Moving to a new house can be a stressful time, but one way to cut down on that stress (maybe) is to hire a moving company to load your furniture onto a truck and move it for you.  And now you can play a game where you do just that in Moving Out.  This humorous multiplayer co-op game is available on all current home consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.

So the first thing you’ll do is pick your character from a selection of silly movers like a guy with a toaster for a head, or various humanized animals (you’ll unlock more as you play).  Then you drive to a house on a world map in your moving truck to select a stage.  When you start a level, you must quickly move all the appointed furniture from the house to the truck.  You’ll pass if you can get it all onto the truck in the time limit, but you’ll have to start again if you can’t finish.

Play control is easy to learn.  Run around with the L stick and pick up items by holding down the trigger button.  The other buttons let you do things like jump, throw what you’re holding, and seeing which items you need to move (it’ll pull up icons over what you must pick up, very handy).  Another button lets you slap away spooky ghosts or territorial pets.  Find shortcuts by breaking windows, and team up with another player to load up heavy items like beds and sofas to cut down on your time.  Up to four can play locally at the same time.

You’ll earn gold, silver, or bronze medals depending on how fast you finish a move.  You can also earn coins by completing special objectives.  These may be things like avoiding breaking windows, moving certain optional things like flamingos in the front yard, or making a basket by shooting hoops in a driveway basketball goal.  Once you get enough coins, you can unlock a mini-game in the Arcade.  These are like separate VR obstacle course style challenges where you must perform certain tasks you normally wouldn’t need to in the main game, like jumping across small pits and such.

I only had two main problems with the game.  One, it’s a bit repetitive as you just go back and forth from the truck to the house carrying things.  They do change things up from time to time by having you avoid pets or swimming pools, but otherwise it’s the same thing over and over.  The other problem is that only after a few levels, the game is impossible to beat in single player mode under normal circumstances.  Luckily if the game gets too difficult, you can turn on assist mode to make the time limits longer.  There are other options you can toggle to make the game easier as well, so players of all skill levels can enjoy it.  But other than that, this is a fun, simple little multiplayer focused game that anyone can get into and have fun with.

Kid Factor:

Moving Out is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Cartoon Violence.  You can slap away cartoony ghosts and animals, and cause collateral damage like breaking windows and pulling out plugged in appliances forcefully, but that’s about as violent as it gets.  There is some crude humor in the game as well, as the company you work for, Smooth Moves, uses the acronym F.A.R.T. in their introductory training video.  But since the game is easy to understand and four people can play at the same time, it’s great for the whole family.

Tags: Game Reviews