Nerd Girl Thoughts

Developer: Midori Games
Release Date: June 4, 2021
MSRP: $0.99

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Environmental puzzle games can be really fantastic if they’re well done, but they are just a likely to miss the mark if the player just doesn’t get it. For me, the hallmark of a good environmental puzzler is clear cause-and-effect. It may take you a while to figure out exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, but you can clearly see what happens as a result of your actions. You flip a switch, and a light comes on or goes off. You stand on a pressure plate, and a door opens. You push on a book, and the bookcase slides over.

No Ghost in Stay Home is an environmental puzzle horror game that I think misses this mark, or perhaps it’s me who just didn’t get it. There are probably a dozen spots in the single room puzzler that are interactable, and after several (admittedly very short) playthroughs, I have very little concept of what anything actually does. There are a few different items that can be picked up, but again, I’ve only figured out what one of them is for. You can only hold one at a time, and they don’t seem to do anything or have any effect on the ending you get.

In fact, I’m not even sure what the role of the player actually is. The premise is that Anna is being left home alone for the first time for a few hours. You can see Anna sitting in a chair during the entire play through, so clearly, you are not Anna because you are all over that room looking for stuff to touch. However, she’s also supposed to be there alone, so you’re not a parent, babysitter, or friend. I suppose you are just a force, screwing around with a child who is scared (and to be honest, probably quite bored) for a few hours.

Even when I managed to make something happen, I didn’t fully understand what led to a given result. Going by achievements (which are outrageously non-descriptive for the most part) there are seventeen different endings. Although I managed to get a handful of these, I also managed to get the same ending from not touching anything for the entire three minute playthrough as I did for a round where I messed around with absolutely everything. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

It’s possible that something is lost in translation with No Ghost In Stay Home. It’s also possible that this game just didn’t do anything for me personally. On the upside, each playthrough only takes – at a maximum – about three minutes, so if you like the aesthetics and don’t mind the idea that it might all feel a little too random, it could be an interesting experience if you have a dollar to spare.

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