Unpacking is a great game that tells a meaningful, personal story using the objects that the player organizes and the small details within the room. (Ex: The protagonist automatically puts a pushpin through a picture of her ex-boyfriend after a harsh break-up).
However, it is ultimately a game, and games have rules. Where a game has rules, procedural narrative is in play. Procedural Narrative is a word many of us have heard time and time again, and I think it is interesting to apply to Unpacking. In many games, the rules and the player’s capabilities within the game world change. For example, in Braid, each World contains time abilities (slowing down others with the ring, time clones, etc.) that are rarely seen outside that specific World. In many RPGs, you level up and gain new abilities as the game goes on. This doesn’t happen in Unpacking.
All you do in Unpacking is, well, unpack. No new abilities, perspectives, or game modes. There seems to be a dearth of procedural narrative. However, Unpacking is very subtle about its procedural narrative. Initially, when you’re unpacking, there’s no issues with where you place things. You can place pots on the floor, paper towels in the bath, and books on the stove. Once everything is out of the boxes though, objects that are not where they should be are outlined in red. This makes sense for out of place kitchenware and toiletries, but it gets even more specific.
For example, I had to place the backpack in several different places in the first level. I put it originally on the chair, which is where I keep mine. Then under my desk, on the side of the dresser, and then finally on top of the dresser, where the outline disappeared. These peculiarities also continue over to where you put plushies and certain books. Another specific example is the aforementioned boyfriend picture. One might think putting him on the pinboard so the player character can vent her frustration might be the right answer. In reality, you have to put the picture away, where she doesn’t have to look at it.
This creates the feeling that we are not a nebulous character, but as an actual person. A person who doesn’t immediately know where everything has to go, who has preferences for how she organizes, who processes her anger in a certain way, and hides away certain secrets. Unpacking uses its minimal gameplay to fully establish the character and humanity of its protagonist throughout the game without the player even seeing her. That is a masterful use of procedural narrative that more games should take notes from.
The distinction between an unpacking simulator and a narrative that utilizes the mechanic of unpacking is quite important to bring up! I agree that the gameplay’s boundaries lead to the main character being a crucial aspect of the experience–wherein you are required to think about the plot itself at points. I wonder if players would overall agree that this adds to the enjoyment of the game, or if it creates frustration that would be appeased by not having a narrative to follow.