Unpacking Reviews
Unpacking is the perfect game to unwind with and provides unique and cosy storytelling through its simple point-and-click mechanics that will keep players wanting more.
Unpacking manages to do several things very well, all at the same time. It's a touching story told through interaction, it provides the creative play space of a great dollhouse game, and it deftly applies established game design ideas from completely different genres. Its only real shortcoming is the repetition that is a necessary byproduct of landing its message. Effort has gone into making the controls satisfying on Switch, and the visual and sound design are delightful throughout, making Unpacking, like any sane person's cutlery, absolutely top-drawer.
Engaging, relaxing, cathartic, Unpacking turns a laborious real-life exercise into a beautiful experience. Undoing the boxes at every stage of the main character's life provides a nice sense of accomplishment.
Review in French | Read full review
Unpacking is a jewel, one of those video games able to leave its mark thanks to their extreme simplicity, and the ability they have to communicate themselves and their stories through gameplay, without disturbing words.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Unpacking is a relaxing puzzle game that encourages you to reflect and move forward.
Unpacking is a truly satisfying and wholesome experience for me. The soundtrack is especially great and even made me cry.
Review in German | Read full review
Unpacking is one of the best games of the year thanks to its magnificent idea: to tell the life of a person through their moves. Perfect in the playable and the sound, the story of Unpacking deserves to be lived.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Unpacking is a satisfying, gorgeous and unexpectedly emotional dive into moving house and the importance of our possessions. This game simply must be played.
Unpacking is a remarkable piece of work that elegantly evokes the ebbs and flows of life.
Unpacking may take only a handful of hours to complete, but it stays with you for far longer. A beautiful, emotional, and unforgettable story awaits beyond a simple and calming puzzle-solving experience. Simply put, this is one of the best games of 2021.
If you’re looking for something chill to play in between the stressful first-person shooters this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with this calm puzzle game, one that doesn’t overstay its welcome either, lasting only a few hours max. At the end of the day, Unpacking unpacks, a captivating story through its use of the stuff we collect in our lives.
Unpacking is truly a unique game that has done something no other video game has done before by crafting such a tremendously relatable character out of nothing but the rather mundaneness of unpacking boxes.
But, like I've said, those nifty puzzles are just the jumping-off point for what makes this such a remarkable, memorable experience. A clever game of unloading boxes would have been enough to make Unpacking worth playing, but it's the way it weaves its beautiful story through those puzzles that makes it truly sublime.
Unpacking is proof that a pixel tells a thousand words. Through simple, zen gameplay and a startling attention to detail a story unfolds in this tiny, pixelated world in a way that just wouldn't have been possible in another medium. That's truly something special on its own – a wholly unique and original narrative experience – and the fact that it's wrapped up in an incredibly cathartic and tangible puzzle game makes it all the more praiseworthy. Witch Beam has something incredible on their hands with this one.
Ultimately, though, the majority of the game’s value and impact comes from the three or so hours it will take you to play through for the first time, and for some people, what’s here is not going to be quite enough to leave you feeling completely satiated. For some, this will be a matter of the depressingly ever-present “monetary value versus amount of content on offer” question; for me, though, it was more about a sense of the game’s more artistic, narrative elements simply not quite feeling like they resolved in a completely satisfactory manner.
This compact little puzzle-story-game has care in every line. It tells a lovely story without words, leaves you room for interpretation, and invites you to be playful. It's absolutely lovely.
Unpacking is a lovely little indie gem. If you are a puzzle player like me who wants to get lost in playing a game, this one is certainly addictive. Even more so if you want to experience a nice little story and maybe ponder about life. I highly recommend it!
Offering a beautiful canvas to work with, Unpacking is a calm and tactile little sim about something most of us would usually dislike.