I love organizing things, so when I heard about the game Unpacking, a game where you unpack things and put them away in various rooms in a house, the concept really appealed to me.
Unpacking is a puzzle game that gives you a sense of accomplishment as you find a home for everything while listening to really relaxing music. The premise is that you are unpacking someone’s worldly possessions as they move to various places throughout their life. It starts in a little kid’s room, and ends in a two-story house. Each game save is a photo album full of snapshots of a room from each level you’ve completed. Additionally, you can unlock stickers that can be added to the album as you complete various secret challenges.
I truly found this game fun and relaxing. The game design impressed me with the way I could interact with the objects I was unpacking and the various ways I could place them. I also found it interesting how I was piecing together my knowledge of the person whose life I was unpacking. During one level, I couldn’t find a home for one item that was obviously special to the person, and I got frustrated. Once I figured it out, though, I realized that the creator was making me feel the frustration this person must have felt trying to find a place for it when they were moving in with someone else and trying to combine their lives’ treasures. That was a truly clever way of telling a story.
I only had two minor problems with the game. First off, after I put everything away and reached the end of the game, I went back to try to get all the sticker achievements I had missed. I found it frustrating to continually have to navigate out of the photo album to the main screen to access clues for the sticker achievements; the sticker books inside the album did not have the clues. It would have been easier if I could have stayed in the photo album interface to access them. The second problem I had with the game was the price. As much as I enjoyed it, I paid the full price of $19.99 for the game, and it only took me about 6.5 hours to finish it. I play a lot of indie games, and I feel that this one was overpriced for the time it takes to finish it.
Yet, I would still recommend the game. I enjoyed the gameplay, the music, and the story. Just buy it when it goes on sale so you aren’t disappointed by the game play to price ratio.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, macOS, Linux, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
BookemDeni 