In an age filled with triple-A titles boasting realistic visuals that make your computer run like a jet engine, there is something immensely comforting about the simplicity ofYour House. It isn’t that the game itself is simple—the short but sweet title is filled with tough puzzles akin to those found in your local escape room. Rather, the simplicity came from its visual style and gameplay, with the latter being entirely text-based. Players don’t simply scroll and click through a series of slides, as the developers at Patrones & Escondites opted instead to make the text inYour Housemore alive than many would expect.
Serving as a prequel to the studio’s 2020 debut titleUnmemory,Your Housefollows the troubled teenager Debbie as she attempts to discover the secrets locked away within a mysterious mansion after being given the key on her birthday. Understandably, Debbie is more than a little confused when she finds an address and a key on her bed with no clues as to who left them there. The more she explores, the more convoluted things become, and one mystery quickly turns into many. Without giving away anything to do with the game’s story,Your Housedoes a fantastic job of keeping players guessing, despite its short length.
Whilethe game’s noir comic book visualsare the most striking part ofYour Houseat the start, its gameplay is undoubtedly where it shines the most. It’s challenging to craft an almost exclusively text-based title that feels more engaging than a PowerPoint presentation without also losing its voice and retro charm, but the studio’s approach to ‘text as gameplay’ has quickly led me to want more games in this unique style. After completing all five chapters, after discovering my fair share of secret rooms and hidden passageways, and after solving the mystery at hand, my biggest complaint aboutYour Housewas simply that it was over.
Your House Utilizes Text in a Whole New Way
Setting aside the mystery itself, which players will need to investigate on their own, the methods of investigation are striking.Your Houseis, in many ways, a visual novel, and there is plenty of reading to be done, breathing more life into the comic book-inspired world and its main character. The game’s developer is based in Barcelona, and this is largely why the few translation and localization errors in the title’s text are inconsequential. There’s passion in every frame of this game, and this comes through most vividly when interacting with the words on-screen.
Your Housedoesn’t include standard gameplay; debbie can’t be directly manipulated by the player like in most visual novels. Instead, clicking on certain bolded words in each piece of text will cause things to happen. For instance, clicking on a room in the house will transport you there, or selecting certain item names may uncover new clues. At times, clicking on something entirely unexpected in a great wall of text will yield a positive result. This ensures that players will read carefully, rather than just skimming through the prose presented, and also demands action rather than passive engagement. It’s something I’d like to see implemented more often inother visual novels, a genre sometimes written off by those who claim they may as well just read a book. Words are often presented in unexpected ways, and every design choice is painfully deliberate.
Something entirely unexpected was the inclusion of voice acting during certain major story beats, along with brilliant sound design while exploring the titular dwelling. The creaking of floorboards, faraway footsteps, pounding heartbeat, and mysterious chimes that sounded out each time I finally cracked a puzzle were incredibly satisfying, seamlessly timed to each piece of on-screen text. The entirety of the developer’s chosen aesthetics mesh seamlessly, making my time withYour Housefeel as if I’d stepped into a living and breathing Nancy Drew mystery.
Your House Requires Players to Use Their Wits
The many puzzles Debbie uncovers during her time in the mansion range from straightforward to obtuse, and the game does a great job of not holding the player’s hand. Sometimes, you’ll need to use your night vision goggles, while other times, you’ll need to select a specific series of tiles on a bathroom wall. Knowing when to use specific clues or which object should be interacted with can be difficult, but this is all part of the fun. Personally, I’m abysmal at escape rooms, and am usually the one standing in the corner counting the ceiling tiles on the off-chance that the number will come in handy. (It never does.) Those whoexcel at these puzzle roomsmay have an easier time envisioning how each clue will fit, but for me, it took some trial and error.
While the game’s story did include some twists and turns, and the art used to punctuate each chapter’s end was visually stunning, it’s hard not to ask for more. Five chapters were enough for the developers at Patrones & Escondites to tell their tale, but it didn’t feel like enough time to become as immersed in the game’s world as I would have liked to have been. For the title’s low price point, it’s easy to recommend to those who enjoy brain-teasers or who have a great appreciation for the written word and how it can be augmented to create a new style of game.
How long you’ll spend playingYour Housedepends on how puzzle-minded you are and how well you do in escape rooms. For me, it took around 3 hours to complete, and I’d estimate between 2-4 hours for most players.
Despite a bit of clunky translation and its rather brief runtime,Your Housefeels like it could be the beginning of something great. Whereas many puzzle-heavy games are quick to give extra clues when it’s clear that the player is struggling, this title asks more. It makes you slow down, and each time something finally clicks, the dopamine rush is more than worth the effort. If the team at Patrones & Escondites end up creating moreincredibly satisfying mystery gamesin this same style, it would be hard not to buy them on launch day.
WHERE TO PLAY
Your Houseis currently available for PC and mobile devices. Game Rant was provided a PC code for this review.
