House of Caravan set to roll out this spring

Written by Jack Allin — February 12, 2015 at 14:15

Many players expected to find horrific secrets lurking in the deserted Greenbriar home in 2013's Gone Home, only to discover a surprisingly poignant modern familial drama instead. The prospect is certainly compelling, however, and now a new indie developer comprised of experienced industry veterans is running with that Gone Home-meets-horror game concept in the upcoming House of Caravan.

House of Caravan casts players in the role of a young boy named Lester Bernard, who "awakes in the titular mansion with little knowledge of how he got there or why – other than vague memories of a kidnapping" at the hands of strangers on his way to school. In order to discover his role in the abduction and escape his predicament, over the course of one night Lester must thoroughly explore his surroundings, digging deeply for clues and solving a variety of environmental puzzles along the way.

Described as a "novel take on the room escape genre", House of Caravan takes place in the early 20th century and is set entirely in a single mansion in the fictional northeast American town of Candlewood. There players will find a "dark and twisted narrative to uncover, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and classic horror films." Rendered in realtime 3D, the mansion promises to be "littered with lore and puzzles that, under the right scrutiny, may reveal the sinister history of the Caravan family." In keeping with the single setting, however, it won't be a long adventure, offering just a couple hours of exploration.

While the game's Spanish developer, Rosebud Games, may not mean much to people, the team's past credits include the likes of Silent Hill: Origins, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and The Witcher, so their horror bonafides are certainly well established. We'll see how they fare with the adventuring when the game is released for PC and Mac sometime this spring. To learn more in the meantime, drop by the game's official website.