Review: Untitled Goose Game (Switch)

Links-Home–Reviews–Articles–Library–Contact

Today I have an indie game that was barely on my radar. It is Untitled Goose Game, a silly stealth game where you play as a goose. It was suggested by a friend, and I decided to try it out. I like games with a sense of humor, although they are quite rare. The premise of the game alone is humorous enough to get my attention, so let’s take a gander (sorry for the pun).

Untitled Goose Game is a game where you play as a mischievous goose in a small village. You will find yourself taking things from the townspeople, and moving some objects to inconvenient locations. You might even turn on a sprinkler, or pull off other pranks, which can include untying shoelaces, honking at a walkie-talkie, or getting on TV in a camera store.

To help facilitate this, there is a checklist of objectives to achieve in every area of the game. Complete enough of it, and one of your pranks will open up the next area in a silly but realistic way. Much of the time, you need to be stealthy enough so the townsfolk don’t put back the objects you are gathering. There aren’t any real penalties for getting caught, it just slows down your progress.

There are a lot of silly moments, and they are exaggerated by the dynamic music that cranks up in intensity as you are sneaking by nearby local citizens. This music is done via piano, and can be reminiscent of chase scenes from old cartoons. Other than the colorful graphics, and humorous moments, much of the charm comes from the use of this music. It is also quite fun to just walk around as a goose.

The controls are simple, and all the objects work as expected. For the most part, you can only honk, pick things up, flap your wings, bend down your neck, and run a little faster. There isn’t much else to do but to annoy the locals, and it is delightful to do so and see how they react.

However, this game is really short. I think I only played three sessions, with each not much longer than an hour. I got to the credits on the second day I owned the game, and felt like I had my fill. There are new objectives after finishing the game, but I felt like I saw enough, especially with the finale being as charming as it was.

The game may test your wits and patience as well, due to the stealth based actions you need to perform to complete it. You may find yourself waiting to have a person pass by, and hopefully not notice the mischief you were getting into, particularly when you have to gather a series of items.

Untitled Goose Game is fun, silly, and worth your time just to see what can happen. There isn’t anything else quite like it on the market, and it is worth seeing what it has to offer. It is short and sweet, and may be worth playing around just to see what will happen next. Be sure to give it a look if you want a quick game to play.

Recommendations:

• Explore the controls early on.
• There is more than one way to complete each objective, so play around and see what you can do for amusing results.
• Mix in completing objectives with some good old messing around. Simply honking at people can be fun.
• Be sure to play the ending, it is quite charming.
• If you want a little more, be sure to try some of the objectives after the game is over.

Pros:

• It is fun to play as a goose.
• Charming graphics.
• Effective use of dynamic music.
• Lots of funny outcomes.

Cons:

• Some tasks take a while to achieve.
• Very short game.

Verdict:

8.1/10 Funny, short, and sweet

The length may bother some players more than others. In my case, it is hard to say how much it may alter the score for other players, and I do not have a range this game falls under. I am also unsure if the game is priced properly, (even with the 25% off sale around its release), but give it a look if it sounds like fun to you.

---

That was what I thought of Untitled Goose Game. What did you think? Did you enjoy it? What did you make of the short length of the game? If you enjoyed it, give a “honk” in the comments section, or write what you thought as usual. If you enjoyed this review, be sure to click the like button, and to keep up with That’s All Games, be sure to subscribe via email. Until next time, have fun gaming!