Moving Out 2 is a moving simulator in the vein of Overcooked with hilarious physics, fantastical level design, and more jokes than you can fit into a clown car. It’s enjoyable on your own, but an absolute ball with a friend (or 3). The base concept of Moving Out 2 is to pick up boxes, appliances, furniture and more from homes and other buildings and bring it to the moving truck. It sounds simple in theory, but getting everything to fit in the allotted time while dealing with all manner of environmental hazards, not to mention your friends confusing their rights and lefts can prove to be quite complex & tricky. Albeit, not necessarily elegant. Windows and damages are all but expected as you shuttle items out of the house as quickly as possible. The game even jokes that windows “grow back”.
Moving Out 2 successfully pulls off the bigger and badder sequel, with more levels, inter-dimensional travel to expand the gameplay offerings, and more jokes than you can count.
Moving Out 2 is constantly serving up jokes and puns. Some land perfectly, while lots miss. It reminds me of the James Gunn approach. It borders on annoying, but never fully tips over into that category. They are just so lighthearted and fun that I found myself with a slight eye roll at the worst and a decent chuckle at the best. The loading screens in particular were always making me smile. The minimal story takes you to some interesting locations and is just whacky enough to support the onslaught of dad jokes that all the characters spit out.
Gameplay
The core gameplay mechanics haven’t changed much from the original. You choose a whacky Furniture Arrangement & Relocation Technician (F.A.R.T.) from a vast roster of humanoid corn on the cobs and roosters, pick an outfit, and drive your moving van to your next destination. You pick up furniture, dodge obstacles, and aim to deliver items as quickly as possible. You can walk the furniture to the van, or toss it out of the window to save time. Just don’t forget to go pick it up before the timer runs out. Speaking of timers, Moving Out 2 doesn’t just challenge you to finish each of its levels on time. Each level has secret objectives that can be completed on the first run but aren’t revealed to you until after you finish a level for the first time. Each of these objectives gives you an extra star on the level and adds to your overall F.A.R.T. level, which is needed to unlock more and more levels. What I loved about this system was the way it played into the new interdimensional travel introduced in Moving Out 2.
Final Thoughts
Overall I can definitely recommend Moving Out 2 if you have a friend or 3 to play with. If you only can play solo, that recommendation becomes a bit harder. But if you can play cooperatively, you will definitely have tons of laughs, a bit of a challenge, and a whale of a time. Just like Overcooked did before it, I will be packing this game with me on any trips with my friend group.
