Thankfully, most objects are at least fairly common objects found in a middle class urban household, but the game isn’t really trying to be difficult with the items it provides for placement. The game uses a gentle and cozy art style that suits the relaxed activity, but admittedly a few items don’t show up the best in it, making you wonder what you might be looking at even if you zoom in close.

Finding where they belong might involve reshuffling previously placed items and certain objects can be stacked in different ways like bowls sliding into each other to take up less space, but you have to actually consider how someone would want their belongings placed rather than focusing on merely removing them from the moving boxes. Toss everything out on the floor and once every item has been removed from a box, those misplaced objects will be outlined in red. There are some limits in place so you can’t just dump everything on the floor. Be it something important like the art supplies this character works with, their amenities used in the restroom, something more sentimental like a plush from their childhood, or memorabilia from vacations or their favorite works of fiction, you gradually find a place for everything, there being no timer to pressure you and the relaxing music allows you to calmly figure out how you want to decorate the rooms. Thankfully the furniture is already in place and there is nothing as fiddly as hooking up electronics or utilities, the focus instead on the many small objects that still need to go somewhere.

Rather than seeing her at work though, you are instead presented the latest living space she finds herself in, a diagonal view of the space showing empty shelves but large cardboard boxes you need to get to work opening and emptying. Unpacking is not my story though, but that of an unnamed female protagonist whose life you follow through the major changes in residence she undergoes.

Funnily enough though, Unpacking is a game all about placing your belongings in nice tidy arrangements around your limited living space, and while it might not spur me to rethink the way I’ve packed everything onto my shelves, it has at least got me to finally unpack the last box I had laying around from my last move so that I can’t say I spent more time unpacking in a video game than I did in real life. One reason I would be reticent to share a photo of my game collection is because I struggle to nicely place everything I own in a neat presentable manner. Considering I named this website The Game Hoard, you probably won’t be too surprised to learn I’m a bit of a pack rat.

Unpacking xbox game