Moving Out 2 (Switch) Review

Moving Out launched back in 2020 to widespread acclaim. I was incredibly fond of its rambunctious take on what is arguably one of life’s most tedious necessities. Joining the team of Furniture Arrangement Relocation Technicians (F.A.R.T), you clumsily batter doorways and smash windows as you clear out the contents of various houses into your removal truck. Three years later and, like a lactose-intolerant friend indulging in cheesecake for dessert, the FARTs are back in an even more outlandish crusade spanning multiple dimensions to relocate furniture. Whilst it does expand on the original in every way, the danger of dimension-hopping means that although you may find some way cooler worlds than ours, you might also come across some that don’t make for the most pleasant of visits.

The core gameplay remains largely the same. You and up to three friends are tasked with grabbing couches, appliances, and other household objects from inside a building and escorting them to your truck. You still have the simple repertoire of grab, throw and jump, and the slightly wonky physics lend a delightful slapstick nature to proceedings that are just as charming on this second outing. Mixing things up this time is the fact that you might instead be sorting giant candy into their correct receptacles, loading treasure onto carts and driving them to another location, or maybe even moving in! Plenty more variety is on display in this sequel, with almost every level introducing some sort of new mechanic or puzzle element to keep you on your toes. 

Sharp writing and witty pun-filled banter return to accompany you on your relocation escapades. Levels are split across four distinctly themed dimensions, each with its own flavour of aesthetic and common stage elements. The starting world features levels akin to what the first game had to offer, but you’ll soon visit alternate worlds that transport you to levels high above the clouds that are filled with giant fans and visibility-impairing fog, magical world stages littered with portals and shifting landscapes, and a tasty-looking candy land with larger than life confectionary to sort and distribute. It brings some much-needed variety to stave off the same-y feel that could set in by the end of the original game, which is a very good thing given the substantially increased number of levels in this game.

Joining the typical moving levels are special challenge levels that see you going for high scores in activities such as using a slingshot to shoot hoops or targets, collecting candy as it slides down a sugary hill, or sorting bugs, beverages and bowel movements onto the correct conveyor belts. I appreciate the addition of these one-off challenges to break up the flow of gameplay, even if after their brief runtime you’re probably happy to move on and not come back to them. Even some stages that still have the core challenge of “move things” mix it up by having just one item to move but requiring you to solve a switch puzzle or navigate an obstacle course that wouldn’t look out of place in Fall Guys. 

With so many new elements at play, the highlights elevate this sequel over the heights achieved by the original, but as can be the case with a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach, not everything sticks. On more than a few occasions I encountered levels that were decidedly unfun. Trying to have goats lock onto you and charge to break barricades is tedious, sliding doors that close mere seconds after opening them are annoying, and trying to corral chickens into a coop when they want nothing more than to constantly escape afterwards whilst trying to juggle those aforementioned elements is close to rage-inducing. Other stages that have clouds constantly reappearing to block your line of sight, batteries that last three seconds, or several other tedious mechanics actively bothered me and my fellow FARTs to visible frustration. Whilst I admire the effort to include so many different ideas, I do wish some elements had been left on the drawing board.  

Thankfully a raft of accessibility options can be turned on at any point to help customize things like time limits, object weight, stage hazards and more to mitigate potential frustrations should they arise. Though I imagine most will happily not touch these options, having them there is a wonderful feature that expands the potential audience for the game and makes it easier to gather a big group of friends to play together. Having moving companions is almost a necessity here, as playing solo still only offers limited entertainment.

The level of fun and shenanigans increases exponentially for each additional player that joins your crew. So crucial is the multiplayer aspect to this game that I would hesitate to recommend this game at all if you’re only planning on going it alone. Thankfully the introduction of online multiplayer means there are options here for you even if gathering three friends locally is prohibitive. 

There’s plenty to keep you coming back with friends too. The classic bonus objectives for each level return, tasking you with everything from beating a fast time, not smashing windows, avoiding using certain doors or finding hidden areas. Additional cosmetic outfits and minigames are also hidden both in levels and in the overworld, so there are plenty of reasons to keep this one in your party playlist rotation with your mates. 

Moving Out 2 is a great sequel that nails what the original did well and expands on the concept with fresh ideas. When all the best bits of it coalesce it’s a frantically fun multiplayer experience. Sadly, occasional frustrations rear their head just frequently enough to tarnish the package just a little. Much in the way that the real-life process of moving house can be extremely rewarding in the end, you might have to deal with some aspects being a bit of a chore along the way. 

Rating: 3.5/5