Sydney developer SMG Studio has partied up with DEVM Games and publisher Team17 (Overcooked) to bring us a game based on one of the most anxiety-creating parts of our lives: Moving Out. Team up with up to three friends in this fast-paced crazy couch co-op game where you are a F.A.R.T. (Furniture Arrangement Relocation Technician), i.e. a removalist, tasked with ridding a small town called Packmore of its excess furniture.

Moving Out kicks things off with a character selection screen and a tutorial which teaches you the basics, although the basic controls are really all there are: move, jump, carry, throw, slap – (throw and slap are even the same button). The controls are deliberately simplistic to make you focus on what’s most important; strategising. That said, the Joy-Con movement can be a bit over-sensitive compared to using a Pro Controller. As we soon found out, each level is quite easy to simply get through, but if you want to complete bonus objectives and get a good time then you need to figure out a few tricks that are usually specific to just that level.

When you finish a level for the first time, you learn the requirements for three bonus objectives, though if you happen to do one in your first playthrough of a level then it will still unlock. Bonus objective points can be used to purchase new outfit features for your various characters which also unlock as the story progresses. Moving Out doesn’t offer much else in the way of customisation, though the bonus objectives aren’t all that difficult. They merely require you to replay each level with that specific objective in mind. Some bonus objectives can’t be done at the same time either, such as breaking all the windows of a house or not breaking any.

The first few levels ease you into the game before the pace picks up as parts of Packmore unlock. Once you unlock the lower half of the town and make it across the river, the town’s arcade also opens up which offers you several mini games that focus on getting you to hone your skills. The town doesn’t have too many actual secrets, per se, but with 30 different main levels you’ll be cruising around the town in your F.A.R.T. truck more than you think. The open-world environment of the town really adds to the ambience of the game. Instead of just selecting levels from a menu, driving around in your truck finding the next property that is requesting your F.A.R.T. services and destroying the environment as you go can be quite entertaining.

As mentioned, each level is scored by the amount of time it takes you to move a certain amount of items into a designated area (usually your truck). Items vary from small (and sometimes fragile) boxes to appliances to tables and chairs, as well as larger pieces of furniture. There’s even a farm level where you’re chasing chickens and stepping on rakes. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded based on how fast you are, and while some pro gamers may get gold on the first occasion, we found ourselves hitting bronze most of the time, unfamiliar with the layout and shortcuts of various mansions and office buildings. Moving larger items such as a couch or a bed can be problematic if you don’t think things through and making sure you sort items effectively in your truck also ensures a quick completion.

When you team up with more players the game doesn’t instantly become a walk in the park. Instead, it adjusts the difficulty by adding more items of furniture that need to be moved out to nail those gold and silver times. Also, heavier items aren’t as easy to move (i.e. you can’t move a couch or a fridge with just one person in co-op mode). Teamwork always prevails however, and the lighter items can be thrown from one player to another to make a fast-paced packing line, while larger items can be thrown by two players working together which can make for some comical maneuvers.

We had no issues playing Moving Out in both docked and portable modes on the Nintendo Switch, and due to the simplicity of the controls it’s a great game to be able to hand your second Joy-Con to a friend or stranger when you’re on the go to get back in to the co-op madness. The game also has an Assist Mode which allows you to drop the difficulty. For example, you can have items disappear once you’ve placed them in the truck, or you can even skip a level when you fail it.

Visually, the game looks and feels a lot like the Overcooked games. From a birds-eye-view camera, silly characters run wild around each level, smashing through every breakable object in their paths. The cartoony style adds to the amusement of Moving Out, and if anything makes it even more humerous than it already is. With an 80’s style soundtrack added and the crazy smashing sounds of destroying windows, doors, balustrades and basically anything on desks or walls that aren’t objects that need to be moved out, the atmosphere in Moving Out matches up perfectly with the craziness of the gameplay.

Moving Out has a good variety of levels and arcade games to keep players interested, which is important because of the repetitive nature of the game. While each level only takes a maximum of ~10 minutes to complete, it will take the average gamer many times to master some of them, especially when trying to co-operate with newcomers to the game. While Moving Out offers a decent amount of launch content we would have enjoyed an anti-Moving Out option, you know, moving in? That said, we can’t see how this game won’t have DLC, so we’re eager to see what SMG Studios and DEVM Games announce for the future of the game. Expect your first playthrough to take around 5-8 hours, while more expert players will be able to smash through each level in just a few minutes each meaning the game should be beatable in under 90 minutes if you’re getting gold on every level.

Rocket Chainsaw reviewed Moving Out on Nintendo Switch. It is also available on Windows PC via Steam, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. For more information, head to the official website.