It's pretty rare for a video game to be advertised as a "slapstick comedy experience." Sure, there are jokes and quips in video games, but rarely is the game itself built entirely around the joke. But today's review is about the exception to that rule, a game called Untitled Goose Game. Before you ask, yes, that is the actual title of the game. For obvious reasons, the "untitled" part of the name was meant to be a placeholder. The developers, House House, decided that leaving the "untitled" part in the title was funnier and did a better job communicating the idea that this is supposed to be a comedy game.
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| The official box art for Untitled Goose Game. Image found on Wikipedia.org |
Untitled Goose Game is a stealth-focused puzzle game that was developed and published by House House and Panic Inc. respectively. The game was released September 20th, 2019 and became a hit because of the inherent absurdity of the concept. In Untitled Goose Game, you play as a goose. Obviously. But not just any goose. You play as the Horrible Goose, who has come to a quiet, unnamed village specifically to mess with the townsfolk and cause as many problems for them as possible. The game has basically no lore or narrative outside this premise. The only official bits of lore is that the village is located "somewhere" in England. Anything else the devs have said about the lore of this game should be taken with a grain of salt, as this is a comedy game and thus it is not meant to have a serious narrative.
The Goose has a handful of abilities at its disposal. It can run, crouch, pick up small objects, push and pull around larger objects, flap its wings and honk. You use these abilities in tandem with each other to solve simple logic puzzles and be an overall menace to society, as geese are wont to do. The Goose cannot fly, mostly for gameplay reasons. A lot of puzzles would be trivialized if the Goose could just fly over the obstacle. Just to give a few examples of how puzzles work in this game, you could trick a villager into hitting his own thumb by honking at him right before he hammers a sign into the ground, Looney Toons style. You can also trick a villager into putting a lovely red ribbon on the Goose by pretending to be a statuette, then start flapping your wings right afterwards to give that villager a jump scare.
In each of the game's four main areas (the Garden, the High Street, the Back Gardens, and the Pub), there is at least one townsperson with a simple behavior schedule. As long as the Goose doesn't distract or hinder them, the townspeople will perform a set of thematically appropriate tasks and carry on with their day. The Groundskeeper for example will tend to his garden if the Goose leaves him alone, while the Shopkeeper will brush away dirt from her marketplace. If they see the Goose pick up one of their belongings, they will give chase to get it back. Given the mellow/humorous vibes that Untitled Goose Game goes for, the Goose is never killed or captured. In fact, there simply isn't any kind of game over status at all. If the Goose gets caught, it's forced to drop the item it stole, but nothing's stopping you from stealing that exact same item again immediately afterwards. Heck, the Goose can just yank items right out of people's hands as long as they aren't paying attention.
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| The Horrible Goose has just stolen the Groundskeeper's keys. Image found on goose.game/presskit |
There are, however, two villagers with unique interactions with the Goose. The Wimp (encountered in the High Street) and the Burly Man (encountered in the Pub). The Wimp is terrified of the Goose and will run away if approached. The Burly Man meanwhile works as a bouncer for the Pub and will chase the Goose on sight, even if it hasn't stolen anything yet. But only if the Goose is already inside the Pub. Honestly, I almost feel bad for the Wimp specifically because out of all the villagers in the game, the Wimp gets tormented the most. If you complete all the tasks related to the Wimp, he gets chased into a phone booth by the Goose, who also steals his glasses and swaps them out for a worse pair. The Goose can also untie his shoelaces to make him trip and fall flat on his face. And top of all that, the Goose tricks the Wimp into buying a toy airplane that he already owned by placing said toy plane inside the nearby market. Like, the Goose is obviously a villain (of the harmless, Saturday Morning variety) but the way the tasks single this one person out feels almost excessive. Not that this is a bad thing. Comedy needs a victim, after all.
Every time the Goose makes its way to a new area, it is given a To-Do List. You cannot progress to the next area until all tasks on the list are completed. These tasks can include things like "trick the groundskeeper into hitting his own thumb" or "place a bunch of (stolen) groceries in a basket." Again, the solution to most of these tasks is simple enough to be solved without too much issue. Heck, even the final task (which I won't spoil here) isn't too hard once you have a decent path planned out. Once you beat the game for the first time, you unlock even more To-Do Lists for the four main areas . There's even speed run challenges where you have to complete each area before the town church bells ring, which in practice gives you about six minutes per area to complete it.
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| Untitled Goose Game's two-player co-op mode being used to bully the Wimp. Image found on mobygames.com |
Also, Untitled Goose Game sports a two player co-op mode, with the second player controlling a second Horrible Goose. I haven't had a chance to test this mode out for myself, but from what I understand, all of the tasks are more or less the same as their single player counterparts. Keep in mind that co-op mode is local only. It does not work online. What this means is if you want to try it for yourself, the second player as to be be there with you in person, and you need an extra controller for the second player to use. That being said, I'd imagine some tasks might be easier with a second player, since one player could distract the villagers while the other completes a task in secret.
There is only one bad thing I can say about Untitled Goose Game, which is that it's a very short experience. It will take you about three-to-six hours to complete your first playthrough. And while the game does have bonus challenges that become available after completing it for the first time, these challenges take just as much time to complete as well. But then again, if my biggest complaint is "I wish there was more of this game to play through" I suppose that's a blessing in disguise. After all, it proves that the game is fun enough that I would want more of it.
In terms of presentation, Untitled Goose Game is a cutesy, simplistic game. Everything has a smooth, cel-shaded, pastel aesthetic to it, from the Goose itself to the environments. The Goose's mannerisms are humorous, and speaking as someone who sees waterfowl on a regular basis, the body movements and animations on the Goose are surprisingly accurate to how geese move around in real life. The townspeople have a surprising amount of personality in their animations, despite having no spoken dialogue or even facial expressions. The most you'll hear from them is either annoyed grunting or screaming in goose-related terror. The human character designs remind me of the character designs in Aardman's Wallace & Gromit series. But I think my favorite thing would be the music and sound effects in this game. The Horrible Goose has a dedicated "honk" button, and hearing the Goose honk will never not put a smile on my face. To make it even better, the exact sound of the honk changes based on where the Goose is located or what item the Goose is holding. Like if you honk near a tunnel or well, the honk will echo. And if you honk while holding a glass bottle, the honk sounds slightly muffled. And if you honk while holding a harmonica, the Goose will play a little tune with it.
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| The Goose honks into a well. Image found on goose.game/presskit |
The game's soundtrack consists entirely of piano, because a simple game needs a simple soundtrack. The piano notes vary in intensity based on what the Goose is doing. The piano is dead silent when nothing important is happening, it plays a triumphant jingle when the Goose completes a task, and it plays a panicked tune when the Goose is being chased by a villager. Funnily enough, House House never intended for Untitled Goose Game to even have music at all. The music was originally meant only for the game's announcement trailer, but it was so well-received that the devs recorded some new piano music as a last-minute addition to the game. Honestly, the piano music elevates the experience. It makes the game feel more charming and lively. Like one of those old silent films from the 1890's and 1920's.
Overall, would I recommend Untitled Goose Game? Yes. 100%. It's a short, sweet slapstick spectacle. Again, my only criticism is I wish the game was a little bit longer. And you know a game is good when the only complaint I have is that I wanted more to do in it. It's current price at the time of writing is around $20 USD, and for a bite-sized comedy experience I'd say that's pretty reasonable pricing. I give Untitled Goose Game 5 stars out of 5. This review feels like it's shorter than normal, but there admittedly isn't much to talk about. It's a simple game through and through.
Untitled Goose Game is the property of House House and Panic Inc. None of the images used here were created by me. Please support the original creators.
