

The story is actually about them getting less screwed up. Big, Screwed-Up Family: The bulk of the game consists of finding out just how much of one the Greenbriars are.Big "NO!": Drawn by Lonnie note at the prospect of living with her mother, The Fundamentalist, in Florida, complete with a dead face on the O, knives flying overhead, and gravestones in the background.Even most of the house's cabinets and shelves are empty, the family having only partially finished unpacking after their move. Beautiful Void: While the home is interesting, detailed, and populated by bric-a-brac, there's nary a sign of life present.Looking at your father's confidential literature beneath all those Kennedy conspiracies? Gosh, Dad. Finding a condom in your mother's drawer? Oh barf. Realizing that your family has a rocky relationship? Getting warmer. Your sister ran away with her girlfriend without her parents knowing? This is getting uncomfortable. Sounds inside the house that might be the ghost of your dead uncle? Might just be wind and pouring rain. Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Arriving home at a stormy night with no one around? That's strange.It's also the combination to Oscar's safe in the basement, and heavily implied to be the year when Oscar abused Terry as a child. It's the year of the Kennedy assassination, which serves as the central event of Terry's novels. An Aesop: Growing up is scary, even for adults who never really finish doing it.The Alcoholic: Terry Greenbriar has a whiskey bottle hidden on top of a bookshelf in his office.
GONE HOME BASEMENT SAFE COMBINATION FULL
It's also clear this was done to partially avoid having to play the Cell Phones Are Useless games, partially to let players revel in a Period Piece full of homemade Riot Grrrl cassettes, underground zines, electric typewriters, and recordings of The X-Files on VHS.

This also provides explanation as to why Katie was Locked Out of the Loop for a year while she was away traveling in Europe, and her parents' reaction to Sam's homosexuality. Throughout the house you can find plenty of stuff that reminds you that the game is set in this decade, such as VHS recorded movies and cassette tapes.
