I’ve been interested in ‘Unpacking’ since I first encountered its social media pages while it was still in development. The idea seemed really cool – a game where all the gameplay was about sorting through moving boxes as the character moves house. And when it finally came out at the start of this month, I knew I had to play it even if it meant procrastinating some uni work.
The game is so interesting to me because it tells a whole story without saying anything at all. There’s enough there to give you a sense of the ‘character’ growing up and developing as a person, but I also think it leaves the player enough leeway to come up with their own interpretations.
I think that more games should take the risk of telling their stories in unique ways. With ‘Unpacking’, Witch Beam have created an interesting gameplay mechanic that really works and is able to get a sense of a story across even without much text or any dialogue.
It was really pleasing to see that ‘Unpacking’ seemed to get so much positive feedback after its release, as hopefully this means that there really is a market for these kinds of creative gaming experiences. For me, this was an enjoyable game from start to finish. Though initially I did wish the game was longer, I actually don’t think that this would work in practice – I think there would be a risk of it becoming repetitive or drawn out if it kept going beyond where it did.
I really think that ‘Unpacking’ is the kind of game that a lot of people would enjoy, regardless of whether they are ‘gamers’ or not. It’s quite simple to play and it’s really enjoyable.
amywrites 