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Dot's Home

90%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
gameplay, music
90% User Score Based on 60 reviews

Platforms

Mac OSMac OSPCPCWindowsWindows
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About

Dot's Home is a single player game about Dorothea (Dot) Hawkins, a young Black woman in her late 20’s living with her grandmother Mavis Hawkins in Detroit, Michigan. Following a cryptic conversation with her grandmother, Dot receives a mysterious key. This key allows Dot to open a door within her house and travel to another space in time within her own family history. In order to return home, Dot…

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Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot
Dot's Home screenshot

90%
Audience ScoreBased on 60 reviews
story13 positive mentions
music3 negative mentions
  • The game features a compelling story that explores important themes of family, community, and systemic issues like gentrification and racism, making it both engaging and educational.
  • The art style and animations are well-executed, providing a visually appealing experience that enhances the storytelling.
  • As a free game, it offers a unique narrative experience with multiple endings, allowing players to explore different outcomes without the need for replaying the entire game.
  • The gameplay is limited, primarily consisting of reading dialogue with minimal interaction, which may leave players wanting more in terms of puzzles or challenges.
  • Some players found the writing to be lacking, with overly long dialogues and a simplistic approach to complex themes, making it feel somewhat superficial.
  • Despite its good intentions, the game has been criticized for not fully exploring the depth of the issues it presents, leading to a feeling of an unfinished or overly simplistic narrative.
  • story
    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is praised for its in-depth and poignant storytelling, effectively addressing themes of family, community, gentrification, and social issues across different time periods. While the gameplay is limited and choices have minimal impact, the narrative is engaging and beautifully presented, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of story-driven games. Overall, the combination of unique characters, strong messages, and appealing visuals contributes to a compelling narrative that resonates with players.

    • “This game is phenomenal historical storytelling!”
    • “A beautiful story about family and helping others; I absolutely love the animation style in the intro and cutscenes!”
    • “A very nice, short game that does a really great job telling the story of a family and neighborhood affected by gentrification, racism, redlining, and housing problems in the US.”
    • “The reason for that is because of an old adage... if your story is your character demographic, then you have no story.”
    • “But, choices made through the game that impact the story make little difference to any of the game except the end scene.”
    • “Regardless of the content of the story, I must review this in the context of a game on Steam, being assessed for its value to gamers as a game.”
  • graphics
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in the game are characterized by hand-drawn illustrations with a cartoony style that some players find charming and cute, though others feel they could be improved. While the visuals are generally appreciated for their uniqueness and appeal, there is a consensus that they do not fully compensate for shortcomings in gameplay. Overall, the art style contributes positively to the game's narrative, but it is not considered top-tier.

    • “Dot's home offers a unique concept and visuals that initially intrigued me.”
    • “It has a beautiful art style.”
    • “The art style is also super cute!”
    • “The graphics in this game are reasonably done hand-drawn illustrations in a somewhat cartoony style, but could be better.”
    • “Simple graphics, but cute.”
    • “Overall this is a pretty well-made story game; the visuals, OST, and dialogue are all well done.”
  • gameplay
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is primarily point-and-click, focusing on dialogue and interaction with objects, which some players find limited and trivial. While it lacks excitement and depth in mechanics, it offers a charming narrative and educational insights into housing discrimination, making it more of an informative experience than a traditional game. Overall, it may appeal to those interested in the subject matter rather than gamers seeking engaging gameplay.

    • “As for the gameplay, dot's home is mostly a point-and-click game, so you use the mouse to have Dot walk around and interact with objects, such as doors and newspapers.”
    • “A bit too educational for me to really enjoy as such and the gameplay is completely trivial, but it's quite insightful and certainly worth the 0 currency and 1 hour required.”
    • “Not exciting gameplay-wise, but decent enough if you want history lessons about housing discrimination towards marginalized people. I would also say play this with an elder or anyone knowledgeable or experienced in this subject matter.”
    • “As for the gameplay, [i]dot's home[/i] is mostly a point-and-click game, so you use the mouse to have Dot walk around and interact with objects, such as doors and newspapers.”
    • “Not particularly mind-blowing with the mechanics or even the writing, but there's a certain charm here that I can't explain.”
  • music
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in "Endings" is limited but effectively complements the story's setting, enhancing the overall experience. While the soundtrack is enjoyable, the protagonist's complaints about noise detract from player sympathy, particularly in contrast to the vibrant urban environment depicted. Overall, the game's visuals, original soundtrack, and dialogue are well-executed.

    • “Overall this is a pretty well made story game; the visuals, OST, and dialogue are all well done.”
    • “Endings, for a publisher named Rise-Home Stories Project, the 'bad' ending is really mild, with Dot getting a comfy apartment, a cushy teacher job with 'plenty of resources and well-behaved kids', your family seeing success amid all the redevelopment going on in the old neighborhood selling properties like hotcakes, and she's whining because she got a noise complaint for listening to/playing music at a loud volume.”
    • “"Guess my music is noise, huh?" This is the argument you hear from obnoxious people blasting ghettoblasters from places like the subway, etc. I lost all sympathy for her at this point.”
    • “As for the soundtrack, there were only a few present, but they depict the story's setting well, and they're enjoyable to listen to.”
  • humor
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is largely driven by the unintentionally hilarious protagonist, Dot, whose journey into the past provides amusing moments. While the game features comedic elements, it also effectively emphasizes the significance of community.

    • “Dot is such an interesting (and unintentionally hilarious) protagonist, and I love seeing her journey into the past.”
    • “The game has its funny moments, but also does a good job of highlighting the importance of community in our lives.”
  • stability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game has been criticized for its lack of stability, with users reporting numerous bugs and performance issues, even on high-end hardware like the RTX 3080. Overall, the stability is considered poor, leading to a negative reception.

    • “This game is not very stable, and I am not sure you should even call it a game. It's very buggy, and I was running it on an RTX 3080. For a free game, it deserves one star.”

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