Unpacking is a zen puzzle game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. Part block-fitting puzzle, part home decoration, you are invited to create a satisfying living space while learning clues about the life you’re unpacking. Over the course of eight house moves, you are given a chance to experience a sense of intimacy with a character you never see and a story you’re never told.
Released on
Genres
Reviews View More
This review contains spoilers
So much said with very little words
Unpacking is a very short, very cozy, and yet somehow heart-wrenching title. The premise is exceptionally simple, you play a character who is unpacking into their new home at various stages of their life, from childhood to adolescence. Open the boxes, grab the things out the boxes, place them appropriately in the space provided, and you win!
To me, the gameplay loop could get a little tedious at times, especially in some of the larger levels. That’s not to say that getting everything in it’s right place wasn’t satisfying, it very much was, it’s just getting there could feel a bit of a slog sometimes, much like the actual act of unpacking.
But really that’s not even where Unpacking’s magic lies, this game does such an incredible job of telling a coherent story with the only dialogue being the footnotes your character annotates each “new home” picture with, which culminates to maybe a couple dozen words by the end of the game. The protagonist goes through the aching pains of growing up, making new friends, falling in and out of love, and exciting career opportunities, and you gleam all of this through the simple act of getting things out of boxes and putting them in places.
I was enraged when I was forced to put the diploma under the bed, I was concerned when it was revealed my character needed a cane to get around, I was giddy when I saw their table-top miniature had finally been painted, I nearly cried when I got the stuffed pig out for the very last time.
Make no mistake, this is a narrative game, one that trusts the player to understand what it’s trying to say, but Witch Beam have done such an immaculate job of telling the story that you really don’t need to do a lot of legwork.
Unpacking is a very short, very cozy, and yet somehow heart-wrenching title. The premise is exceptionally simple, you play a character who is unpacking into their new home at various stages of their life, from childhood to adolescence. Open the boxes, grab the things out the boxes, place them appropriately in the space provided, and you win!
To me, the gameplay loop could get a little tedious at times, especially in some of the larger levels. That’s not to say that getting everything in it’s right place wasn’t satisfying, it very much was, it’s just getting there could feel a bit of a slog sometimes, much like the actual act of unpacking.
But really that’s not even where Unpacking’s magic lies, this game does such an incredible job of telling a coherent story with the only dialogue being the footnotes your character annotates each “new home” picture with, which culminates to maybe a couple dozen words by the end of the game. The protagonist goes through the aching pains of growing up, making new friends, falling in and out of love, and exciting career opportunities, and you gleam all of this through the simple act of getting things out of boxes and putting them in places.
I was enraged when I was forced to put the diploma under the bed, I was concerned when it was revealed my character needed a cane to get around, I was giddy when I saw their table-top miniature had finally been painted, I nearly cried when I got the stuffed pig out for the very last time.
Make no mistake, this is a narrative game, one that trusts the player to understand what it’s trying to say, but Witch Beam have done such an immaculate job of telling the story that you really don’t need to do a lot of legwork.
Cute game to pass the time! Fun distraction and great for organization lovers!
it's cute
muito gostosinho pena que é curtinho curtinho podia ter um conteúdo extra
chill game to turn off your brain to, not really my speed but its good at what it does and the story being told through belongings is a fun and interesting way to convey it
Unpacking offers a unique idea in that it tells its story through the unpacking an unseen character's boxes in multiple stages of their lives, doing so in both Environmental Obstacles and a ever changing aesthetic. While its simply never going to challenge you, thats far from the point. Variety is lacking but theres not a lot you can do with its premise that unpacking DOESNT do.