Cool idea! I liked that your friends were your lives, pretty dark, haha. I couldn't figure out how to save them once I had all the keys though, I didn't find any doors I hadn't opened. Loved the random flickering of the lights, great atmosphere.
Your friends spawn randomly in the house, inside cages; once you find them, you can release them one by one. Then run out the front door to escape (where you first spawned in the beginning). Hope that is what you meant, and now it makes more sense !
