About Unpacking

Unpacking, from Australian studio Witch Beam, is a zen puzzle game about the familiar experience of moving into a new place. Each level is a home — a childhood bedroom, a shared flat, a new house — and a pile of boxes. You open them one by one and place every item where it belongs.

There is a light puzzle element: some items only make sense in certain rooms, and the game highlights anything that is in the wrong place at the end of a level. But the real appeal is the rhythm of unpacking — lining up books, arranging the bathroom, finding a spot for a favourite toy.

Through the objects you handle over the years, the game tells the story of one person's life, from childhood to adulthood, without a single line of dialogue. You notice what stays, what disappears and what changes. It is short, warm and thoughtful, and it has become one of the best-loved relaxing games on PC.