Unpacking doesn’t have the answers on how to best keep on track, or how to get over that pain and start anew. It’s not a profound game, but an empathetic one. And so it’s no subtle irony then that Unpacking, a game about planning a space, has something to say about waylaid plans, the hurt inherent in their collapse and how to build up again. There’s a certain, intoxicating hubris in making plans you think you’ll be able to follow through on, as they rarely ever come so effortlessly. The tiny ways you could cram a place with your things, like turning up your pillow and hiding your music player there, were the moments when I knew the game understood the importance of “stuff” and our rituals with it all. It’s a game where you unpack boxes, hang or place your things and decorate your home, so of course the small things are what matter the most. When you hang a frame or a poster, Unpacking gives you the wiggle room, for example, to place them on just about any and every wall, allowing you personalize the many rooms and apartments you move to. Unpacking is a game that, quite understandably, likes the finer details. There’s a joy in getting it all right, but the greater one to me was playing a game that, in bits and pieces, understood the relationship we build with the things we collect. While there is a degree of flexibility to where you can place some things, there are absolute places you are intended to place most everything you unpack, though an accessibility option can disable that entirely, allowing you the full range of freedom. It’s a logic puzzle, so as long as you’ve been in a kitchen, a bedroom or bathroom, you’ll be able to sufficiently reproduce a functional home. The “challenge,” a term I’ll throw around incredibly loosely, becomes finding where everything fits best. Your closet gets packed to the brim, your desk gets cluttered and you get so so many games and movies in your entertainment center. Over the years, your living spaces (mostly) grow denser and larger. Inside each one of these is a little part of yourself: A soccer ball from your youth, stuffed toys you’ve accrued over the years, pictures of friends and relationships past, etc. Every one of the levels is a room, or series of rooms, with boxes needing to be emptied. It’s the latest in a growing trend of grounded games taking on mundane, but relatable subject matters, and it’s a relative success on these grounds. In Unpacking, you unbox your life one phase at a time.
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