Release Date: 28/04/2020
Played On: XBO
Available On: NS / PS4 / Win / XBO
Time Played: 2h 30m
Progress: Completed
Developer: DevM Games / SMG Studio
Publisher: Team 17
NB: The screenshots used in this post are from the game’s Steam page - somehow I lost my own screenshots and have been unable to find where they went!
Couch co-op games have never really been a big thing in my gaming life, simply because I'm very rarely in the position where I have someone to share the couch (and the game) with in the first place. Although I tried my best when I was younger, always attempting to get my friends playing NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat as much as I could, but to no avail. In fact, the most I've ever played any couch co-op with anyone else has been with the golf game: Tiger Wood's PGA Tour 11. I mean, anything is more fun with friends, so I eventually learned to take what I could get and play whatever those around me were interested in.
Sadly though, recent years have brought on a bevy of exciting and fun couch co-op games that I've never had the pleasure of playing multiplayer. The excellent Overcooked always looked like a blast, but I found it underwhelming when I played solo and was relegated to controlling multiple characters at the same time.
There are too many local co-op games to ever list, but they all look like immense fun, which kind of comes with the territory. I mean, to be fair, I think just about any game would be more enjoyable when sitting on a couch with a friend, so it's a low bar to reach. However, as a primarily solo gamer, it's the games that make an effort to serve their solitary players that end up sticking with me. To that end Overcooked was a bit of a failure from a single player perspective, but Moving Out manages to keep things interesting with some clever accessibility options and design.
It's hard not to talk about Moving Out without referencing Overcooked in one way or another, as the two share the same kind of chaotic gameplay that's easy to understand and endlessly entertaining. Although, instead of cooking meals and delivering them to diners, Moving Out is unsurprisingly all about moving furniture and other items out of a series of houses and onto your moving truck.
Each location has its own layout and challenges, which ramp up in difficulty as you progress through the game. Your character has the ability to grab things and throw things, which ends up being all you need to know when it comes to working for a moving company. After all, most items you encounter can either be dragged out of the house, or thrown onto the truck in one way or another.
In the multiplayer version, this introduces some interesting co-op gameplay elements, like having to work with another person to move larger items like beds and heavy sofas. When working with someone else you're given the option of swinging the item you're holding onto, then flinging it across the map with gusto. This can not only be hilarious to try and master, but can bring unexpected chaos to the overall job of loading the truck with everything marked to go.
After all, you can't just throw everything onto the truck in any old order, as some planning and strategy goes into where you might position some of the larger items. Maybe it's not the best idea to leave a tall fridge at the front of the loading side of the truck, as it will block anything else that wants to get past it. Or maybe that heavy couch needs to be loaded first, so smaller items can be thrown on top. Just like actually moving house, having a plan and fitting everything together efficiently and neatly reaps rewards and makes the whole experience easier.
It might seem like a simple proposition at first; just grab everything and load it on the truck right? Except there are some items that are fragile, and will break when thrown or knocked against larger objects. There are even some volatile materials that need to be handled with care if you don't want them messing everything up before you get that final piece onto the truck and drive away.
What's more, you might soon realise that it's much easier to just shove the large double bed out the window of the second story bedroom, than drag it down the stairs. Sure you might break some glass in the process, but once that's taken care of, everything else is easy. However, there are certain challenged on each level that can be tackled once you've beaten it once, and often they involve moving everything out without breaking anything, so the extra challenge is there for those that want it.
Other challenges might task you with finding a ball and making a few baskets in the back yard in between dragging furniture. Alternatively, on some levels there are pesky animals that keep trying to climb in the van and pull items out, so it might be best to take care of them before getting too far into the level. Suffice to say that each location provides a wide range of opportunities and challenges to face, with the basic move being the first port of call.
When playing solo, there are a number of options that allow for a more enjoyable gameplay experience, and to be honest I think I would have given up without them. For example, one is to reduce the in-game weight of large items, so that they can be moved by a single character and you don't have to struggle against what would normally be a two person job. Plus there are a number of handicaps that will extend timers and make the game more forgiving on the single player.
Thanks to these accessibility options in single player, I actually found myself enjoying the solo experience of Moving Out quite a lot. Of course I'm sure that it would be much more enjoyable in multiplayer, but I applaud the developers for including options to make the game playable for those without a co-op partner at the ready.
Ultimately though, this is one more title to add to the genre of couch co-op games that are chaotic and hilarious to play. The madness that ensues is akin to that of Overcooked, although Moving Out feels a lot more straight forward and perhaps even a bit less manic. Then again, if you're finding it too easy there are always the additional objectives and higher ranks to aim for, so it's all a bit relative in that sense.
Thankfully I have heard that Moving Out is a lot of fun in co-op, so I have no problem recommending this one to you if that kind of thing is your jam. The cherry on top is that I also have no problem recommending this to anyone who will be flying solo, but likes the look of the gameplay and is ready to shoulder the entire burden. Even alone this is an entertaining and fun game to dive into every now and then and create a bit of semi-controlled chaos.
Now, I understand that not every multiplayer game needs to accommodate single player experiences, but I can't deny that it felt good to see that the developers of Moving Out had made the effort to put something in for just about everyone. Yes, everything is more fun with friends, but for those of us who don't have couch partners on tap, this is a good one to play solo and still have a good laugh along the way.