Get your tissues ready: this is a crying game. Unpacking is a puzzle-style game of the cozy kind in which your objective is to take items out of packed moving boxes and place each one somewhere inside your character’s new homes. Each level presents you with a new place your character has moved to, as you see the years pass by and her life unfold with all her possesions being moved from her childhood home to her dorm room, then to her first shared apartment with roommates and so on.
Image from Unpacking’s Steam Store Page
Even though Unpacking is technically a puzzle game, it’s important to consider that the challenge level is set to low as a default and though the difficulty is not demanding the experience still has a lot to offer to anyone paying enough attention and reading between the lines of the contexts the game presents us with. Of course, you won’t be able to beat each level by unpacking your kitchen pots inside your bathroom cabinets, for example, but generally speaking you’re good to go as far as you place everything in a logical place, or at least close to it.
More than a puzzle challenge, this game is a patient experience about calmly decorating your new habitats and beneath the surface we’ll find a narrative experience which hits surprisingly hard taking into account the lack of text or even visible characters. Each level is a new place our unseen protagonist is moving too, and so too the years move pass. Not only will we see our character maturing (from owning plush toys to having a college degree) but also we’ll see the passing of time through the evolution of the items owned. The old Gameboy will be replaced with a Gameboy Advance, for example, once the 2000s roll in. Yes, this game might very well be designed as nostalgia-bait for millennials but it sure works.
Unpacking’s greatest impact comes from this interprretative narrative. Just by taking a good look at the new places we inhabit and the items that our protagonist keeps throughout the years we’ll get a deep dive into her story and personality. Wheter it’s noticing small things like a Tamagotchi kept since childhood, or the frustration of not finding a place to hang your diploma within your new boyfriend’s cluttered apartment, these small hints piece together an elaborate narrative that works surprisingly better than most text-driven story-heavy games. Her likes, dislikes, heartbreaks, accomplishments and even fashion-sense are spread out throughout the game for us to figure out if we look close enough.
Image from Unpacking’s Steam Store Page
Besides gameplay and narrative, we’re treated with heartwarming and beautifully designed graphics and soundtrack. It’s pixelart style adds a lot to the nostalgia factor, and its music incorporates a very needed relaxing layer to the long hours we’ll spend unpacking the kitchenware and figuring out where to place our character’s evergrowing collection of books and art supplies. Each click, each item flip animation or small sound effect is very satisfactory. This is a game that has been crafted with great skill and love; its masterwork simplicity a true accomplishment of modern gaming.
Witch Beam, Unpacking’s Australia-based developers, hit a homerun with their unique design mixing the zenlike gameplay of rearranging items around a house with the expertly crafted environmental storytelling of taking a good long look at said items and their ever shifting homes. This is a game about change: what we earn and lose along the path of our lives, the new places we explore and the old warm places we can go back to. For this reviewer, beyond the game being a fun and relaxing experience, it also didn’t pull any punches when it comes to hitting hard on the sentimental side. Definately a recommendation for those interested in seeking out new and creative ways of how a game can tell a story.
Since its release back in late 2021, Unpacking has made a name for itself by winning many awards and earning praise from both critics and players. It is currently available for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and PS5. It can regularly be found on sale, making it a great add to anyone’s wishlist, as well as a great potential gift for our most casual gaming friends and family as its easy to figure out gameplay makes it especially welcoming. Unpack your feelings with Unpacking. It will be a very stress-free sort of heartwarming experience.
Publisher: Humble Bundle
Developer: Witch Beam
Platforms: PC, Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, iOS, Android, macOS
Release Date: November 2021
Genres: Cozy, Puzzle, Pixel-art
PEGI: 3
Pictures: Taken from Unpacking’s Steam store page
Game Studies student in Tampere with background in journalism. Interested in social games and mental health issues.
You might also like
More from Features
The wonderful world of cosplay – TF2 arrives to Desucon Frostbite
A cosplay group showed me how fun cosplaying can be!
Elisa Masters Espoo 2023 was a Blast! – A devoted FURIA fan’s perspective
I went to see my favourite team play live in the final of the recent CS2 event hosted in Finland.
A Frozen Lake Whereupon / Something Fishy Is Going On – A ProPilkki 2 Poem
A northern pastime, where you sit still / Waiting patiently, what a thrill
