Review: Moving Out is family fun

After weeks stuck inside, most of us would love nothing more than to move everything in our houses.

Moving Out, developed by Australian-based SMG Studios.

After weeks stuck inside with our families, flatmates or even alone, most of us would probably love nothing more than to move everything in our houses to somewhere totally different, even if just for a change of scenery.

Moving furniture is something we’ve all done (and helped someone else do), and now an Australian games developer has made a fun, family friendly and enjoyable video game about it.

Moving Out, developed by the Australian-based SMG Studios with support from DevM in Sweden, is a colourful couch co-op game published by Team 17 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

As a couch co-op game, you can play cooperatively with up to three other players simultaneously (ie, while you’re all sitting on a couch together) – and given we’re all stuck at home at the moment, that’s likely to be family members or flatmates.

There’s not a huge number of enjoyable but family-friendly games out there, but Moving Out sits near the top of that list. There is nothing offensive in the game, it rewards co-operation, failing just means “try again”, and it doesn’t take itself seriously at all.

Moving Out, developed by the Australian-based SMG Studios

The object of the game is straightforward: You and your fellow players are Furniture Arrangement and Relocation Technicians, and you need to shift furniture out of houses and offices and into your removal truck before time runs out.

Fortunately, you don’t have to worry too much about what condition the furniture is in when it gets to the truck.

The designers deliberately opted for a 1980s setting, an aesthetic to maximise the fun, and they’ve used it well. From cheesy VHS-recorded employee orientation videos to CRT televisions and retro video game console furniture, to pop culture references and even levels inspired by settings such as Jerry’s apartment from Seinfeld and the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the game takes full advantage of its style and setting to create a fun and lighthearted experience.

One of the things I really liked about the game was its adjustable accessibility and difficulty options. You can extend the time available, slow enemies down, make heavy objects a bit easier to lift, and even set it up so if you fail a level you can still go to the next one.

It’s marvellously inclusive. My young daughter could play with my primary-school aged son and me, and we could all enjoy ourselves without anyone feeling left out because of control or difficulty challenges.

Moving Out, developed by the Australian-based SMG Studios

There’s a wider story in the game too – it starts off with fairly conventional moving house levels, then you’ve got a mysterious client asking you to clear out research labs which they don’t exactly have the keys for, then you’re in space reclaiming furniture from space stations and asteroids. It’s silly but fun and absolutely fits in with the tone of the game.

The controls are very simple – besides your direction, you have a “grab furniture” button, a “throw button” and a “jump” button, as well as a “slap” button should you choose to use it.

Of course, anyone who has ever tried to move a couch, bed, fridge or uncooperative pet animal knows that it’s never a straightforward process, especially when you’re navigating hallways, doorways, large glass windows, and inconveniently located breakable objects.

The challenge in getting a weirdly shaped sofa or wide bed out of a room is offset by the way the game encourages you to get creative. Sure, you could lug that couch down the stairs and through the kitchen to the removal van … or you could just give it the old heave-ho through the window to the front yard below, then have your fellow removalists drag it into the van.

Some of the levels have obstacles ranging from water features to actual lava which need to be crossed – so throwing items is more fun than trying to carry them. In other levels, there are fans blowing things about too, and walls which move to change paths.

Moving Out, developed by the Australian-based SMG Studios.

Your main challenge is beating the clock, and there are optional sub-challenges in each level (for example, not breaking any windows, avoiding a particular path, using a shortcut, etc) to make things even more interesting and enhance the replay.

While my review focus has been on this as a family game, it would clearly be a great deal of fun for adults to play together, especially after a few drinks, and be a generally fun social game that people don’t have to take too seriously and can unwind with.

It’s also playable alone, too – the game reduces the amount of furniture you have to move, but shifting heavy objects on your own can require a different approach and some creative solutions too.

No matter how you play it, the game is a lot of fun, easy to pick up and play in short bursts, and exactly the sort of thing a lot of people will be looking for right now. It is a credit to the developers that one of life’s most stressful activities (shifting home) has made for such a fun and enjoyable game.

Moving Out is a shining example of the high-quality, entertaining titles that the Australian games industry can produce with the proper support. If you’re after something fun, you can play with your family or friends in your lounge, move some stuff around and make room in your library for this game.