Unpacking is a game developed by Witch Beam and published by Humble games, the description of Unpacking, according to Steam is that Unpacking is a "zen puzzle game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home."

I don't know about any of you but moving and unpacking; something I've had to do once 3 different times in one whole year out of necessity doesn't sound like my ideal time for a zen like experience but somehow Witch Beam really went all out into making it a relaxing experience. I was surprised myself on how I felt this near monk-like peace, as I slowly unpacked the boxes of our unseen female protagonist's stuff while the calming soundtrack composed by Jeff Van Dyck lured me in further with a plate full of chocolate chip cookies, warm milk, and reassuring tummy rubs. The game was so relaxing at parts I honestly felt myself wanting to doze off to dreamland.

Unpacking's core "plot" or the loose one anyway is simple. The unseen female who I will now refer to as Missy for the rest of this review goes through 8 different moves, each one marking a different stage on her road of through life. We are an unseen mover tasked with unpacking Missy's things and well...arranging it to where we see fit, sound boring from a game-play perspective yes; but as stated above this is a game about zen unpacking and across the nearly 7 hours I played, emptying the boxes Missy's various clothes, electronics, collectibles, books, DVDs, feminine products you name it, it's probably an item to pack somewhere. Then taking these items and carefully putting them where they belonged never got boring to me and scratched the certain pleasure zone in my brain I didn't know need scratching. I'd equate it to to the feeling one gets when you raid a base in Rust and carry a bunch of loot back to your base and carefully arranging it in the various chests you own.

There also this whole "fly on the wall" aspect the comes from the whole game-play element, it's often said the belongings in one's home can show their personality, this is true to a point. Never once do we get introduced to Missy or the other characters in any other form in the game other then through her various belongings, Giving vibes ala Robin William's One Hour Photo, but without the whole stalking thing. But the "fly on the wall" thing works best through piecing together the way their lives are intertwined. Such as the second move where you move into a house with 3 other people and you have to try to cram your stuff on top of theirs but its okay and a new experience for out characters because the music is chipper and happy. For for the move after you breakup with your first love, and the game starts playing a dull and sad theme, while you unpack your stuff into the same room you started in at the beginning. The game does this type of untold storytelling very well and the nice twist near the end of the game was so effective in nailing me in the feels I actually cried. Seriously I did, fuck you. Being real, not many video games have moved me to tears so when one does maybe I tend to be a bit biased. Also I have to commend the sound team the insane amount of work they dumped into. I couldn't even begin to describe what they did so instead I implore you to read this Kotaku article:

https://kotaku.com/hit-puzzle-game-unpacking-features-14-000-audio-fil-1848000220

However this game isn't without some niggles, for one the game is short for the $20 price tag, I played it for a total of 6 hours and 49 minutes but this was only due to me looking for the bonus side achievements so if your not an achievement hunter you could probably beat this game's 8 moves in half the time and be done with it. There's no other point to replaying the game afterwards so some modes like an infinite mode, challenge mode, or maybe some future DLC would be nice. I also had the fortune to play the game though game pass as of the time of this review so your milage on this games worth may vary. Also some items are extremely picky on where they can be placed, such as god forbid you put the sponge on the edge of the sink, it has to go in the sink. Or that god forsaken Foreman grill that I just kept shoving into the forbidden back-lot of a shelf. Also the last move had to of been the least zen like level I've ever encountered, just for the sake of the amount of stuff you have to sort though.

In closing if your looking for a short mostly relaxing game about unpacking someone's belonging and arranging it, this is for you. I personally would wait for a sale.