Unpacking Review – XBOX ONE version
Unpacking was released on November 2nd, 2021 on Xbox One, Xbox Series X+S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Developed by Witch Beam and published by Humble Games.
Unpacking is a simulation-style game that follows a young woman throughout her life as she moves from home to home. These homes vary from dorm rooms to 3 bedroom houses. As the player, you are tasked with unpacking this woman’s life as neatly and as organized as you can. As you progress, you will gradually uncover the main character’s backstory through photos and descriptions of your home.
Onto the review.
Graphics
Unpacking is an indie game, through and through. You will not find large set pieces, explosions, or really much of anything with the exception of the boxes, the homes, and the boxes’ contents. Graphically, the game is very easy to look at with it’s retro pixel look and feel. There is an incredible amount of detail by Witch Beam’s model artists. Closely examining everyday items brought back nostalgia from my own childhood, which is impressive. You will find game consoles, movies, board games, and books with pixellated but definable covers. For example – while unpacking a living room in one home, I stumbled across a Gamecube, and looking at the covers of some of the games, I could identify a game’s cover art like Mario Kart: Double Dash. (Granted, it was super blurred out so Witch Beam wouldn’t have licensing problems, for sure.) Another instance led to me finding Jaws on DVD.
On the whole, the game has a very pleasing visual aesthetic, and everything is easily identifiable to the average player. When boxes are empty, they fold up and disappear, but there is the odd occasion where a foreground box is blocking a background location with no apparent way to remove it.
Gameplay
The gameplay here is simple: unpack all the boxes and then proceed to the next level. You will get an achievement and a brief description of the character’s life events between locations, and the game doesn’t tell you this, but whichever final room is photographed, the description will change depending on the room pictured. For example, one of my final areas was the kitchen in one home. When I completed the level, the description made a statement about coffee, but when I went back for achievement cleanup, I completed the level again in a different room and the description had changed to match.
Unpacking is simple: Press A to get an item from a box, press A again to put it down. You are able to rotate the items for organization and identification before placement. Organizing a room is fun, though if you are achievement hunting, beware where you put things if you have to go back for cleanup, as just throwing whatever, wherever is a good way to give yourself a bad time. Some items are able to be used. For example, the radio, the tv, the oven, etc., which I didn’t realize until cleanup, sadly. They don’t add much to the gameplay but it is a nice feature regardless.
Sound
The sound and music to the game is somehow satisfying. The music is calming and relaxed, but doesn’t stand out as being extraordinary. Think elevator music – when you’re there, it’s nice, but it’s not something you would listen to in your spare time. That said, it’s probably done by design. Witch Beam likely carefully crafted their music to make it that way, so that the gameplay and the sound effects are the lord of the castle. There’s something addicting to placing down objects, from the small thunks and thuds to the soft crashing of the plates. Each sound has a uniqueness to it, as with the visuals, to where it feels like the developers brought everyday objects from home and illustrated and sound recorded them.
Conclusion
Witch Beam’s Unpacking is a gem in the simulation genre. The genre has been increasing in popularity over the years, from Goat Simulator to Train Simulator to Farming Simulator. With such a basic premise and a handcrafted attention to detail, it is very easy to recommend for the few hours there is to it. Like all simulation games, some people just won’t be interested in the genre, but those that do will be treated to an almost zen-like experience.
I hearby award Unpacking with a 8/10. I played over the course of 2 days and unlocked 1000 gamerscore.
4.0