M
oving house is often stressful. But
there are so many other emotions
wrapped up in it: the excitement of
a fresh start, the satisfaction of organising
your belongings just so. For Tim Dawson,
getting settled in a new home brought back
happy memories. “I’d lived at my previous
place for five years, and had just accumulated
everything, so there was a curation before
moving in here,” he tells us, laughing. “So the
boxes contained, like, the best of all my stuff.”
As the boxes were unlabelled, opening each
one was “a delightful surprise – it was like,
‘Oh, it’s those books I love,’ or, ‘It’s my
favourite kitchen stuff that I actually decidedto keep.’” Watching him methodically work his
way through boxes, completing sets of items,
reminded Wren Brier of something: “I said,
‘There’s something game-like about this.’”
It was an off-the-cuff remark: “Kind of a
joke,” Brier says. But Dawson kept indulging it.
“Tim was like, ‘How would you do this? Is
there a story? Would you be unpacking
multiple people’s items, and finding out about
them through the items?’” The more she
answered, the more she realised there was
potential in the idea, which recalled so much
of what she admired about Gone Home,
Fullbright’s intimate portrait of a family
through its abandoned house. A week laterUNPACKING
Developer/publisher
Witch Beam
Format PC
Origin Australia
Release 2021
A contemplative ode to moving in – and moving on
There are limits – we can’t
move on without removing
the pony toy from the bed
(it’s plastic, not soft, Brier
explains). Likewise, we might
think keeping a frying pan in
the bathroom is innovative,
but Unpacking disagrees
From top: Tim Dawson,
artist, programmer and
designer; Wren Brier, art
director and designer