Unpacking Anxiety

Martin · 1 year (2:48 PM · Sep 15, 2022)

I'm currently a Game Pass subscriber, and so that leads me to try a lot of games I might not have otherwise. One such game, Unpacked, is frequently touted as a fun, relaxing experience - but it just sort of makes me anxious.

In Unpacked, you work through a series of scenarios that tell a story about the stages of a person's life as they find themselves living in a number of different locations. These are mostly apartment-ish settings, which have three or four rooms. At the start of each level, each room is empty, save for a bunch of boxes. You play the game by unpacking them and placing their contents around the rooms.

It's a simple premise. And I guess I get how it could be relaxing to some people. But to me, the deeper I get into each box, all I can do is worry!

Am I going to run out of space on the bookshelf?

What is this item, and does it actually belong in the kitchen?

Wait, there's a whole other room to unpack?!

By the time you're done, the rooms in Unpacked feel cluttered with tchotchkes. As I dig them out of the boxes, all I want to do is throw them into the trash. It makes me want to go through all my things IRL and purge.

Anyway, I'll go ahead and finish the game for the achievements, I suppose. But only in small bites because I just can't take it otherwise.

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