Moving Out 2 review – Better as a Team Lift

While there was a draw for party games in the past, the vast connection of PCs, consoles, and even the Nintendo Switch’s native two-player ability has led to an explosion of the genre. The first Moving Out title allowed players to experience another chaotic multiplayer job simulator like Overcooked, but with a different profession in the spotlight: moving.

In Moving Out 2, this is taken to the full extent of “moving,” with players working on everything from residential homes to factories that need help. Players start from the beginning, having had their previous F.A.R.T certification revoked. From the beginning, players will need to rebuild the company while gathering all the employees that have been scattered to the wind.

As the company grows, so will the world, with players unlocking portals to dimensions with unique aesthetics like a candy or magic theme. Moving Out 2 recreates the magic of the original while introducing new ways to have funs and simple ways to improve playability, even if it isn’t anything revolutionary.

Everyone’s got a boss

Even after the success of the first Moving Out, the Smooth Movers company has faced a new set of issues after the boss had let it fall into disrepair. What follows is parallel to the first game and other business simulators, with players forced to start from the beginning and conquer a variety of different moving challenges across different worlds to build their business reputation.

The game starts out with pretty basic houses, teaching players the basic controls and the collectibles that can be found across the map. When players reach a certain point after the farm animal levels, they’ll unlock the ability to travel to different dimensions with unique themes. These worlds pose unique challenges and opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be possible in the base city, each as interesting as the last.

In each new world, players will encounter a new dimension-specific version of their classic cardboard box robot of a boss. The levels players can access are restricted by their F.A.R.T. level, which unlocks new traversal methods and slowly expands in each dimension one at a time so that you have to explore as much as them as possible before interacting. It’s limiting, but not a divergence from similar titles.

The range of unique concepts and worlds is a lot of fun and ensured that I never really knew what to expect at each new home or business. The level of detail and small additions in each new level was really impressive and showed the distinct care taken in each new biome. It makes each level feel populated and I could really tell the difference in some places when everything had been moved.

Bring a friend or two

As with most party games, they’re better played with a friend or group of friends over a long period of time as there are typically some time constraints. This is also the case in Moving Out 2, with players being awarded if they are able to complete certain objectives and move everything required in a certain amount of time. This is possible on your own, but it’s about 10 times harder when some of the objects are specifically weighted for two people.

You’ll need to play the level for the first time before you realize what the objectives are, with nothing but a timer and a meter to tell you when you’re approaching the time goals. Even when you do see the other objectives, they aren’t always descriptive, so you’ll just have to try a bunch of different things and play the level over multiple times to get all the stars.

There are accessibility options that the player can enable or disable on the title card at the start of each new level. These include snapping furniture in place in the “moving in” levels or making sure that the items weighted for two people are a little lighter. While these are likely meant for solo players, the game is still clearly much more enjoyable and easier to accomplish with at least two workers.

Overall, it’s a pretty fun sequel to the original that manages to faithfully evolve on all the fun of the original, with more detailed visuals across each level. The new mechanics like carrying around a mist vacuum or a gingerbread wrecking ball are really interesting. With the evolved visuals and improved level design, Moving Out 2 is more than just a reason for friends to get together.

Try Hard Guides was provided with a Nintendo Switch review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!