Time to Beat: About 3.5 hours
Last Christmas, after subjecting my kids to an old Wii and a homemade RetroPie for the first eight years of their lives, I finally purchased a Switch. In terms of its life cycle, the Switch is outdated, but still enjoyable. Our local library loans out a decent catalog of games, so I browsed for something short and simple I could complete in two weeks. Untitled Goose Game, by indie developer House House, was a game I'd been considering for awhile.
A week before borrowing Untitled Goose Game, my wife read Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin. For years I've introduced her to video games I thought she'd enjoy. The only success was Stardew Valley during the COVID Pandemic. Other attempts, like Portal or Return of the Obra Dinn, resulted in failure. Tomorrow times three convinced her video games can be a form of storytelling, akin to movies or books.
In this state she approached Untitled Goose Game with a mind more open than mine (I was inclined to believe I wouldn't enjoy it). Assuming we would take turns, I was surprised to learn Goose includes same screen co-op.
The game opens on a wooded clearing. A screen notification tells the player, “Press Y to honk.” Pressing the button reveals the head of a honking goose, the protagonist. The sound is annoyingly resplendent. Its trumpeter, a white, gangly, creature. From the clearing, the player as goose progresses through a simple tutorial into town. Geese can pick up objects, but they can't interact with them. Some objects are too heavy, forcing the goose to drag them along the ground. To slip through narrow areas the goose ducks its head. This is also used to pick up small objects on the ground or hide in bushes. Evade annoying humans by running. The geese also flap their wings, though this has no impact on objects or observers.
Untitled Goose Game is an unconventional puzzle game. After exiting the tutorial area, the geese cross a stream, pass a picnic basket, and discover a locked gate. A piece of paper lists six objectives for the player to complete.
The to-do-list, written on lined paper includes objectives such as; get into the garden, steal the gardener's keys, and have a picnic. The last includes an additional list of objects (sandwich, apple, pumpkin, carrot, jam, thermos, radio, and basket) to collect.
The main obstacle, and occasional collaborator, is the farmer. This human walks around completing chores in his garden. He behaves acceptably, until you touch something. Unreasonably annoyed, he stops his work, stomping over to reclaim the object you've picked up, or destroy the beautiful sculpture of tools you've arranged on the grass. He's persistent, chasing as long as he can see you.
Advancing to the next area requires the completion of five of the six objectives on the piece of paper. With this achieved, a new item appears on the to do list. Completing this additional objective causes an alteration in the location; an opening to a new area. In this case, the farmer opens a gate with a path into town. The geese progress through three more areas of increasing complexity and difficulty. Each comes with a new to-do-list. The High Street contains the only human that is afraid of you. This red nosed, bespectacled young adult runs in terror from honking. The street also has an open store with wonderful gizmos, guarded by a ferocious shopkeeper.
The third area is split between the garden of a newspaper reading man, and the yard of a haphazardly decorative woman. Objectives are achieved by playing the two off each other.
The final area hosts a pub, with a grassy lawn, porch seating, and an outdoor storage area. A fence, patrolled by a chubby guard, a seating area, protected by an aggressive hostess, and an oblivious delivery woman populate the pub.
Completing these four areas leads to an area with a reward. Collecting their prize, the geese jubilantly return to store it at their den in the woods.
With the initial objectives completed over, the player is offered new tasks. Additional lists, written on graph paper, challenge the player.
These include the “As Well” objectives which add more tasks for each area, the “Quickly!!” objectives which ask the Geese to achieve the objectives again on a timer, and the Finally list, which has them complete all the objectives on all the other lists. My wife and I completed all the original To Do lists, and the As Well list, but not the Quickly!! or Finally lists. Completing all lists unlocks an appropriate cosmetic reward (look it up on YouTube).
The challenges in Untitled Goose Game are two fold. Figuring out how to achieve an objective. The game contains a good gradation of simple to moderate puzzles. Looking back, we often missed simple solutions initially. For example, the Farmer wants to wear his sun hat. Not only could we not comprehend how to have him wear it, but we couldn't even find it. Eventually we discovered the technique for him to put it on.
Once the player has a plan, they must contend with the Humans. The Humans increase in aggression from area to area, except for the Boy. He flees at the first brazen honk. Humans determinedly pursue geese fleeing with stolen objects. Geese drop objects when a Human bumps into them, but it is easy to retake a reclaimed object. Even in the hands of a person, the goose must mill about them, trying to snatch it back. In the pub, not only does the guard pursue the geese, he insists on pushing them out onto the street.
Untitled Goose Game isn't perfect. It contains a few glitches. When a Human runs into a goose it pushes the goose aside. If the goose is pushed into a corner, there is a chance they will be pushed through the corner, fence, wall, or other obstacle into an adjacent area. This happened more than once. Quitting and reloading fixes the problem.
Untitled Goose Game will be difficult for younger generations to play. My son tried the game. At nine years old he's been playing games for at least five years. He can read chapter books, but the to-do-lists are written in cursive. He can't read the objects, and was reduced to asking me. This is an obvious issue for preteens, or even young adults who no longer encounter cursive.
After the player beats the initial objectives, gates unlock, opening access to back paths between the four hubs. There's plenty to explore. It doesn't matter much for objectives but it helps flesh out the town, while offering connective paths between the areas. There's even a nice grassy area with a well. The openness encourages the player to experience the beauty of the village. Untitled Goose Game is surprisingly visually appealing. It uses simple textures, but pleasing visuals to depict its locations. The colors contrast with many charming shades of green of the vegetation. The variety of plants, locations, and characters is delightful and the areas, despite the conflict with humans, calming. It has a smooth feeling even as you flee with a borrowed object in your beak, honking loudly, while a broom wielding shopkeeper chases you down the street.
Is Untitled Goose Game easier with two people? With two, one player distracts a Human, while the other completes the objective. So, unless some secret addition, like faster Humans has been adjusted, it is certainly easier with two players. Even with two, it is still a challenge without diminishing the fun. The ability of two players is limited to the screen size. The screen never splits in two. Instead, the geese are prevented from moving too far apart. Once they reach a limit, they can't move any farther. Even with two, there is one skill players need; patience. It's compelling to venture into a new area, horns blazing with loud honks, hassling the Humans. Yet, for some objectives the geese need to wait, observing. Eventually those clumsy Humans will make a mistake, or create an opening for chaos. You're more likely to achieve your objective with a quiet innocence, than with an obnoxious honk.
Though others may not see the connection, my initial hesitance to accept Untitled Goose Game, was because I assumed it shared similarities with Donut Country. I saw them as simple indie games with an overrated gimmick. While that rang true for Donut Country, it did not follow for Goose Game.
In Conclusion,
Untitled Goose Game encourages players to be annoying, to ramble, to steal, to harass, and to honk! But solving puzzles also requires observation, patience, and a soft touch. Each of the four areas, and the spaces in between, revels in its quaint beauty, revealing different puzzles and techniques. The basic objectives offer a perfect length, before the geese get out of hand, but the additional objectives include challenges for those who want them. It's an enjoyable single, or can be played with a friend for lighthearted cooperation.
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