Let’s be honest, moving home is stressful, so why not play a game dedicated to the whole process of unpacking your life and arranging items in your new apartment? Sounds tedious, but in fact it’s addictive. Read on to find out more.
I have a love-hate relationship with moving! On one hand I absolutely love exploring new surroundings and staying in a different place every few years, however I REALLY hate the stresses that come with having to constantly relocate.
Firstly it’s trying to find a home that fits within your budget, which becomes significantly harder every year, I mean 6 months ago I was almost homeless and had to change my job as I could no longer commute from my new location. Then there’s finding the money to pay for deposits, rent in advance, paying up all the utility bills and also, the moving van.
You can tell that I’ve had plenty of experience, however, nothing compares to the annoyance of packing and unpacking your life every single time, so it surprised me when I downloaded this game a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it!
As you can probably guess, Unpacking is a puzzle game dedicated to unpacking boxes and arranging items across a series of rooms and homes. It sounds tedious and a mundane chore, however it’s rather therapeutic and relaxing. Part block puzzle, part home decoration, the game follows a character called ‘P’, as you unpack her belongings and place them around the many houses through several stages of her life.
The stages are split into years, where you as the player follow ‘P’ as she unpacks her life from childhood, all the way up to motherhood. Even though you’re not given much information about ‘P’, you do develop an understanding of who she might be as a character through many of her interests that she has throughout the years. From my many playthroughs, I concluded that she’s a creative person, who loves to explore art and music with a keen interest in video games, books and travelling.
Although the game doesn’t have a linear story, there are key events in the game that you play out, such as a bad break up, developing health conditions and even exploring adoption, which is alluded to via the many objects that you place around the house.
Unpacking itself is pretty simple, you click on each box and drag items to their desired location. Most items can be displayed wherever you want, with a few exceptions. For example, you can’t place kitchen knives in a bathroom (obviously), or place tampons on the cooker and there are certain story based items that need to be placed in certain places of the home. Sometimes, it’s not clear, which can be a little frustrating.
The gameplay itself is so relaxing, combined with the peaceful ambient music, you’re bound to have a zen and calming experience as you creatively place items around the rooms of every house. There is nothing more satisfying than putting away a nicely stacked pile of shirts or arranging the books by colour and height. Oof, it’s so satisfying.
The only thing that I’m not overly crazy about is the graphics. If you’re a frequent reader of cozyshiro.com, then you would know that I have fallen out of love with pixel graphics due to their over usage in indie games these days. It’s not to criticise the graphics or style itself, however it’s just not for me these days.
If you’re in a bit of a depressive slump lately and just need a game that will leave you feeling calm and accomplished afterwards, then Unpacking is certainly a game that I recommend. Currently this game is available across all platforms, including free with cozy gamers who have Gamepass! So if you own this subscription, download and play this while you have the chance.