A House in California

A House in California is a short, surreal adventure game with a strong
emphasis on the narrative. It starts with a boy who lives in a house and
cannot get to sleep. He complains about the dark, the lack of noise, … and
for each of these he is comforted by a different family member, each with its
own story about the house, in a separate chapter.

The game is almost entirely monochromatic with straightforward graphics.
Players need to solve puzzles by clicking on any of the available verbs at the
bottom of the screen and using them on objects in the environment. Instead of
the conventional “pick up” or “examine”, it has verbs such as “remember”,
“sing”, “befriend”, or “cook”. The words are different in each chapter and new
ones are sometimes adding after completing a part of the game. The puzzles are
largely an incentive to keep the narrative moving and to contemplate the
events.