I got so excited about the thought of One Move Away when I first heard about the Ramage Games title, as it seemed like a puzzle game where you analyze object shapes and get them into small or defined spaces. Sort of like that The Simpsons season 14 episode where, after visiting Rainier Wolfcastle’s garage sale, Homer has to “Tetris” all of the finds into their station wagon. While there is some of that here, it’s really more physics challenge than anything else. And when that comes into play or to the forefront, as it does in the Cam portion of the campaign, it stops being fun and turns into a chore.
One Move Away is a collection of puzzles based on various important moves in people’s lives. You know, it’s the Unpacking approach to organization and puzzles. We experience certain situations in which our goal is to get X number of personal belongings in to a certain amount of space. Depending on what we do and how we do, we earn up to three “stars” per stage for our efforts. Sylvie’s story is first, and eventually we follow folks like Cam and Ahmed too.
While much of this involves getting them into vehicles on the road, there are other situations involving different sorts of unpacking or packing scenarios. A number of essential options will appear to be packed into a vehicle. (Or shoved into a dresser. Or organized in a suitcase.) You get one star for getting the essential items settled. Another could be doled out for “extra objects.” Maybe you’ll get a third for keeping a passenger side seat empty of objects or for packing a lamp when it’s in its extended pose instead of a more compact one. You can make things temporarily see-through, for better gauging of positions. They can be rotated. You can reach further or back for better angles. It’s also possible to poke, while also gauging the strength of said jab, to try and further situate and wedge an object into place.
All this part is fine. I honestly would have liked a reticule, as the physics-based nature of object movement and the weird angles your viewpoint can get in sometimes don’t feel comfortable. Like I got slightly queasy, and I think the option of being able to turn on a dot to focus on while moving around and placing items would help with discouraging that. The FOV slider in option doesn’t help either, sadly.
But again, these work and tend to gradually and naturally increase in difficulty as we get into levels later in people’s lives. Sometimes it is frustrating and can take a lot of time to work out a solution, especially when it comes to the last level for a person’s life. Unfortunately, the implementation of one mechanic basically ruined One Move Away for me. That’s road conditions. It first comes up once in Sylvie’s story, but becomes a recurring mechanic later. Packing everything into a car isn’t enough. You also need to be certain it fits and can survive a brief car ride. Something doesn’t make it or falls out? Restart. It’s really jarring to go from an expected type of gameplay based on trailers and then find another physics puzzle element added on that only seems intended to stress a player out.
One Move Away isn’t what I expected, as it’s more about the physics of packing and arranging things rather than the puzzle of getting items in proper spaces. I expected something along the lines of Unpacking meets Tetris. What’s here isn’t bad and can be both fun and challenging! But there are a few frustrating levels toward the ends of characters’ campaigns and needing to account for actual safe travel isn’t fun at all.
One Move Away is available for the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox One, and PC.
We may earn a commission if you purchase from certain links. Learn more here.