Unpacking has 14,000 foley audio files for every object you place

Surroundings are good. PackingThis seems to be a very simple task. You’ve got one goal: Unpack and organize various rooms from throughout a person’s life. You’ll start in your own bedroom, move into your college dorm, and eventually graduate to larger apartments and houses.

Each of the game’s levels begins with mostly empty rooms and a bunch of sealed cardboard boxes. You can click on any box to pull out an object randomly from the box. This item you can place wherever you like. While there are certain rules that govern what objects may go where (e.g. toilet paper is not allowed in the kitchen), you can generally place things wherever you want. (For what it’s worth, truly free spirits can turn off those room-specific rules in the settings.)

Now, most games would probably just have a default “thud” for placing an object somewhere, but the developers behind UnpackedI decided to go one step further. Every object has its own sound. As you pick up an object, it will sound different. A toothpaste tube, jeans or a pot of cooking oil all have unique sounds. There are many items to choose from.

That’s just the beginning of the developers’ commitment to the aural accuracy of unpacking your roomThis is. Whenever you place an object down, it’ll have a separate unique sound depending on the surface you’re placing it on, and the object’s weight and material.

On Twitter Packing’s composer, Jeff van Dyck, detailed just what an undertaking this effort became, requiring 14,000 different foley audio files to capture every possible combination.

The reason he went so far was explained later on in the thread. “The game has a lot of space and time for audio,” van Dyck said. “There’s a sort of impressionistic vibe from the pixel art, visual detail that isn’t there due to the resolution (which gives it its retro charm). This gives us an opportunity to add that detail back via the sound design.”

The upshot of this effort is that the whole package feels far more tactile and grounded, like you’re actually unpacking these rooms in real life. And it’s an incredibly meditative, soothing experience.

PackingIt is now available on Linux, Mac and Nintendo Switch as well as Windows PCs, Xbox One, and Xbox One (including through Xbox Game Pass).