Unpacking

Unpacking uses its simple, satisfying puzzle gameplay to tell a moving story about the things we take with us.

Unpacking is a relaxing puzzle game that encourages you to reflect and move forward.

Offering a beautiful canvas to work with, Unpacking is a calm and tactile little sim about something most of us would usually dislike.

Two decades of house moves are condensed into one relaxing puzzle as you help the narrator to unpack – and unpick her life in the process

This compact little puzzle-story-game has care in every line. It tells a lovely story without words, leaves you room for interpretation, and invites you to be playful. It's absolutely lovely.

Quote not yet availablThe game nails absolutely everything it sets out to accomplish, with the exception of maybe the controls. While the cursor system functions adequately on a controller, the title is definitely better suited to a mouse and keyboard. Additionally, placing items behind other objects or trying to tuck them into corners will very often be uncooperative. But these are minor obstacles on the way to enjoying such a uniquely wonderful game.e

Unpacking manages to do several things very well, all at the same time. It's a touching story told through interaction, it provides the creative play space of a great dollhouse game, and it deftly applies established game design ideas from completely different genres. Its only real shortcoming is the repetition that is a necessary byproduct of landing its message. Effort has gone into making the controls satisfying on Switch, and the visual and sound design are delightful throughout, making Unpacking, like any sane person's cutlery, absolutely top-drawer.

As someone who generally hates sorting things out and often leaves boxes out for weeks at a time, I can say that Unpacking is a much better experience than the real thing. If only actual unpacking could be such a calm exercise.

Unpacking is a delightful and charming puzzle game, one that perfectly takes a chore such as moving and perfectly shows how it can highlight the most important parts of out lives, allowing us to reflect upon them and the transitions we go through along the way.

Playing Unpacking is a unique experience that demonstrates how the simplicity of gameplay, when well employed, can translate into an absurdly involving and emotional work. Through the mechanics of unpacking and organizing, the game unveils the story of its protagonist and invites us to reflect on our own journeys, revisiting not only the objects that passed through our lives, but also the people who remain and those who are gone.