In 2007, she moves into an apartment already cluttered with the possessions of at least one other person. The apartments and houses that the protagonist moves into also tells me much about the changes in her life. Even that frustrating photograph vanishes after the one level in which it bedevils us both as she moves past that relationship. Watching her clothing choices change from branded tops and t-shirts to fashionable blouses and dresses shows a young woman aging into a more professional look as she begins her career. Discarding her childhood toys when she moves into her college apartment requires little understanding. Objects which do not reappear between moves are also telling. Items which reappear in every move, like this stuffed pig, suggest an emotional attachment from the protagonist. Unpacking the kitchen is always a headache as the protagonist is frustratingly anal about which shelves are allowed to contain which pieces of kitchen paraphernalia. Sometimes this spot is annoyingly picky, such as exactly where a bathmat should be placed on the bathroom floor. In nearly every subsequent level I encounter at least one object which I have failed to place precisely where it wants to go. A stereotype, but one I don’t have difficulty swallowing. Finally, I find where the diary wants to be placed: on the bed, under the girl’s pillow. I try placing it in a drawer and on a bookshelf, but the red outline will not go away. After putting away all her clothes, books, games, and stuffed animals, I find the diary I placed on her table now has an angry red silhouette. Unpacking’s first level is set in 1997 where I unpack the possessions of the protagonist as a girl. The first red item I encounter is the least consequential. The protagonist is especially picky about where items must go in the kitchen. I must carry it to the kitchen and find a place for it, possibly having to rearrange other things I placed there which only barely fit. I may be unpacking in the bathroom and discover a kitchen appliance which did not fit in the kitchen boxes. The protagonist never seems to have enough hangers for all her clothes, so I find myself draping her tops, blouses, pants, skirts, and dresses across tables, beds, and floors before I find a way to make them all fit in her closet. When I click on the box, the next item emerges like a little surprise to reveal more secrets about this unseen woman whom I learn to know well.Ĭomplications are created much as they would happen in real life. I do not get to choose the order in which I unpack things. Posters emerge furled and do not unroll until I find a spare piece of wall where they may hang. Kitchen towels fold into an efficient square when placed on a table, or hang neatly when draped from an oven handle. ![]() Some items change depending on where I try to place them. I play Unpacking by using a cursor to pull items from cardboard boxes and place them in empty spaces on surfaces, on walls, and inside cupboards in one or more rooms within the protagonist’s latest home. ![]() Removing a colored pencil set from a box to be placed in the room.
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