Game Review: Unpacking

It’s amazing how much our homes are a reflection of our personalities. All throughout our lives we tailor and fill our homes with stuff that appeals to us in a very intimate level.  Everything from the color of the walls all the way down to the books you stack on your shelves speaks distinctly about who you are as an individual. I one day hope to own my own house and when that day comes, I will take great joy in being able to design and inhabit those rooms to a degree that speaks to me personally. Just recently I played and completed a video game which helps emulate that feeling in a really cathartic manner. That game is a cute little indie title called Unpacking. 

Developed by Australian-based indie developer Witch Beam and published by Humble Bundle, Unpacking is a semi-isometric puzzle game based around filling rooms with personal belongings over the course of several years. The game was released on PC, Switch and Xbox back in November 2021 and then PlayStation consoles in May 2022.  

The narrative of Unpacking follows an unnamed woman who is unpacking her personal belongings into brand new home environments throughout different stages of her life, stating from her childhood right up to her early 30’s. This woman’s life is filled with ups and downs and you come to piece together these important moments through the new locations and the items you have to unpack into them. 

I like the subtle approach to storytelling the developers choose to proceed with in Unpacking.  As the game is centered around filling up these brand-new environments across several different years, it chooses to let the environment and its objects be the foundation of this narrative. The life of this woman is filled with a lot of joy but she clearly goes through some struggles too and the gameplay and narrative come together in some great ways to reflect that. Reoccurring items will help further important narrative cues too, as you will come to understand their relevance in later stages of the game. It’s subtle storytelling and I appreciate it’s an approach which isn’t going to be reciprocated by all of the general audience, but I for one do really dig how the game addressed its story requirements by blending it heavily into the gameplay. 

It is fortunate in this case that the accompanying gameplay element of this game is so good. The game is comprised of eight stages, each set during a year of the woman’s life. Those years are 1997, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018. Within each stage you are presented with a house or apartment with a set collection of rooms which you are tasked to fill up with your belongings which you have packed and brought with you.  Each stage presents a different set of rooms with their own designs and furniture orientations, so your approach to decorating the rooms will change in line with the new environment. The gameplay is simple in nature but the challenge and satisfaction comes from how you fill these rooms up and the way in which you do so.  Specific items will only be allowed in specific rooms and on specific pieces of furniture so you can’t just throw anything everywhere, it’s a function which helps you really consider how you want to design these rooms in a way that appeals to you specifically.  The controls behind how you’ll place these items down feels incredibly satisfying too. Even on a console controller, the reactivity and precision in item placement feels flexible in all the right ways, it never felt cumbersome or finicky for one moment.

On the audio and presentation end I consider this the game’s finest element. Utilizing a pixel art style, the environments are filled to the brim with so much detail. The items you’ll be putting into these rooms are all meticulously crafted with individual pixels and colors to really stand out in the environment. Everything has a unique visual presence and fits comfortably within the overarching furniture and rooms they must inhabit. Even the sound design when you place these items down feels so realistic depending on the surface or item’s material and condition. Accompanying this game’s gameplay is a very chill, ambient soundtrack by composer Jeff van Dyck who creates a wonderfully homely aura within each of his varied tracks.

In conclusion, Unpacking is a game well worth your time if you are into relaxing puzzle games. It capitalizes on its premise with clear devotion and handles all it’s major aspects with the utmost care. It’s definitely a niche experience and I appreciate not everyone will find the same level of enjoyment out of it as I did. Yet for someone yearning for the day I can own and fill my own house up with my own personal belongings, this game perfectly captures the complex joys and struggles that come from moving and unpacking your life at major each turn.