Have a chill time moving house in Unpacking, out now
Organise a virtual home, avoid the IRL mess
When I first heard about it, I didn't think Unpacking would appeal to me. Released today, it's a chill game about unpacking moving boxes, unloading all the items from someone's life into their new home. I've never liked unpacking in real life, it feels stressful and annoying trying to find space for all my stuff. But I'm starting to think that Unpacking (the game) might make me feel better about it. Perhaps next time I move house, I should go into it with the energy of this relaxed puzzler.
When Alice Bee demoed Unpacking last year, she said it was "a very satisfying and sweet game of Tetris-with-stuff" that was good enough to make you enjoy moving house.
It sounds like quite an intimate thing too. On the website, developers Witch Beam (who previously made Assault Android Cactus) explain there's sort of a story here, but you're never explicitly told what it is. As you play, you'll go through eight house moves learning about a character you never see, purely from the stuff they have and the places they live.
It's funny, I've been at my "new" place for almost exactly a year now, and I'm 90% sure I still have an un-unpacked box of techy things under the stairs that never found a home. I'm not sure what sort of story that would tell other than, 'Imogen had lots of wires, and didn't know what any of them connected to'. I'm sure Unpacking's tale is much more interesting and heartfelt though, and I look forward to giving it a try.
Unpacking is out now, and you can grab it on Steam, Humble and GOG for £16/€20/$20. It's also on Xbox Game Pass for PC (along with a bunch of other good'uns this month). You can grab it on Nintendo Switch and Xbone too.