Unpacking

[h1]A slice of life packed into 8 different lifetimes[/h1] I got this as part of the [i]Paralives[/i] + [i]Unpacking[/i] bundle. I never usually indulge in "cozy sims" largely because I'm just not the target avatar for those kinds of games. Saying that, I'm a sucker for games with great stories. And while to most people it's a Zen puzzler, [i]Unpacking[/i] rewards those paying attention with a twinkling story. [h2]FUN[/h2] I honestly didn't think I would end up spending over 3 hours playing the game. My playtime includes completing all the achievements. And I genuinely love the achievements. Despite being the metagame, the achievements provide a "hidden" point-and-click experience in that you have to use your intuition to put two and two together, and see how to get them. There are no hints, you simply have to rely on "instinct". If you enjoy figuring things out yourself without any hand-holding, then you'll have a lot of fun attempting to obtain 70-80% of the achievements. I do wish it was a little less challenging, but I guess it's reminiscent to the times when we had to use guides to achieve a challenge anyway. That's pretty much all there is to the gameplay in terms of replayability and fun. Besides that, all you do is click the left mouse button on things, and make them move around. You'd think this would bore you, but it never does because the... [h2]LOOK AND FEEL[/h2] ... is [i]fantastic[/i]. Unlike the music, the sound design is intentionally not made chiptune, and it suddenly invokes a kinaesthetic sense in your interactions with the items. Carry a bag, and you'll feel the plastic squeaking under your grip. You put it down, you'll feel a dull "fump" of the air inside pushing up. You set different glasses on the table, and each of them would sound different based on the make; some sound like it could break if you set it down again, some sound like they could make your knuckle hurt if it fell on your hand. And here's the amazing part: when trying to segregate them on the shelves, I could not tell the books from the CD boxes... until I picked them up and set them down to check. If it played a hollow clack of typical plastic, it's a CD box. If it played a thoomish thud, I could literally feel how heavy the book, let alone understood if it's a book or not. In a way, [i]Unpacking[/i] is one of the prime examples of video games that prove you don't need to make the game *look* realistic to *feel* realistic; that's the difference between reality versus believability, something most game developers AND gamers fail to understand. [h2]IMMERSION[/h2] This is possibly the only time I can say that look and feel in a video game does SO much for the immersion factor. And I'll admit: I was so immersed in the game that the idea of getting back to the game just to sort boxes and arrange household stuff after I took an AFK break... made me groan. Perhaps it worked too well on that regard, and I have to remind myself that this is a game, and there's a reward factor to it... well, some. The only time I did feel like I was getting something valuable from all this ... [i]labour[/i]... were insights about the character that I was, and who they were to other characters. As I mentioned before, you can only really see the "story" if you're really paying attention and reading between the lines. And in a way, it's really nice to see such a wholesome representation of the rainbow community. It doesn't come in to shove some agenda down the player's throat. It just presents it like it is: just another life, just people hanging about, enjoying life as it is, with their own set of ups and downs. It just so happens that we're looking at the life of someone who's played both sides. And I think that's the simplest, most honest, and really the truest representation one can create in the community's honour. Whether you support the community or not isn't the point -- it's if you can walk away from the game knowing you can resonate with its story. And if you did, know that it's because you and I have lived those experiences. If I walked away feeling like someone peeked into my past, then so will you. And the reason why is stupid-simple: [i]Unpacking[/i] represents the ebb and flow of the mundane yet familiar -- the very claim it promised to deliver. And deliver, it did. [h1]Verdict[/h1] There were a few moments where the player seems to have only one choice to make in regards to where to place certain objects. It made me wonder if the developers left some space for players to explore it in another way, so that our implicit choice could help us interpret it differently. Or if it's intentionally designed linearly to reflect the character's stage of life. Either way, these moments created an opportunity for emergent narrative to take place. If the intention was what I think, they absolutely nailed it and it was beautifully done, and further cements the representation it means to deliver with respect to the ebb and flow of time, relationships, and love. [i]Unpacking[/i] is not wholesome for wholesome's sake -- give the game a shot, and you'll see what I mean.

There's nothing I can say except that you need to play this game. What I thought would be a simple game about unpacking the many spaces the character moves into, it turned into a beautiful story about a young woman blossoming into an independent adult and eventually finding her happiness. Great music, great cozy game, and great story. Only negative is that I wish it was longer. Also, minor spoiler...♥♥♥♥ THE EX-BOYFRIEND! 10/10 game.

Absolute recommend. Cute visual style, fun organization and decorating, and it's fun to imagine the story as you play including trying to sort out what sentimental reasons lead to some items carrying over between the years, and it's fun to replay to see if you can find different ways to organize things than how you did it the last time. Also, ngl, insanely cathartic to put up the college degree each time after the boyfriend apartment segment.

It's a very chill low key puzzle game. You have MOSTLY free range for where you want to place things, although things like kitchen items go in the kitchen, clothes in the bedroom, and soap in the bathroom sort of thing. On that note there are some items that get a little annoying that should have a little more "free" range that it tries to imply a puzzle format to where you have to figure out where it goes. Like putting you journal in a certain area or a picture in a certain spot... But, you can turn this aspect of the game off and place items where ever you please. I turned it off for my kids as they got frustrated (both between 5-8 years old) at placing the items. But, LOVED it once that was off and they could just unpack and PRETEND to clean and organize. Who knew it just took a digital format of real life to make it addictive?

I loooved it, the story telling through unpacking their stuff is brilliant!

★★★★★

Would 100% recommend this game. It's very relaxing and yet still finds a way to test your patience with objects that might be in the way at first sight. It definitely doesn't end when you reach the final level, because you'll most likely find yourself playing it again soon, mostly because this game forces you to leave your comfort zone. And since there is so much to do, you'll be surprised by how many changes you have made into previous plays, whenever you do decide to check this game out again, and how this game isn't just an "organizing game", it changes continuously based on the player's preferences and/or life experiences. Would love more games like Unpacking in the near future.