Home Sweet Home is a single-player, first-person survival/horror/puzzle video game. It was developed by Thai developer Yggdrazil Group. The game features horror elements drawn from Thai folklore. It is available on Windows and on VR devices. The game focuses on the main protagonist Tim. His life has drastically changed since his wife disappeared. One night, he wakes up in an unknown place. While trying to find an exit, he is chased by a female ghost. Players have to discover the mystery in Tim's house and find his missing wife Jane.
Gameplay
The game is about stealth and hiding. If the ghosts or demons find the player in their hiding spot, the player can do a quick time event to escape, or will otherwise be killed and the game will respawn to the last save point. Exploration is also important, which is complemented by the fact that many areas have no dangers. Instead the goal is to find diary pages, informative articles, or puzzle items.
Development
Home Sweet Home is developed by Yggdrazil Group, a visual effects company primarily working on film post-production. Home Sweet Home is the company's first venture into game development; the project was led by Sarut Tubloy. Development took about 2 years, and went through multiple major revisions. The team originally planned to make a mobile game, but changed to PC and restarted work after 7–8 months. They made another revision at 15 months, after receiving feedback from Steam Greenlight. They made another revision after releasing a demo on 16 November 2016, spending an extra three months on revising the story. Home Sweet Home has been planned as a series, and the story was written with possible sequels in mind.
Release
Demo
The game demo was released on 16 November 2016, earning enthusiastic response. In the demo, the player plays as protagonist Chadchai Tubloy who suddenly awakens in an unknown place. The player is occasionally chased by a ghost girl with a boxcutter who can teleport through portals of blood. The player explores the environment using stealth and solves some puzzles. The level ends when a shelf blocks the exit, followed by the aforementioned ghost girl providing a jump scare.
Full game release
The full game was released on Steam on 27 September 2017. It offers 3 hours of gameplay.
Reception
Home Sweet Home was positively received; critics commended the game's use of Thai mythological elements to create its frightening atmosphere. According to an IndieGames.com review, "Home Sweet Home demonstrates the ability to create terror without shoving gore and violence down your throat 24/7." Writing for The Telegraph, Olivia White describes the game, "It's filled with fantastically terrifying setpieces as you're forced to sneak, run and hide from the spirits who are after you."
