Shoot from the Hip – Untitled Goose Game

Hello dear readers and thank you for joining me for another one of my quick fire posts where I take you on a whirlwind tour of a random video game or anime. Today’s instalment is about one of my favourite indie games – Untitled Goose Game – so why not join me to learn all about a horrible goose or two.

Firstly though, an admission. I love geese. They are one of my favourite birds. Yes they are sometimes aggressive and honky but I find them comical and charming in their own way. This game though, which smashed all sales expectations out of the pond, is very much about being a horrible goose, so let’s jump in and find out exactly what that’s like!

What you need to know

Title: Untitled Goose Game

Year of Release: 2019

Platform: Most of them

Developer: House House

Publisher: Panic Inc.

Genre: Puzzle/Stealth

What’s it about?

I think the developers House House probably put it best with their tagline for the game – “It’s a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose”. What it’s about doesn’t really need more explanation but since you’re here I’ll dig a little deeper. You play as a goose (horrible or otherwise) and you are tasked with a ‘To Do’ list which involves doing things like making a picnic, getting dressed up in a ribbon and scoring a goal. As you complete the tasks, many of which involve several steps, more areas open up to you and new items get added to your list. To complete the tasks you have to get the goose to do a variety of evil deeds like stealing stuff, scaring children and causing one poor chap to hit his fingers with a hammer. These things involve elements of stealth, quick thinking and planning and lead to many hilarious situations. Unlike many stealth games there are few consequences to getting caught which makes it quite accessible and the recently released two player mode where there are two horrible geese means you can now share the experience and enjoy it with a friend.

Should you play it?

Probably. There are aspects of the control system which are a bit clunky and if you hate stealth games you may not enjoy it – although that said I hate stealth games and adore it – but overall it is a charming, lighthearted experience with a lot to love. The music is gorgeously whimsical and is intertwined with the gameplay in a really nice way. The art style is pretty simple but works perfectly for the type of game it is and the goose itself is an absolute legend of cheekiness and hilarity. There is a pure and simple joy in loading the game up for the first time and seeing the “Press Y to honk” prompt come up and then just walking around honking for no other reason than it feels great. Some of the later items on the to do list can be quite tricky, but it remains pretty accessible difficulty-wise and never loses its initial charm and joy. It is short, sweet and best of all it is very very goosey, even if said goose is a bit of a bastard.

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So there is my quick take on Untitled Goose Game! But what did you think? Did you fall in love with the goose like I did or did you find it too horrible to bear? Let me know below in comments and make sure you join me next time for more video game and anime nonsense!

Thanks for reading,

Pix1001

All images from the official website