Brenden BeersThe goose is a beautiful creature. Due to their nomadic nature these majestic Anatidae spend most of their lives flying from place to place.
They also have been known to cause some trouble.
Imagine this; you’re a goose. Your mission: to disrupt the lives of every human you meet. This is your objective in Untitled Goose Game.
Unleashed upon the world on the 20th of September 2019 by Aussie indie developers House House, Untitled Goose Game has you as the titular goose who’s on the warpath, ready to make every villager’s day turn sour.
At it’s core, its very much a stealthy puzzle game. You have an objective list to complete in different areas of the village and you’ll need to be sneaky. The controls are very basic and the game does a brilliant job of teaching you how to be the goose. You’ll be honking, stealing, and flapping in little-to-no time.
Whilst straightforward, the game allows you to approach puzzles in multiple ways. It gives a sense that the journey you take in the game your own. This freedom of choice does give the game a little replayability, despite its linearity. There are also secret objectives you can unlock after completing the game, expanding the experience further.
There’s a cathartic and almost evil feeling you get when completing an objective, as it’s fun to be the goose. Whether you’re stealing the groundskeeper’s hat, making the boy in the village wear the wrong glasses, or getting dressed up in a ribbon, you feel as empowered as a tiny, trouble-making goose can feel.
The art style is very basic, but it suits the silliness of the world, resembling more of a cartoon. Deciding to use a more low-poly look with flatter colours and little to no texturing, Untitled Goose Game has a very understated retro-ish look. It almost looks like something from the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation era.
Its rise on social media and a multitude of related memes emerging has cemented Untitled Goose Game‘s pop culture status. Sales-wise this has helped the game beat out the recent The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake on the Nintendo eShop in the US, Australia and the UK, if only for a moment.
Untitled Goose Game – also known by its Japanese subtitle “Here’s the mischievous goose” – has made a quick mark on gaming history, despite it being a very short game. It provides a very fun experience, and its openness in options warrants multiple playthroughs. Who would have guessed that being an arsehole goose would make for devilish fun?
You can find Untitled Goose Game on the Nintendo eShop, and on the Epic Games Store for PC and Macintosh.
