Video Game Review: Get Packed: Couch Chaos

Get Packed: Coach Chaos

Developer & Publisher: Coatsink Software

Genre: Party

Reviewed For: Nintendo Switch

Ever since Overcooked, there has been a surge of cooperative games that require tons of teamwork and are silly. I’m certainly not complaining because there will always be a place for games to play with a companion, but there certainly has been some inconsistency in the genre. Few of these games reach the levels that Overcooked and Good Job have set the standard for. Get Packed: Couch Chaos is the latest couch co-op game to try its hand at the genre. How does it do?

In short – Not Bad. Get Packed: Couch Chaos isn’t as polished as Overcooked, but it is still full of fun and mayhem. In Get Packed: Couch Chaos, players take on the role of characters in a town being taken over by an evil corporation. Suddenly, the inhabitants of the town are needing to move out, and it’s up to the players to move the furniture out of these homes as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the players aren’t professionals.

The gameplay of Get Packed: Couch Chaos is absolutely silly and complements the silly premise of the game well. Players can move with the left stick and use the triggers to pick furniture up. The left trigger controls the left hand and the right trigger handles the right. Players can either grab two items at once or use both hands to muscle oversized furniture.

Players are timed and need to move as quickly as possible. There is a moving van with limited space outside of the property, so players will need to decide when enough furniture is in the van and it needs to depart. This gives a brief window where nothing can be loaded and players can just focus on getting furniture outside. The big twist though is that the furniture can break if the players aren’t careful, and property damage will come out of the final score.

Trying to place furniture strategically while also keeping it intact is an entertaining challenge. The end of each rounds gives each player their own score too, adding a bit of competition to the experience. Some players will want to completely cooperate while others will want a high score. I’ll admit that some competition makes the game more fun than full teamwork, but Get Packed works either way. It does suffer from some control issues at times, which are certainly frustrating. Sometimes it feels like a button just doesn’t work.

The Switch version also offers a few new modes as well. These include Time Attack, Versus and Destruction Game Modes. They don’t add too much depth, but they offer good distractions from what they campaign mode has to offer.

It’s not perfect, but Get Packed is a fun time for a few afternoons. It’s not as polished or pretty as some of the competition, but it’s still a fine experience.