Underneath Unpacking:

A Conversation with Creative Director Wren Brier

BY MADELINE DAY

Old teddy bears, cardboard boxes, and packing up a childhood bedroom for a move to college. In Unpacking, creative director Wren Brier transforms the universal process of moving into a playable game that follows a character through eight major life stages.

Brier reflects on the creation of Unpacking and how the game led her on a journey of self-discovery.

A Dive into Game Design

“I’ve always loved playing games,” remarks Brier. She recalls how her family had an “old computer that everyone shared which [she] and [her] brother used to play games.” However, it was not until age 13, when she watched Disney’s Lilo and Stitch, that Brier realized that she wanted to become an animator. She pursued art as a teenager and ultimately decided to study animation overseas, in Australia While applying to colleges, she discovered schools that focused particularly on game design This became the pivotal moment where “it first occurred to [her] that [she] could actually work in games.” Brier combined her love for games and art by earning a degree in animation at Qantm College (now SAE Brisbane).

Unpacking Game Development: from Start to Finish

In her own words, “Unpacking is a game about unpacking. It follows a series of moves through a woman ’ s life from childhood to adulthood, with an emphasis on what she keeps and leaves behind.” The game is “casual and forgiving” and defies typical game conventions. Brier wanted to create a game that was accessible to all, especially to those who do not usually play video games

When asked about what inspired the creation of Unpacking, Brier laughed and remarked that “it is unusual that [Unpacking] has a very clear origin point.” Games do not typically have such a specific origin. While moving in with her partner and unpacking boxes, Brier noticed how game-like the process felt. Finishing unpacking one box and putting it away allowed her to “unlock” the next box underneath, and she found herself “completing sets of items” that were packed in different boxes.. Even “arranging items on shelves and in drawers” drew resemblance to Tetris. She wanted to channel her experience into a game that would allow players to learn about a character by “recontextualizing the objects they own ”

As a result, a player “ never actually meets the main character” in Unpacking Rather, Brier created the game so that the player learns about the character by unpacking unlabeled boxes: “Part of the puzzle is that people will think about what the item is, what it means to the character, and what it means to themselves.” The game itself has almost no words, which not only increases accessibility but also allows the player flexibility and creative freedom. Although the game follows a specific character throughout her life, the main character ultimately becomes an amalgamation of the designed character and the player, a choice made intentionally by Brier: “You put something of yourself into the character.” There are also “indications of other characters in her life, like housemates and partners,” which allow the player to “learn about her relationship with other people ” Brier wanted to focus on environmental storytelling, honing in on the stories that each item tells Between various moves, the main character forms new relationships and adopts new habits, all of which can be seen through changes in the items she owns. For example, when the main character has a Malaysian housemate, she learns new cooking skills, “using certain spices and ending up with her housemate’s rice cooker.” When she moves in with her boyfriend, who is a coffee connoisseur, the main character stops drinking instant coffee and instead begins to own coffee-making instruments By highlighting “the mark that people leave on each other, [she] hopes that people reflect on themselves and what our items mean to us ”

Released in November of 2021, Unpacking has won twentythree awards, including BAFTA Game of the Year, and been nominated for over fifty Brier hopes to use her platform to help other women in the games industry, an area of mentorship that she feels was missing during the beginning of her career. Brier now runs Women in Games Brisbane, a group that meets bimonthly for meals and serves as “ a way for women in the local industry to connect.” She is also on the advisory board of the Game Developers Conference Independent Games Summit and hopes to help create opportunities for developers who otherwise would not be able to attend the conference. Reflecting on the development of Unpacking and the journey that followed, Brier notes that “if it’s something you ’ re passionate about, game development is an exciting and worthwhile field to be in ” Her greatest piece of advice for young people looking to join the industry? “Connect with others and make something [you’re] proud of ”