Moving Out 2 wants you to throw furniture through windows in family-friendly co-op

Every once in a while, it’s good to take a breather from all the serious, dark, and intense action adventures out there, and instead play a silly, over-the-top cooperative game like Moving Out 2. This follow-up to the 2020 “couch co-op” title by developer SMG Studio has players work together to haul boxes and furniture as fast as possible. In this sequel, players will still need to become a FART (har har), or a Furniture Arrangement Relocation Technician, but this time around, they can team up with other FARTs online. At a Team17 event behind closed doors, I had the opportunity to try a few levels of Moving Out 2, and it surprised me with how wonderfully ridiculous and enjoyable it is.

Asking friends to help you move the fun way

The cartoonishly wacky style of Moving Out 2 reminded me a lot of Overcooked 2, another popular, family-friendly game published by Team17. At its core, the game is about moving objects quickly and efficiently from a house into a loading truck (or vice versa). And if you’re playing in a group of up to four players, it’s also about communication and teamwork. But Moving Out 2 doesn't take itself too seriously. Instead of moving a refrigerator through a living room and out the front door, it may be faster and far more fun to toss it out of the kitchen window and straight onto the truck.

There are plenty of challenges spread throughout the game’s town of Packmore, with players able to earn up to five stars for every level. Most of the objectives are time-based, though it’s generally better to think about the best way to move a couch out of a room instead of moving fast without a plan. In a few of the opening levels I tried, there were one-way doors, sliding doors that automatically closed, and heavy objects that can be carried much faster with two players instead of one. Some objectives are also effectively cryptic riddles, like one called “What’s burning?” that requires a player to open the oven.

Moving with the times

The developers then vaulted me forward in the storyline, which has something to do with mysterious portals that suddenly appear around the town. In some of the futuristic levels I tried, my character (that had a broken TV for a head) needed to control a drone to knock over obstacles, throw furniture into a portal, rotate a set of circular platforms, and move a train that runs along the border of a triangular level. This is to say that each stage will become progressively more difficult by way of trickier mechanics.

To balance the difficulty so that the game is appropriate for children and adults, players can activate an Assist Mode. This mode has numerous options to make each level easier, like adding more time to the clock or having objects snap like a magnet to where they're supposed to be placed. Additionally, players can make larger objects more easily moved by a single character and choose to pass a level without needing to worry about the time limit. This will ensure that a group won’t get stuck trying to complete the same stage over and over again.

Moving Out 2 is slated to release on August 15, 2023 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. The game will also feature crossplay between all of these platforms. No DLC, apart from some pre-order bonus characters, is planned at the moment, but the developers state that this is because they want to make a game that is as feature-complete as possible at launch.

This preview is based on a PC build provided by the publisher at a media event behind closed doors.

Nick Tan

Contributing Editor

Once upon a time, Nick's parents confiscated his Super Nintendo because he was "playing it too much." He has secretly sworn revenge ever since. Nick is now a freelance writer for various video game sites. Powered by iced green tea, he typically plays RPGs of all kinds like Shin Megami Tensei, Elder Scrolls, and Fallout. In his spare time, he follows the latest season of Critical Role.