Point & Click Puzzle games. We know them. We (read: some) love them. As someone who does love a good puzzle and is an IRL Escape Room enthusiast, puzzle games itch a scritch that I sometimes fail to get via a majority of video games. As game development becomes approachable to your day-to-day puzzle enthusiasts, so have the rise of point & click puzzle games. Enter Your House.

Developed by Patrones & Escondites, a Spanish-based studio, Your House is the upcoming fourth release from this indie company. Patrones & Escondites, on their main webpage, note "Storytelling Explorers. Game Artisans." Based on what I experience in Your House, I would whole-heartedly agree with both of these statements! Gamer Social Club was provided early access to this point & click puzzle game, so let's dive into some of the nitty gritty of the game!

Also, one disclaimer before we dive into it. As this is a puzzle-based game and the gameplay hinges on the puzzles, we're gonna keep as many of those components secret. After all: what's the point of a puzzle game if you know the answer?

The Story of Your House

We meet Debbie at the start of the story. Debbie, a boarding school student, has frequently found herself not fitting in with those around her. Recently expelled from her school, betrayed by her boyfriend and her best friend, and hit by a car on her 18th birthday (seriously, how bad can your day get?), Debbie is done with life at this school and those around her. At midnight in her bedroom, she finds something in her room: an envelope next to her with a mysterious postcard bearing an address and a solitary key. With nothing to lose, Debbie flees her dormitory, steals a motorcycle, and makes her way to the address on the postcard.

When Debbie arrives at the address, she is greeted by a derelict and abandoned house. But why bring Debbie here? Is this a joke? A prank? A gift? And who sent the letter?!??! The more Debbie explores, the more questions arise and the more that Debbie finds herself falling down the proverbial rabbit hole. Will Debbie find out who brought her to the house? And that's about all I can say about the story because SPOILERS.

Your House: The Good

All in all, Your House clocks in at around 2 – 3 hours (per details from the studio). I managed to wrap up the entirety of the game in just over two hours. In my opinion, this is the ideal length for a puzzle game. Not so short to feel like you got conned into buying the game, but not so long that you start to lose interest, and more importantly, the story.

As I noted, Your House is a point-and-click puzzle game, driven by a narrative text-as-gameplay style. Think...reading a book with puzzles. This is also a HUGE strong point to the game – actually making the text a part of the gameplay itself. It always felt straight-forward and intuitive.

Coupled with the components of text are some stunning noir comic-style aesthetics that really captured the mood of the game. This isn't a bright and happy story and the stylistic choices really captured that mood!

Now, another component of this game I enjoyed was the process of solving the puzzles. Now, those who have done puzzle games and escape rooms before know that a lot of these activities fall into two camps: linear and nonlinear. Your House falls into the latter of these games – the clues will not always be 100% linear. With that being said, though, there are occasional parts of the game that do follow a more linear path. However, I think that it is done in a satisfying way to not lull you into a false sense of which way and when a clue will be used.

While minimal, the voice-over work of Debbie was very well done! The audio was clear, and delivered in a manner that didn't feel clumsy or awkward in any way.

The last piece that I will cover on the good side of things is that the game is CHOCK full of pop culture references. I always appreciate this, especially in indie games, as it highlights the interests of the developers themselves. And who doesn't love to feel some connection in this digital world?

Your House: The Bad

Honest truth – I didn't have too many complaints about Your House! Beyond getting stuck on a few puzzles here and there (I played the game at 9 AM on a Sunday – that's on me), nothing felt too hard. And if you do get stuck, here's a fun fact: the game has Hints available! I think that that is the beauty of puzzle games – what instantly clicks for one person may take another longer to solve. Ask my partner! When we do puzzle games/escape rooms, she handles the word-based puzzles and I handle the more tactile, physical puzzles.

The Overall

Point-and-click puzzle games will always be a niche genre of gaming that I enjoy. While I wish there were more of them in this world, I know that the smaller community keeps the gems coming (if that makes sense).

Your House is a game that I can happily say will be another one of those gems in this little corner of the gaming world. The style, the story, the puzzles – everything blends seamlessly together in a way that makes for a nice, satisfying game. And what makes this game even more wild to me? In the process of writing up my review, I found out that it's based on a real-life Manhattan apartment. Bravo, Patrones & Escondites, bravo!

Your House will be available via the Google Play Store, Apple Store, and Steam on March 27th, 2025.

Gamer Social Club was provided an early-access code for the purposes of this review. This review was played on PC (Steam).