A Game Everyone Should Play

One thing I love about games is when they tell a story, the medium lends itself so well to narrative fiction that I think it can be more engaging and more captivating than traditional media like Movies and TV. Story-telling in games can be overt and explicit, with grand narratives, or it can be subtle, there for those who are interested and overlooked by those who have no interest in the narrative who simply want to play the game. One game that balances this pretty well is Unpacking, which as the name suggests is a game all about unpacking your life both figuratively and literally.

The core game mechanic is simple, you find yourself in a 2.5D Isometric environment, with a cardboard box filled with items that need to be be organised and set into the environment. The game starts in the protagonist's childhood bedroom soon after they are given their own room for the first time. They have everything in boxes to unpack and that's all you do, pick up objects, and place them where you think they fit best.

The hidden depth to this game comes from the story. The protagonist is a Millennial, we know this from the dates the game gives us as time passes between each stage of the game representing each stage of their life. The environment also reflects the time period, their first computer having a large CRT monitor, and later stages seeing them use a flat panel and a graphics tablet.

I think everyone should play this game to see how they relate to the protagonist. There is no real antagonist, it's relaxed and easy going, there's very little skill needed from the player, it's just a delightful little game to play.

I'm skirting around the edge of the story as there's quite literally a lot to unpack, spoilers ahead you have been warned. If you are observant everything about the protagonist is told through the gameplay, from the items you unpack as a child, to the photos you place when they are a young adult, and a few items in the later stages hint at major life events that occurred.

There's two particular moments that felt painful for me. As you play through the game, as a general rule, items can be placed anywhere except on the floor, that's only a temporary space, you have to move them somewhere more appropriate before the level will complete. There is very clearly an implied relationship in one stage, and one of the items you unpack is a framed certificate, the protagonist's college diploma. There's no space anywhere in the apartment where it would fit and be visible. You are forced to place it either in a closet or under their bed, which is a red flag for the relationship they're in, when it's very clear their apartment is not truly shared, but one they don't really fit into.

In the following stage, you see the protagonist move back into their parents home. When you're unpacking their stuff there's 1 photo that you can't place anywhere visible, you have to hide it out of sight implying the photo is of the protagonist and their ex, too painful for them to see as a constant reminder. This bittersweet moment confused me at first when the level wouldn't progress and that one photo was highlighted in red as out of place, it took me a moment to realise what it was and why it had to be hidden and it was a gut punch I was not expecting to feel in a game so sweet and innocent.

There is a happy ending, the game is most definitely worth playing, and like the title suggests there's a lot to unpack which is what I love about it most, when you are left with your imagination to wonder how much significance each item has. You can glide through the game oblivious or you can get lost in the detail, it's entirely up to you.