Gather round, it’s anecdote time.

Unpacking is a critically acclaimed indie game from 2021 that asks the player to unpack items from boxes, as if they had just moved. From this basic idea, a low key narrative emerges, following an off-screen character as they move from place to place at different stages of their life. And you can track their interests and circmstances by the various tchotchkes they bring with them.

Perhaps it’s a bit hyperbolic to say Unpacking triggered me. However, I did find it so unpleasant that I DNF’d it, despite its short run time.

By its very nature, the narrative of Unpacking focuses on material goods, from practical items like pots and toiletries to more decorative items like stuffed toys. The narrative wants you to place sentimental value on those goods, to imagine how the unseen protagonist might feel about them, and reminisce on one’s own material goods.

And there’s always slightly too much stuff. It’s not meant to be a challenging game, but there is at least a little bit of friction, as you try to find room for everything.

To me, this tastes like a hoarding simulator. The game’s protagonist is not so excessive as to be described as a hoarder, but the act of unpacking material goods over and over again, never visibly throwing anything away, considering each item’s emotional significance… I actually hate it.

I grew up with a hoarder, and it was about how all the stuff is important, it all has sentimental value. Broken old toys, baby clothes, years worth of old magazines. Stacks and stacks of empty containers just in case. Ancient souvenirs to remember trips not remembered, or gifts never given. Even the stuff that belongs to you that you want to throw away, it has sentimental value to me, so you are forced to live with it, as it lies beneath piles of other stuff that equally sparks joy.

Give me games that allow me to burn stuff up or forget things forever, that’s what resonates with me.