A lovely and touching story that reminded me of something out of a Wes Anderson movie is the main draw here, and that was enough to mostly silence my qualms about the dearth of actual gameplay mechanics. This goes even further down the ‘walking sim’ lineage than something like Gone Home. Although it initially seems like exploration will be an element of the play, this is actually more or less completely linear, and you would have to intentionally go out of your way to miss any content. Exploring off the rails that the game wants you to follow is pointless - there are no safes to unlock or puzzles to solve like you find in other games of this ilk. Occasionally, the game will even seal off parts of the house you’ve already explored to keep the player on the path. I was left missing some sort of gameplay mechanic to keep the actual process of walking around the property engaging.

Thankfully, the house is an excellent set piece, full of odd details and bizarre architectural improvisations that are always a joy to look at. And the mini-games that form the largest chunk of the play are sometimes wildly creative. The initial sequence involving a hungry adolescent and a late scene involving a depressed cannery worker are particular standouts. While never exactly ‘fun’, many of these short and simple scenarios do a sterling job of making these characters feel real and fleshed out. Consequently, every time one of these short stories ends and you are transported back to the house in present day, the environmental details are re-contextualized and enhanced in a way that is really satisfying. Not all of the stories are quite so compelling - a few of them are rather half-assed - but by and large they contribute to an affecting and melancholy portrait of this strange and precocious family.

This could’ve stood to add more mechanical elements to make it more of a game, but the story is absolutely a treat that makes this worth experiencing.