Bedford Falls, the darkest time-line. A classic movie moment. Clarence and George are in the bar and have finally pushed Nick, the proprietor, too far. “Dat does it,” says Nick. “Out you two pixies go. True da door or out da window.”
Moving Out reviewDeveloper: SMG Studio, DEVM GamesPublisher: Team17Platform: Reviewed on SwitchAvailability: Out on 28th April on PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Mac and PC
True da door or out da window. That line has been very helpful to me over the last few days as I’ve played through Moving Out, a removals simulator in the knockabout style of the glorious kitchen game Overcooked. As with Overcooked you move around elbowy physics-driven environments trying to do a pretty straightforward job in difficult circumstances. As with Overcooked your colleagues – your allies – are often the biggest hurdle to deal with. But whereas my mantra with Overcooked was always, can everyone please stick to their f-ing station, with Moving Out I have looked to St Nick. I arrive at a new location. I survey the stuff we have to get in the van. The size. The positioning. The question of breakability. Then I ask myself that immortal question: true da door or out da window?
Sofas. Listen, I would always chuck these out da window. They are a pain to handle any other way. A sofa in a stairwell is a bad time indeed. A corner sofa in a doorway makes me want to lie down for the rest of the afternoon. But two removal people can grab a sofa pretty easily, pick up a bit of momentum and loft it through a dual-aspect like nobody’s business. Soft landing on the lawn. Then into the truck.
Breakables? Definitely true da door. These things can get all the way to the truck and then shatter, so I actually like to leave them until last and do them in a genteel relay. Big stuff on first. Then the intermediate boxes and whatnot. The tellies and toasters. Then the glassware. True da door.
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Moving Out is filled with these decisions. Each level tasks you with a bunch of stuff to get into the truck within a certain time limit, and a location that generally has a few wrinkles to complicate everything. One place might have a pool you need to get around. Another might have ghosts. One might be a spin on Frogger or a science lab. With up to four players, even the largest layout is pretty poky, and brilliantly a lot of the game requires co-operation. Heavier stuff needs two carriers. Lighter stuff can be handled by chucking it from one person to the next, clearing any obstacles in the process. Moving Out knows to keep things simple on the most basic level – you always know what needs to be moved, and you generally have a good idea of how a level’s gimmick works. This means that the complication comes from your side of the screen. Over-ambition. Corner cutting. Clumsiness. I imagine it’s a bit like – you know – working in removals. Apart from the stuff about kiting ghosts. I think.