There are so many different mediums for those creative folks to tell the stories they weave. It’s probably no surprise that my favourite stories come from video games, but even within this wonderful medium stories come in all sorts of packages. Whether you want to be fed cutscenes between epic battles, click through text in a visual novel, or absorb a story with no words at all, video games have got you covered. Your House has one of the most unique stories I’ve ever come across in a game, and it’s because of the words themselves and how you interact with them.
Your House tells the story of Debbie, who has just turned eighteen and is not having a good time. With more than a little trouble at school and a cheating boyfriend, everything is falling apart when her life should be just getting started. It’s then that she receives a mysterious birthday gift, which contains a key and an address. There’s never been a better time for Debbie to vanish, so she heads off on a road trip to find out what this key is for. It turns out to be a house key, so Debbie decided to stay there. It doesn’t take long to realise that this house is full of secrets though, and our protagonist decides to take it upon herself to uncover them.
The story is intriguing and engaging, but it’s how you interact with it that most fascinated me. Your House is essentially just made up of full screens of text, but with an interactive twist. After reading the very first page of this game book hybrid you’ll realise there’s no way to turn the page, and that’s because you need to progress the story yourself. By clicking on a bold word about Debbie’s feelings it’ll suddenly change and a new paragraph underneath will tell you more about the situation. Sometimes words you click on will be a location and will take you to that location and a new page of text, sometimes they’ll mention an item and by clicking it you’ll take it with you. It’s a bizarre but intuitive way to interact with the world.
These interactive elements of the story only get more clever as time goes on, but I really don’t want to spoil too many of them here. One early example though sees Debbie escaping her boarding school by avoiding guards. At the start of the page it says Debbie thinks she only has about forty seconds to escape, but this starts counting down and rushes you to click on all the “runs” words on the page. Every time something cool like this happens is a delight, and it just adds an extra layer to the story as a whole.
There’s a lot more than just clicking words to worry about when playing Your House though, because before long the real puzzles arrive at the party. Often to solve these you’ll have to move between multiple rooms, check documents to uncover secret passwords, and really put your brain to work. The change from reading a chill story with interactive elements to hardcore puzzle solving is admittedly a little jarring, but I must say unlocking the secrets of the mystery house is pretty great.
There’s fortunately a little help you can get solving puzzles too, in the form of a hint system with multiple levels of hints to reveal based on how stuck you are. The first hint you’ll find in the menu is just a vague nudge in the right direction (which you’ll likely already have figured out) but eventually you’ll be given as close to a direct solution as you ever need. It’s not revolutionary or anything, but it gets you out of any logic messes you find yourself stuck in.
Your House is a seriously compelling mix of story and video game, but it’s not without its share of issues. Navigating the world is a pain thanks to only being able to use words to do so, especially with no real map to figure out the route to take to the room you need to get to. Some won’t appreciate the length of the game either, lasting for around three hours. It’s not quite long enough for the story to build fully.
Your House blends video games and books to create a game unlike anything else. The puzzles are tricky but compelling, the story is intriguing, and the way that the medium is used is fascinating and delightful. It has a few issues with navigation and wraps up a little too quickly, but it’s an experience I won’t forget in a hurry.
