Gone Home: Bad Design Decision
In a lot of comments I read about the "bad design decision" in Gone Home that could lead to you finishing the game before you could find out what is really going on. I don't think this is bad design in this case.
Spoilers ahead.
In short there is a secret door right in the first room you enter that gives you the key and a hint to go to the attic which is basically the end of the game. When you by chance find it literally within 5 minutes after starting the game you can finish it in 5 additional minutes without a clue about the overarching story.
Now the complaints about "bad design" imply that this should not be possible. But why not? If you finish the game in 10 minutes and know that there are several rooms and corridors you didn't pay a visit. Wouldn't you want to start over again? No, if every problem that was set up is concluded by the ending you just experienced. But this is not the case here. You get the outcome but not why things happened. This game is focussed on your exploration. If you don't feel the urge to visit every room and read every note (or at least most) this game was not made for you in the first place.
Speaking about exploration. Though the game is about details and detective work I don't imagine there is a high number of players who will find these secret passages on their own. Which makes it an even smaller issue. They are really well hidden. At least if you have enabled the "Disable Interaction Highlight" option which I recommend strongly as it helped with immersion greatly.
And what could the alternatives be?
Having no secret passages would be a loss as I think they add very well to the atmosphere.
Make them accessible only after you reached certain parts of the game. But how do you explain this to people on their second play through who are curious to try short cuts?
"With keys!" That would be possible but I think games should keep the number of locked doors at a minimum. They are annoying and there are already some in the house. It's a secret and in this case security by obscurity is a nice thing. Having a clearly visable lock would take a big surprise from you.
I find it quite creative that through gameplay you interact with and combine virtual physical things but the most important key is actually an information.
To sum this up. I'm absolutely fine with their design choice in this case.