Preview | Unpacking

LifeisXbox’s Unpacking preview | We are probably all familiar with packing and unpacking. For some, this is a chore that comes with moving to a new location, for others, it’s an absolute joy to organize and reorganize everything you own. I can definitely say I love organizing and giving moving things around. When I lived with my parents still, I used to rearrange my room every now and then; sometimes just tiny changes, sometimes my whole room got a brand new look and everything moved around. In the upcoming Unpacking, a zen puzzle game by Witch Beam, you’ll be doing exactly as the title promises: unpack everything you own!

Demo content

Even though I love organizing, I still wasn’t too sure I would enjoy a game like this, but I ended up having quite a relaxing and good time. In the demo of Unpacking, you’ll be unpacking in two different places. The first time you see a pile of boxes is in a children’s bedroom. Clearly, this represented the room a child has in their parents’ house. Organizing everything was so much fun! I loved putting everything into place, rearranging things as new items came out of the boxes, and create a cute little room. After finishing this bedroom, you’ll flash forward a few years to what seems like a dorm room. From what I gathered, I’m positive I’m following the life of a girl. The dorm has three rooms: a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. In every room, you’ll find one or more boxes to unpack. Most items are in the right box, but sometimes you’ll find something that’s meant for the bathroom packed inside the box placed in the bedroom. No biggie, of course, you can just switch between rooms whenever.

Get to know the character

Even though you never see who’s room you’re unpacking, I could already start to feel a connection growing with her. For example, in the first scenario, I unpacked a football, a trophy, a My Little Pony figure, and a Gameboy (of course I unpacked a lot more but just to give a few examples). In the second scenario, I also unpacked that seem football and Gameboy. The other two got left behind in (what I guess was) my parents house. You grow with the character and get to experience how she grows out of certain items but chooses to keep others close. I very much loved this!

What is that

The graphics are very colorful and I enjoyed looking at all the items I got to unpack. However, sometimes it wasn’t clear to me what the hell something was. This only happened once in the demo, I think, but still, it was a tad annoying, since you have to place the items correctly (in the right room, and not just on the ground somewhere), or you can’t continue to the next move.

This small inconvenience aside, I definitely liked the way the items and the rooms looked so far. Furthermore, the soundtrack that plays when you’re unpacking really helps achieve that zen feeling that the developers are aiming for.

In conclusion

The full game will have eight house moves, so there will be plenty of unpacking to go around. I’m very excited to find out what (if any) items make it through all the moves! I’m convinced this is not a game everyone will enjoy, but if you’re into organizing, and you love decorating, you should give this demo a try for sure.