I’ll be the first to admit it; I didn’t think a ‘moving simulator’ game could even remotely become a thing. Images of barren worlds barely-rendered, awkward controls, and a general lack of fulfillment were conjured in my mind at the words Moving Out.
Just goes to show, you can’t judge a book by its cover anymore than you can judge a game by it’s name. Because Moving Out is quickly setting itself up to be the next great couch crowd hit.
You’d think it’d be difficult to make a game about moving that’s both quirky and enjoyable. Not only do the devs make it look easy, they do so in such an engaging way I was reaching for my Switch before it clicked I had to wait a good few months before it dropped.
Moving Out is, as no doubt guessed, a game about moving. Go solo or join up with friends as you progress through the story mode and find the best way to get something from point A to point B, usually in the most insane way possible. Can’t get a fridge through a door? Throw it through a window. Wall in the way? Break it down–literally. Traffic blocking your path? Weave your way through the cars; nothing stops a mover, not rain, not sleet, not a boulder ready to flatten you, and certainly not something as paltry as the laws of nature.
Whatever objects need to leave, you’ve gotta find a way to get them out, and the game both challenges and rewards you for inventiveness as well as destructiveness.
If the setup and art style of Moving Out looks familiar, you’re not hallucinating. Moving Out is a joint venture between SMG Studio and DevM Games, published by Team17 Digital of Overcooked fame.
A lot of the same, frenetic energy has carried over well, but so far, Moving Out looks capable (and content) to stand on its own, breathing life into the party game genre and further igniting the fires of the couch crowd.
Moving Out is currently in development and is expected to make a 2020 release date on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
