Quick Review: Untitled Goose Game

Once more, let’s close a tough year with a very funny game.

Freedom (and mischief) lies beyond the gate!

Developed by House House, published by Panic and released to PC on September 23rd, 2020 (and released to other platforms, the Switch most famously, the year prior), Untitled Goose Game is about a Goose… who’s an utter asshole. The avian, a flightless one, has only one (apparent) goal: To wreak havoc. For this, in every area, you have a to-do list with objectives, all of which you must complete in order to open the path to the next area. The game itself is described as an adventure game, but there is heavy focus on puzzles (as you must use the items around in order to achieve said objectives), and stealth. See, most villagers really hate the goose for some reason, so it has to be sneaky.

Nope! The radio is mine now!

This is one of those games that are, on PC at least, designed with unusual controls on purpose. You left-click somewhere on the screen to make the Goose waddle there, or double-click and it’ll run there instead. Hold down the wheel to zoom out, which is useful to see what the humans are doing in the vicinity. Right-click to grab an item with the beak. Press the left Tab to check the to-do list. Hold Crtl to bend down, as items on the ground cannot be picked up otherwise. Hold X to flap the wings, which serves very little purpose other than to annoy and attract attention. Last but not least, press Space to HONK! You got that right: A dedicated HONK! button.

What? Geese need to shop too!

The game is spread across four “levels”, each with its to-do list. Some quests are pretty simple, others are tough; each area has a “collect X items and bring them to place Y” mission. There are paths between the levels that you can open to create shortcuts to previous areas. And, let’s be clear: You have to fulfill every objective to move forward. No skipping. You know the meme, “peace was never an option”? Yeah. You have to scare the boy into a phone booth, drop a bucket on a guy’s head, and make a human destroy a vase. You are, indeed, a horrible Goose, and there’s no denying your nature. There’s no pacifist run possible here.

This sign can't stop me because I can't read!

Even after completing the main story (which packs a nice twist, for the record), you unlock multiple new pages of to-dos. Most of those involve interacting with items across levels. One mission involves putting on a show in the fourth area, with an item that can be put on the Goose in the third. You also have speed challenges, where you have to complete each original to-do list on a timer, with the ringing of church bells denoting when the time has run out.

Hide the duck statue out of sight, then take its place.
She'll only find out once it's too late (or she sees you
while you're doing this)

Ring the bell while the guy is drinking.
You know you want to. No, wait - steal the
soap! Or take the duck's place again!

This entire package of comedy and mischief is delivered through an utterly adorable art style, cute and pretty, with just enough detail. The music is also cleverly applied, consisting solely of a piano that doesn’t play one precise track, and instead accompanies or “reacts” to what’s going on. It’s a trend of old cartoons that I didn’t think would translate well to a video game, and yet this one pulls it off. Also good to mention is a two-player mode, added on September 23rd, 2020, where a second goose with a redder beak can be controlled to come and aid the first in making the villagers’ lives Heck.

I am allowed one (1) wholesome moment that
actually fulfills a quest in this adventure.

I can hardly think of a flaw in this game – it’s all brilliantly executed. It’s comedic, it’s plenty fun, the puzzles are interesting, and there’s some genuine challenge, especially in the post-game quests. The final to-do in the main story is a perfect closer to the story, as well. It’s fun to interact with the humans, even though most of them are dumber than bags of rocks. Okay, perhaps it’s a bit on the short side, even while taking into account all of the secondary missions. I would have taken more, but as it is, it’s pretty great entertainment. I recomm

Hey! Get back here with the end of my review, you little bastHONK!

Untitled Goose Game HONK! is available on Steam for 19.99$ USD, but currently for 9.99$ due to the Winter Sale-HONK! You come back here!