Ship, Inc. Review (PC)

“Ever wanted to step into the shoes of a packaging expert?” Truthfully, I can’t say I have any interest in filling those shoes any time soon, no. Scratch that, I sincerely loathe the mere thought of working in a fulfillment center, not because I fear hard work and manual labor, but because I’ve heard stories, none of which have been good. I’ve seen the shift patterns and harsh quotas from previous whistleblowers, so I know all too well that it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Yet, it seems that Ship, Inc. doesn’t wish to put that sort of pressure on my shoulders. If anything, it wants to trick me into thinking that packaging orders is a great way to wax that sense of accomplishment. It’s a tough one to sell, but I’ll bite.

I’ve played enough Tetris to know how it works. More importantly, I’ve allocated and positioned enough furniture in the likes of Unpacking to know how to take advantage of even the smallest or crevices. And that’s a major benefit here, as Ship, Inc. is, to some extent, another version of Unpacking, only with a few more boxes to work with, and thrice as many products to cram into said boxes. But that’s about as much as you need to know before stepping foot into those shoes — that the only real experience that you need is to be able to take advantage of small spaces and ensure that each of your boxes are filled with the right materials—foam noodles, safety tape, and other useful items.

I’ll admit, there is a bit more to the job than merely packaging a few loose trinkets and sending them along their merry way. Curious to learn more about it? Then go ahead and whip out your labeling gun. Let’s unpack.

Prime Delivery

At the heart of Ship, Inc. is a sweet, soothing, and seamlessly interactive fulfillment center sim that allows you the opportunity to package orders in a professional and efficient manner. As I said earlier, there is more to it than that, though for the sake of keeping things on stable ground, it is worth noting that the bulk of the experience does take place on a conveyor belt. And by that, I mean that your time here is mostly spent choosing different box sizes, filling said boxes with certain items, and then assigning them to a specific destination. In other words, it’s an interactive training video for a prolific fulfillment center—a beginner-friendly simulator that, while not entirely authentic, aims to make an otherwise dull and repetitive exercise surprisingly enjoyable through the use of career-based milestones and perks.

The goal here is as simple as they come: earn a wage, and funnel the cash accrued from filling requests into aspects of the business that are more likely to benefit the general flow of the system. As you earn money from your completed orders, you can choose to invest in certain upgrades, like increased storage space, better shipping tools, and more options for your trusty workbench. And that’s essentially all that you’re doing here: earning enough money to flesh out the upgrade tree so that your packaging center may flourish and, with a little luck, monopolize the market. The more you ship, the more wriggle room you essentially have to explore new business opportunities, and so on and so forth.

Post & Packaging

Gameplay-wise, there isn’t a tremendous amount that you need to know. Well, saying that, there isn’t much that you need to know, provided that you’re already familiar with genres that foster some basic level of interior design, inventory management, or entry-level jigsaw puzzle solving. To that, you needn’t fret about much that orbits this particular universe; in fact, the game makes a habit of holding your hand as much as it can, with the vast majority of its challenges largely confined to a simple drag and drop system. There are times to keep tabs on, as are there difficulty modes to keep things somewhat interesting. But even then, the game never really goes much beyond the basic tools and to-dos of a generic desktop puzzler. In other words, if you’re hungering for a challenge, then you might struggle to find your fill here.

Of course, the simple act of filling boxes and shipping them out is a lot of fun, and it does help to scratch that one itch — at least for an hour or two. But that’s the one problem that I have with Ship, Inc: the lack of original content. As it turns out, there isn’t much for you to tend to outside of the aforementioned tasks, meaning, once you’ve successfully managed to box up a few items and tick off a couple of a tasks on your list, you have, unfortunately, seen just about everything that the game has to offer. There’s more to it, and it does allow you the opportunity to progress deeper and unlock more important tools and upgrades, but the gameplay, however, doesn’t change or source fresh ways to shake up the experience. And that’s a shame.

Verdict

Ship, Inc. doesn’t strive to set the benchmark for cozy chore core simulators, but it does make a notable effort to share the same podium with its competitors. Alongside its charming art and cute world design, it also offers a satisfying gameplay experience that is, while still somewhat predictable and lacking in any major plot points or extensive modes of play, has all of the elements of a lazy afternoon back burner. I can’t sing its praises without acknowledging a few sour notes, mind you. Truly, while it does present a neatly packaged inventory management tool and several guilty pleasures for features, there are several areas that fall short here — its lack of content, being its biggest downfall.

Of course, if you adore simple puzzle games that don’t require an arm and a leg to stand on, and more importantly, you don’t mind exchanging a stellar story for something a little more primitive and predictable, then you’ll no doubt find exactly what you’re looking for here. Granted, it probably won’t provide enough of an incentive to poach you for a job at your local fulfillment center, but it’ll definitely give you some food for thought.