Unpacking (video game)
A wordless puzzle game about unpacking a life through possessions.
Unpacking is a 2021 puzzle game from the Australian independent studio Witch Beam, published by Humble Bundle across Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. Critics gave it generally favorable reviews, and it earned multiple honors, including two BAFTA Games Awards, a D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game, and Eurogamer’s Game of the Year. The game’s eight stages are labeled by year—1997, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018. In each, the player unpacks a female character’s belongings from boxes into a new home. Every item must be placed somewhere in the living space, and the player learns the unnamed protagonist’s life story solely through her possessions and the rooms she occupies. Some objects have fixed spots required to finish a stage. Across all dwellings, there are 35 rooms in total. Witch Beam, founded in 2013 in Brisbane, Australia, previously released the twin-stick shooter *Assault Android Cactus* in 2015. The idea for *Unpacking* came to Wren Brier in early 2018 when she moved in with her partner, Witch Beam co-director Tim Dawson. She realized that opening unlabeled boxes, unsure of their contents, could become a video game. The pair joined the Stugan games accelerator in Sweden, and full production began in early 2019. The game is mostly wordless, telling its story through objects the player finds. Its sound design includes over 14,000 foley effects, with unique pickup and placement sounds for each item. Witch Beam handled most social media, but brought in Victoria Tran, community director of *Among Us*, to run the game’s Discord and TikTok accounts. The team expected development to take about 18 months, but it took twice as long. *Unpacking* launched on PC, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One on November 2, 2021. PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions followed on May 10, 2022. Limited Run Games offered physical copies for preorder from March 29 to May 1, 2022. Mobile ports for iOS and Android arrived on August 24, 2023. According to Metacritic, the game received generally favorable reviews. Positive notices came from Rock Paper Shotgun, GameSpot, Eurogamer, Nintendo Life, IGN, Kotaku, and TouchArcade. It sold over 100,000 copies across all platforms in its first ten days.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Unpacking
- Developer
- Witch Beam
- Publisher
- Humble Bundle
- Director
- Wren Brier
- Producer
- Kip Bunyea · Erika Mariko Olsen
- Designer
- Wren Brier · Tim Dawson
- Programmer
- Tim Dawson
- Composer
- Jeff van Dyck
- Engine
- Unity
- Platforms
- Windows · macOS · iOS · Android · Linux · Switch · Xbox One · PlayStation 4 · PlayStation 5
- Released
- Windows, Switch, Xbox OneWW · 2 November 2021PS4, PS5WW · 10 May 2022iOS, AndroidWW · 24 August 2023
- Genre
- Puzzle
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Unpacking was developed by Witch Beam, an independent game studio based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, founded in 2013. The game was first conceptualised by Wren Brier when she moved in with her partner, Witch Beam co-director Tim Dawson, in early 2018. She found that unpacking unlabelled boxes, not knowing what is stored inside, was an experience that could be translated into a video game. The two participated in the Stugan games accelerator program in Sweden, and the game entered full production in early 2019. The team initially expected development to take about a year and a half, though actual production took twice as long. Unpacking is mostly a wordless experience, with the narrative mainly told through objects the player unpacks from boxes. The sound design includes over 14,000 foley effects, with multiple pick-up and placement sound effects unique to each item.
Reader's Guide
Unpacking received 'generally favorable' reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic, and sold over 100,000 copies across all platforms in its first ten days. It won several awards, including two BAFTA Games Awards, a D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game, and Game of the Year by Eurogamer. The game also won 2 IGDA Global Industry Game Awards in 2022, one for 2D Animation and another for 2D Environment Art. In January 2022, a clone titled Unpacking Master was released on iOS and Android, which was criticised for copying Unpacking's mechanics and room layouts. Apple removed the app from the App Store, and the Google Play version was delisted by its publisher SayGames, whose CEO apologised for the resemblance. In December 2024, Wren Brier reported numerous clones on the Nintendo eShop deceptively marketed as DLC for the original game. A game called A Storied Life: Tabitha, involving packing up a woman's belongings after her death, was compared by several reviewers to a reverse Unpacking.
Did You Know?
- The game includes over 14,000 foley effects, with unique sounds for each item.
- A clone called Unpacking Master was removed from the App Store after backlash.
- Unpacking won Game of the Year by Eurogamer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Unpacking?
Unpacking is a 2021 wordless puzzle game created by the Australian indie studio Witch Beam and released by Humble Bundle. Players sort a woman's possessions into rooms across eight life stages, letting the objects she keeps and discards tell her story without a single line of dialogue.
How does Unpacking gameplay actually work?
Your sole task in each stage is to drag items out of cardboard boxes and place them onto shelves, surfaces, or the floor of a new room. There is no timer, combat, or explicit scoring—satisfaction comes from arranging things in a way that feels personal and right for the character.
Who is the character in Unpacking?
The game follows an unnamed woman through eight chapters spanning 1997 to 2018, covering what appear to be her late teens through early thirties. Her personality, relationships, and career are implied entirely through the specific objects she chooses to keep in each new space.
How many stages and rooms does Unpacking contain?
The game is divided into eight year-labeled stages (1997, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2018) and features a total of 35 rooms for the player to furnish. It is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
More in Puzzle Games of the 2020s 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced