When I saw Unpacking on the syllabus, I was excited to play it. I’ve always been a huge fan of environmental / indirect storytelling in general, and I had heard that Unpacking used it extensively. When I first booted it up, I was pleasantly surprised by the vibrant pixel art and chill music. The main game mechanic also felt super polished, with how unpacked items adapted to their placements—towels & clothes folding when placed on surfaces, toothbrushes fitting neatly in bowls, etc.
Unfortunately, it only took me a few minutes to get sick of playing.
What I expected to be a relaxed escape from reality quickly became yet another unpleasant obligation. While the aesthetic aspects of the game were undoubtedly polished, I found the actual gameplay to be actively frustrating. I admire Unpacking as a work of art, but I certainly didn’t enjoy it. One could argue that the point is to not enjoy it, but that does a disservice to the other aspects of the game that one will miss if they aren’t motivated to keep playing. Were it not for the meta-obligation of having to play it for class, I would have quit on the 2nd level.
I believe my lack of enjoyment is rooted in the game’s partial realism—rather, the ways it’s realistic and the ways it’s unrealistic combine to make it difficult for me to enjoy.
The realism is pretty obvious: The game is set in the real world, and it mimics the very real and familiar activity of, you guessed it, unpacking. While there is a bit of enjoyment to be found in understanding the characters & plot through the items and spaces, I found that the game was too realistic for me to enjoy. The settings, props, and most of all gameplay offered no escapism. I already do mundane tasks in real life; why would I want to do them in a game?
Additionally, Unpacking also has realism in actively frustrating ways. Attempting to open a door or drawer while another is in the way will cause them to collide. Items are also occasionally packed in inconvenient boxes (such as a frying pan in a bathroom supplies box).
What especially bothers me about Unpacking is that the ways in which it lacks realism further contribute to making it less enjoyable. To list some: you can’t look in a box before grabbing an item. You can’t choose what item to grab from a box. You can’t carry multiple items at once. You can’t move boxes. Perhaps most importantly, you unpack boxes at every stage of your life back-to-back. Real unpacking also has some level of variety: sometimes you untangle cords, sometimes you fold clothes, sometimes you lift heavy objects, etc. It may not be especially enjoyable either, but it’s less monotonous than just clicking. While I don’t by any means disagree with the decision to have minimal controls, they made the game not engaging for me.
At first I wasn’t too sure about what you meant by the “lack of realism.” However, after fully reading through your post, I realized that I just accepted to the lack of realism while playing and didn’t really consider it. I completely agree with you on how this mixture of realism and lack of realism makes the game more annoying and frustrating to play. As someone who somewhat enjoys realistic games, I feel that it would’ve been more enjoyable if it weren’t for the partial realism. I will also say that I don’t think the $20 is worth due to its lack of replayability.
While I was eager to read your post as I had found Unpacking to be thoroughly enjoy, I ended up agreeing with your points. After the fifth level I found the game to be very frustrating however my investment in the story had kept me going. The lack of true realism now that I have taken a different look at the game does present its frustrations, however it is understandable that only one item can be moved at a time so that each item can feel important. When comparing Unpacking to other simulator games such as House Flipper, it becomes clear that Unpacking focuses more on the story than the realism.
Interesting take, for me I personally did enjoy Unpacking a lot but I can understand where you are coming from with how the realism mix of lack of realism can make the game feel frustrating or repetitive. For me found that the realism aspects and repetitiveness with placing objects was actually enjoyable not in the same way I enjoy most other games but in a more meditative I can sort of zone out and just put things neatly in place. I’m not sure if that makes sense but it was immersive in the sense where I feel like these mundane things like unpacking stuff or cleaning your room in real life are also tasks that can relax (you get into the zone and just sort of do things) and this game replicates that feeling really effectively. That being said those tasks can definitely be boring if I’m not in the mood to do them so it is understandable why the game can be frustrating!