
Special mention must be made for the finale as well, which I won’t spoil but it’s definitely something to look forward to.įor all the praise the game’s core concept and inherent delight the game deserves, there are a few things worth being aware of. The game made me want to see if stealing an old man’s harmonica and honking into it would work, and dammit, it did. Taking the time to make those moments happen by searching for as many interactables as possible made this goose’s day that much more special.
#Untitled goose game pub trial
In some instances, I was able to brute force progress by just running past a watchful person instead of distracting them first, but then I’d discover other solutions that were far more clever and stealthy with a little trial and error. How much enjoyment you’ll get out of Untitled Goose Game is directly proportional to how much you enjoy those sorts of moments, and how much you can think outside the box. From start to finish, I made multiple people fall, broke or caused the breakage of several things, disrupted a few small businesses, and startled everyone with my superlative honking. But I knew I was taking my goosiness to new heights, and that was prize enough. No extra reward, and I couldn’t even see the guy. I didn’t just steal the farmer’s keys, I took them all the way across a pond where the gent couldn’t reach them and locked him out of his garden. In fact, Untitled Goose Game brought out the worst in me without even trying. These are accompanied by some hilarious consequences, and ample opportunity to be a complete nuisance. While some of these are clear in their descriptions (“steal the groundskeeper’s keys”), others get more abstract and less specific (“make someone buy their stuff back” who, what stuff?) and got me trying as many possible actions and items as possible. These range from stealing something from off a character’s person, tricking them into doing a certain task by moving things unseen, gathering up a cache of specified items before getting caught, and more. Each of these is gated from the next based on your to-do list progress, though you don’t have to complete every task given. The town is broken up into distinct sections, each with their own folk going about their day. And interact you will, as while solving the game’s puzzling situations, you’ll find plenty of things to put your beak to. There’s no UI to speak of, only occasional white lines to indicate you can interact with an object and a notification when you’ve successfully completed a task or you unlock new ones. It’s used to highlight actions and inform a situation (such as if a townsperson is aware of you or not), but balanced by occasional moments of silence (unless you’re extra honk happy). The graphics are simple, but clear - I never questioned what any object or feature in the game was - and the piano music floats in and out of the experience. Something I truly appreciated in Untitled Goose Game was its minimalist approach.


Once in town you’ll use these goose actions to make some mischief based on a to-do list, causing trouble and at times putting your puzzle solving and stealth to the test. Other than movement options (your basic waddle, a faster run, and lowering your neck), you have three key goose actions: using your beak, flapping your wings, and your own dedicated honk button. Untitled Goose Game’s gameplay is fairly simple, and by the end of its brief tutorial area I felt I could waddle around with the best of ‘em.


While the game is ultimately a quick affair, that premise holds up and makes for an amusing game that welcomes experimentation with all it has to share. You’re also a jerk, out for your own selfishness and curiosity, unafraid to do as you please in the face of the citizens. You take on the role of a goose, just a goose, out and about in an idyllic countryside town. As far as concepts go, Untitled Goose Game does just that, and does so with pride. In a world of sequels and spinoffs and inspired bys, it’s always a treat playing something that captures a one-of-a-kind feel.
