Unpacking

Telling a story with plates, books and towels

Unpacking is, in its developer's words, a zen game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. You open a box, take out an object and decide where it goes: mugs in a cupboard, books on a shelf, a poster on the wall.

Over eight house moves, from a single bedroom to an entire house, you learn about a person you never see. Some items follow her everywhere, some disappear, and some new ones turn up. Witch Beam, the Australian studio behind it, describes it as a story you are never told directly.

Each move is split into rooms, so a natural session is a single room or a single box.

Part of the charm is the detail. You stack plates, hang towels and arrange bookshelves, and the developer describes exploring domestic environments with all their nooks and crannies. The soundtrack is by Jeff van Dyck, a BAFTA award-winning composer and audio director, according to the developer.

Unpacking's no-timer, no-fail design

The developer is clear about how relaxed the design is. Its feature list promises meditative gameplay with no timers, meters or scores, and its accessibility notes list no time limits or failure penalties.

The only rule is that items must end up somewhere sensible before a room counts as finished. For players who find even that frustrating, there is an Allow items anywhere option that removes the constraint completely. Steam also lists the game as supporting save anytime.

Other documented accessibility options include enlargeable buttons, zoom, a customisable outline colour for misplaced items and a toggle for room transition animations. Our guide to what makes a game cosy looks at why this kind of tidy, low-stakes play feels restful.

The developer also lists one-handed play on PC and Nintendo Switch, remappable controls and no audio-only gameplay cues, so it is easy to play in a quiet room with the sound low or off.

There is also no penalty for leaving a room half done. You can close the game with books still in a box and come back to exactly where you were, since Steam lists save anytime support.

Unpacking together on the sofa

Unpacking is single-player, but it is easy to share. One person handles the controller while the other suggests where things go, and the light story invites conversation about your own moves. That is why it appears in our play together softly playlist.

It is also in our ten-minute unwinds and no-screen-glow evenings playlists, as it plays well on a handheld or tablet with touch controls.

Unpacking also suits readers and non-gamers, because the story is told almost entirely through objects. There is very little text, and nothing has to be read to finish the game.

The gentle story makes it a good choice for a quiet evening with someone who has recently moved home themselves.

Every way to play Unpacking in the UK

The official Unpacking site lists Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation, the Apple App Store, Google Play, Humble Store, GOG and Apple Arcade. Steam lists Windows, Mac and Linux. Nintendo UK lists the Switch version, released on 2 November 2021, as PEGI 3 for one player.

On the UK App Store it is a one-off purchase. There are no in-game purchases listed.

If you enjoy the tidying side, A Little to the Left turns household order into short logic puzzles.

As a finite game with eight moves, it gives a satisfying sense of completion across a week or two of short evenings.

If you are new to the game, the early moves are small, so they are a good test of whether its quiet, object-based storytelling suits you before the homes grow larger.