscout’s last show and the “Dedication” journal entry. Go back to the two doors you just missed. The south door leads to a bathroom with nothing of consequence (besides a magazine belonging to Janice). Take the north door to the laundry room. Open the dryer and find a note from Lonnie about her leaving. Head through the door out of the laundry room to the greenhouse, and head to the other side, to the desk with the typewriter. In the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet is another of Terry’s manuscripts (with a different title from the one in the dining room). In the middle drawer is a brochure for a couple’s retreat. Someone has written a note that they have booked it for June 3-7, the same days as Terry and Janice’s ‘anniversary trip.’ Look on the desk to read a letter from Terry thanking his new publisher for reviving his writing career, and a back cover blurb for what seems to be a new book. Finally, pick up the map on the small table next to the beige door to find a secret area under the foyer stairs and the “Life Moves On” journal entry. Sam has a plan for June 5th. 

Attic

The secret panel in the foyer is just to the right of the stairs. Amidst the supplies for contacting Oscar’s ghost, the attic key is on top of a box. Pick it up to hear the “In The Attic” journal entry. There’s nothing left to do now but see what Sam has done in the attic. When entering the attic, inspect the drawing of the gold necklaces on top of the green sleeping bag to hear the “I Said Yes” journal entry, and find out what happened to Sam and Lonnie. This explains the messages left on the answering machine in the foyer. Continue through the attic to see Sam’s pictures, including one of Sam and Lonnie’s clasped hands holding the gold necklaces. Head to the back of the attic and interact with the green notebook to find the diary entries that you have been listening to from Sam and end the game with the “Letters to Katie” journal entry. 

E. SOURCES AND RESOURCES

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