Unpacking is a casual story-rich pixel graphics game developed by Witch Beam and published by Humble Games. It was released on Steam and Epic Games for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on November 2, 2021.
The full wiki of this game can be found here.
Premise[ | ]
This is a zen game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. It is partially a block-fitting puzzle, part home decoration. The player is tasked to create a living space on their own while learning clues about the life that they are unpacking. Over the course of eight house moves, the player unfolds life of a girl from her childhood to adulthood by unpacking and arranging all of her belongings in every new place she moves into.
Gameplay[ | ]
The game tracks every house or every move with the year that it happened and it is reflected in the items that players unpack. It could be the technology of the time (like the old-styled computer in level two) or it could be trends which will be apparent in her clothes and posters, among other stuff. The player also retains some stuff from previous levels, hinting at the character's attachment to certain things or ideas. Each new level might also bring in new rooms to decorate. The first level is just the character's bedroom because as a child, that'll be the only relevant room as far as unpacking is concerned. The girl will then soon get more rooms or move into places like an apartment or even a two story house. Sometimes, the player might not be able to move certain things because they might not be living alone in that house.
Even though there is no specific place for an item to be placed, any item cannot be placed in any spot, hence where the puzzle aspect of the game comes in. This helps show the relation the character has to certain items and how it has/will change over the years of her life. Other than the choice of items themselves, where she wants to place certain items helps flesh out her personality a lot and gives the players hints to how she feels about the move. Though despite this, there is a toggle in the accessibility settings which lets the players place anything anywhere where they would like, hence allowing the player to optionally eliminate the puzzle aspect of the game.
The game is eight levels long, features pixel art, and an original soundtrack. The gameplay for this game is around three hours, so it is a shorter game, but the time could be spent organizing, reorganizing and decorating. Moreover, the player could always go back and redecor it any way they want to, so there is some replayability as well.
Game features[ | ]
- The player starts unpacking things from a single bedroom to an entire house.
- The gameplay has no timers, meters or scores, hence the game could be played casually.
- Players could also explore domestic environments with all their nooks and crannies while they stack plates, hang towels, and arrange bookshelves.
- Players could discover a character's story through the items that come with her to each new home (and the items that get left behind).
- Soundtrack by BAFTA award-winning composer and audio director Jeff van Dyck.
Soundtrack[ | ]
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unpacking Theme | 2:09 |
| 2 | Child's Play | 6:04 |
| 3 | I Like Water | 1:07 |
| 4 | Own Two Feet | 5:52 |
| 5 | City Girl | 1:48 |
| 6 | Friends for Life | 5:12 |
| 7 | Game On | 1:33 |
| 8 | Infatuation | 4:54 |
| 9 | Pretentious | 1:26 |
| 10 | Lost and Found | 5:43 |
| 11 | It's Not You | 2:24 |
| 12 | Going Solo | 5:03 |
| 13 | Yeah Nah | 1:55 |
| 14 | Soulmate | 5:30 |
| 15 | My Dear Mali | 1:35 |
| 16 | Sunset | 7:18 |
| 17 | Honse Ride | 3:04 |
| 18 | Sunset (Revisit) | 4:36 |
| 19 | Chillin' at the Luau | 2:07 |
| 20 | Unpacking a Life | 3:07 |
| 21 | Home Sweet Home | 2:12 |
| 22 | Unpacking a Life (Redux) | 3:28 |
| 23 | Sunset (My Little Waltz) | 6:40 |
Achievements[ | ]
This is a list of 25 achievements available in this game.
- 1997
- Gotta flush ’em all: Flush every toilet in the game. The achievement will pop out after clicking the last flush at the end of the game.
- Make some memories: Find the camera. Story achievement.
- Solve a puzzle: Solve the Rubik’s Cube. Interact with it using RMB (or B on gamepad).
- Blast some tunes: Click the music player buttons. Interact with it using RMB (or B on gamepad).
- Beginning: Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
- 2004
- Strike a pose: Make the mannequin dab. Interact with it using RMB (or B on gamepad).
- Electrical Hazard: Put a toster in the tub.
- A sometimes food: Place the cookie jar on the highest shelf.
- Get smart :Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
- 2007
- Game on: Place the blue console (GameCube-like) on the left or right side of the TV cabinet. Interact with it using RMB (or B on gamepad).
- Hat on head: Put the head cap on the mannequin (top shelf in the kitchen).
- Fellowship: Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
- 2010
- Tidy whities: Collect all of his underwear in the drawer.
- Brew some coffee: Put all the coffee-related stuff on the table. Not sure which items counts, I got the achievement after putting the mug.
- Too cool: Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
- 2012
- Rediscover childhood: Hang the unicorn poster on the wall. You can find it in the drawer under the window.
- Home cooking: Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
- 2013
- 12:00: Change the time on the microwave. Interact with it using RMB (or B on gamepad).
- Brilliantly solved: Put the magnets on the fridge to make an “1+2=3” equation.
- Independence: Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
- 2015
- Fuzzy friends: Put the tiger and the pig next to each other.
- Green thumb: Find some place for every plant.
- Love: Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
- 2018
- Baby builder: Build a tower out of toy cubes.
- No place like home: Finish the chapter. Story achievement.
Trivia[ | ]
- Despite being story-rich, this game features no dialogue at all.
System requirements[ | ]
- Minimum
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 7 SP1+
- Processor: SSE2 instruction set support
- Graphics: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities.
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Recommended
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
