We love the slightly oddball games here at Everybody Plays, whether it's the totally normal, everyday, loving father, Octodad; living out our bovidae dreams with Goat Sim or vegetable hairdressing a la Bonsai Barber, anything a bit unusual and daft usually grabs our attention. And so, having got a bit of hands-on time with the game earlier this year at EGX in Birmingham, we were more than a little intrigued when an email about the upcoming Unbox landed in our inbox this morning, from UK-based developers, Prospect Games. Hitting PC and consoles later this year, Unbox is a light-hearted platformer that tries to answer that one constant question we all have in life - where the chuff has my parcel got to?!
Amazon's new flying delivery drones were a lot less high tech than people expected...
Staring a cardboard box, Unbox is set in the near future, in a time where the Royal Mail has finally got their act together and invested some actual money in their delivery service - or so we assume anyway, given that Unbox's cardboard cast aren't just any old box. Instead, they're an army of self-delivering boxes; the ultimate in high-tech postage, and players must roll, jump and explore everywhere from snow-topped mountains to volcanic islands to lush forests to deliver their all important parcels. With collection challenges, timed races, puzzles, boss fights and tons of hidden easter eggs and collectables - as well as a destructible environment packed with explosives and other chaos-causing fun - Unbox is jam-packed with things to do too, and unusual ways in which to complete your delivery.
The brief hands on we had at last year's EGX was one such collection mission, where our little cardboard box had to jump, climb and bounce his way through a beach-side shanty town, collecting rolls of brown parcel tape (obviously!). With a time limit in which to do it in, and a number of not so friendly enemy boxes taking pot shots at us along the way, it was surprisingly tricky for a platforming-challenged player like us - but luckily, Unbox has a rather useful 'unbox' feature that helps you get a bit more height when you mess up a leap. Essentially discarding your outer box to reveal another identical box inside, Russian doll style, you can get a short burst of extra air time to let you hit the trickier jumps - although you do only have a finite amount, so can't use them willy nilly.
Careful timing of your unboxes will get you quite a bit of air...
And while playing on your lonesome is all well and good, Unbox also includes a gamut of multiplayer modes too, complete with friendship ruining weapons. From tape-collecting to speedy delivery races to an every-box-for-themselves boxing match, you'll be able to settle your differences Unbox-style, with up to four player split screen, because, as the developers say themselves, it's a game which "works great with friends in reachable (aka punchable) distance". Add in the fact that there's a rather large wardrobe of clothes, outfits and accessories to personalise and pimp your cardboard crate, from top hats, monacles and moustaches to bunny, ears, sombreros and propeller hats and many, many more, and we're more than a little bit excited for Unbox.
Unbox will be leaping onto the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam "later this year" - and without so much as a tracking number to go by, that's the most we know. In the meantime, why not check out the trailer below:
