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.