We are always on the lookout for fun, whacky games to play together. One that caught our attention a while ago was Overcooked 2, which has you play as a group of chefs trying to fill orders in increasingly bizarre (and frankly dangerous) kitchens. That game is such a blast. So when Michela’s sisters told us about Moving Out—an oddball game about a team of movers just packing up moving trucks…in the most haphazard way possible—we were intrigued.

After all, Team 17, the same publishers behind Overcooked, had also published Moving Out. It looked like a similarly over-the-top, fun experience. And after trying it, we can safely say that Moving Out is definitely worth having in our family’s library of games. 

It has been especially fun for us lately because we are actually in the midst of moving right now. (Like, literally right now. We scheduled this post in advance because we’re driving across a few states with our belongings today.) Hopefully our movers will be slightly less…er…destructive than the ones in the game.

What is Moving Out even about?

There really is not much of a story to Moving Out, which is totally fine. It doesn’t really need a grand, overarching tale of desperation, woe, space travel, true love, or the triumph over evil to be fun.

Instead, you jump right into the game after a short tutorial. You play as movers working for Smooth Moves, a local (sketchy) moving company. As a team of up to four players, you go around town to various houses and businesses and the like to help them pack up all of their stuff into a truck. Some items can be hefted by a single player, but many require two people to move, so you’ll have to work as a team to get everything moved out.

The thing is, this moving company’s motto is pretty much “We move your stuff quickly, but don’t expect it to be in one piece when we get there.” Part of the fun of this game is being as absolutely ruthless with other people’s belongings as you can. You’re actually incentivized to jump through windows and chuck stuff out of upper stories to make shortcuts for yourself because you are on a timer.

You see, each level has three timing thresholds—one each to earn gold, silver, and bronze icons. You get bonuses for finishing levels more quickly, but not always for keeping everything in one piece (more in that in a minute). So, if you can toss that couch through the window into the truck, do it!

You actually cannot break most of the items you’re moving, which is a relief. And those that do break pose a fun challenge: if you accidentally smash one of them, it teleports back to its starting position and you have to go back to get it all over again. That wastes a lot of time, so it’s actually best to do those carefully the first time around.

Moment of honesty, Michela and I have…never gotten the top time…I’d like to say it’s because we are playing by ourselves and the levels are easier with a group because you can work more efficiently…but I suspect we are just bad at our jobs:

Moving Up in the World

It actually took us a bit to warm up to Moving Out. I think the controls really threw us for a loop at first. Your avatar is super floppy and all over the place, so it can be hard to maneuver them deftly around tight corners or get into the perfect throwing position. On occasion, I sort of wished I had one of those bleep machines they use in the movies to block out curse words. I…could have used it.

But I think the controls are supposed to feel that way, because once you accept and get used to them, it’s actually a part of the fun that you can’t do hairpin turns. Maybe I’ve just got the videogame equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome, but now I actually think it’s quite enjoyable to be able to handle the somewhat wonky controls even a little deftly.

It wasn’t just the controls that initially stumped us, however. The first several levels are all a bit samey. Each house has a different layout, true. But they were all just houses with many of the same items in them. We liked them well enough, but we honestly weren’t sure how far into the game we could get if it was all going to be so repetitive.

I’m glad we stuck with it, however, because there are actually lots of fun things waiting in the wings.  For starters, each level has several bonus challenges that you can unlock after you’ve beaten them the first time. These challenges might include things like “don’t break any windows” or “don’t step on any of the rakes/buzz saws/lasers/other totally normal household hazards.” This can make replaying levels fun and interesting, even if you already got the top time.

After a few levels, more variety actually does appear. I think the level where it really clicked into place for us was the first farm level. When you arrive, you discover that most of the items you have to move are actually animals. And they’re mobile, which means you have to figure out how to pen in the chickens and cows while you grab the slippery pig and try to haul it into the truck. The ground is littered with rakes, so you’re bound to smash your face a few times. We thought it was hilarious!

After that, the levels seemed to get more creative and involve more gimmicks and puzzles. There were some haunted levels where you had to move everything out while avoiding ghosts. Some levels feature oodles of buttons on the ground that open doors or trigger fans that blow things all over the place.

There are even additional modes to play. In one, you’ll return to a level you’ve completed to help new folks move in. In Arcade mode, you get rather different and difficult challenges, such as moving a two-person object along a narrow, winding path within a certain time limit without falling off.

Moving Out Together (ish)

Just like with Overcooked 2, Moving Out is one of those games that tests the bonds between family members. On the one hand, we laughed a ton while playing this game. Some of that comes from just how bad we are at the game, but some of that was certainly the jokes that begin each level and the funny loading screens.

On the other hand, we sometimes got extremely aggravated while trying to bend the game to our collective wills. I mean, honestly, how on earth are you supposed to get that freaking enormous giraffe that you somehow didn’t see until the very end of the level into the truck that is full of other furniture? How?!

Luckily, even when the game was frustrating and our communication was…less effective than we might have liked…we had a blast with this game.

Who to Play With

Moving Out is rated E, and we’d feel pretty comfortable playing it with family members of any age. It’s just very irresponsible moving, after all. (On the other hand, maybe you don’t want to give your child the impression that smashing windows is a good idea…) The later levels include things that might have been used to make the game a bit edgier (like buzz saws in the floor, for example), but they’re always presented in a family friendly manner. If your character gets hit by a fatal hazard, for example, they just disappear in a puff of smoke and reappear a second later. No gore or even actual fatalities.

Moving Out is available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam, so pick it up on your family’s preferred platform for some awesome multiplayer mayhem. And be sure to check out our other recommendations for games to play with your family!