Moving Out (Solo Experience) - Two Minute Review!
Note: no built-in online co-op!
[solo experience]
Free from Epic Games October 24th to October 31th 2024
Title: Moving Out
Summary: Moving Out is a ridiculous physics-based moving simulator that brings new meaning to "couch co-op"! Are you ready for an exciting career in furniture? As a newly certified Furniture Arrangement & Relocation Technician, you'll take on moving jobs all across the busy town of Packmore. Smooth Moves may not be the biggest moving company, but there's no task too dangerous or strange for this busy team of go-getters. Grow your business to brave new heights, recruit colourful customizable characters, and save your town from furniture peril!
Release Date: Apr 28, 2020
Rating: Rated E for Everyone
Developer: SMG Studio
Publisher: Team17
Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Genres: Virtual Career
---------------------------------
"Moving Out" is a straightforward physics-based game where you must move furniture from inside houses into the back of a truck as quickly as possible. The game's core loop involves clearing 30 levels, each taking on average 5 minutes, with your performance graded by gold, silver, or bronze medals based on time. After completing a level, bonus objectives are unlocked, encouraging replays with constraints such as avoiding certain paths or packing extra items. There's also an unlockable mode where you move furniture from the truck back into the house, but it doesn't feel significantly different from the core gameplay.
The game's appeal lies in its silly, light-hearted humor and simple controls, making it easy to pick up and play. While playing solo, there's little pressure to complete levels quickly, with most of the challenge being self-imposed through personal motivation to achieve faster times. Although the time targets are well-balanced, earning a gold medal often requires frustrating precision. Also, the levels do get repetitive, despite the gradual introduction of new gimmicks.
The biggest drawback for solo players is the lack of motivation to keep replaying levels. While I enjoyed playing through all the levels, I just didn't find most of the challenges compelling enough to warrant replay, or the game itself fun enough to invest effort into slightly improving my times. The reward for bonus objectives are tokens which unlock additional challenge levels, but these can be even more pointless and frustrating.
"Moving Out" remains a charming and solidly built game, enjoyable for short bursts but lacking depth for a prolonged single-player experience. I'm sure the time challenges will appeal to some people, but personally the 5 hours I spent playing through the game and doing a few of the interesting challenges were more than enough