It’s your move
Moving Out (PEGI 3) PS4, XBOX ONE, Switch ★★★★★
LAST time I moved house I swore we would never do it again. It was the fourth move in just 18 months, and frankly I was done with the whole business.
Had it been as much fun as Moving Out however, I’d have been tempted to do it again and again.
Moving Out is the newest game from the people behind Overcooked – one of my favourite ways to waste time in the kitchen.
Overcooked sees you control chefs in various kitchens which are stuffed to the brim with obstacles and hazards. You have to navigate the barriers to fulfil orders for hungry customers before the timer runs out.
It’s a simple premise that proves to be oodles of fun.
In Moving Out, developer SMG Studio has taken what makes Overcooked so much fun, and extended it to every other room in the house.
As a newly certified Furniture Arrangement and Relocation Technician (yup, you got that acronym) you and your Smooth Moves colleagues drive around the town of Packmore helping residents pack up their worldly goods.
Right from the off you discover that there’s more here than just chucking boxes in the back of the van, even if the boss says the clients have signed a waiver, so don’t worry too much about smashing stuff.
TV sets are still plugged into the wall, and picking one up snaps the power lead and sends you into a tailspin. Couches and beds make for slow going, especially when you’re trying to squeeze them through awkward doorways – all the while the timer is ticking away, along with your precious points.
It’s a good-looking game, the top-down style of play lending itself well to the quirky graphics – and it helps that the script is dripping with humorous one liners.
There are three levels of points up for grabs: bronze, silver and gold.
Bronze is a pretty easy target to hit, but you’re going to need nerves and a solid strategy to hit some of the gold targets.
And just when you think you’ve got the hang of shifting grand pianos, fridges and dining room tables, the game throws you a curveball, and you go from emptying out homes to shifting furniture from a plane, and chasing chickens around a farmyard as the farmer packs up his livestock.
There are around 30 levels and, as the game progresses, they get trickier and trickier. Some look fairly simple, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.
One level sees you carrying furniture along a platform that rises and falls into ‘guava’ – it should be pretty straight forward, but with a target of just six minutes to shift 24 items to get the gold, it often descends into chaos.
This is a game which is at its most fun when played with someone else, even if you do find yourselves in stitches one minute and arguing the next. The game supports up to four players, so it’s perfect for the whole family.
Teamwork is vital to score top marks, and being able to throw objects out of windows, or through doorways to your colleague saves you vital seconds.
And it’s not just the all-important gold medal you’re looking to earn.
Hitting targets also unlocks mini games, which means there’s even more fun to be had.
More importantly this is a game you can pick up and put down whenever you want, which is important given the unique times we find ourselves in.
Moving Out may just be one of the most fun games I’ve played so far this year, although I still don’t fancy moving in real life. Buy it: £21.85 from base.com