Game Review - Untitled Goose Game (Switch)

Untitled Goose game by House House studios is a ridiculous game, and I mean that in the most endearing and wonderful way. You start the game out in the middle of the forest. It begins with a tutorial on how to walk, run, grab things, duck, and honk. Yes, you are a goose in Untitled Goose Game, and yes, it’s as funny as you think it is.

So after the quick little tutorial you wander out of the forest and into a small pond. You float to the other shore and see two slices of a sandwich and an apple on a small wooden bench. Next to it is a picnic basket on the ground, and way off to the right you see a picnic blanket. Pressing the “-” brings up the “To Do:” list. This is your selection of “Missions” to complete, and you’ll notice that you need to gather these materials and a few others to make a picnic. Grab one slice of the sandwich, and waddle on over to the blanket. As you look through the list of items you’ll notice you don’t have everything you need on the bench. Then the gardener will walk out of his garden and you’ll notice some of the items in the garden. There are also a few “To Dos” involving the gardener, such as stealing his keys and locking him out of the garden, and stealing his hat and throwing it in the pond. To accomplish some of those tasks you have to steal other items, drop them on the ground as a distraction, and then go for the real object you need.

Something that is simple yet brilliant about the controls is that you can only pick up or grab on to one item at a time. It changes how you coordinate moving things around. Sometimes you need to take other items and drop them somewhere else to distract a person so that you can get whatever object you need, or move around without them “shoo-ing” you away. There’s a scene at a pub where you need to sneak around a big burly man to complete some of the “To Dos”. I had to distract him with a few items to complete one of the missions.

Untitled Goose Game is visually interesting. The game didn’t go for Super-Max Ultra HD ++, but instead is a very cartoon-y style with just enough shadows to add depth, but there are very few lines on the characters. Your brain fills in most of the details as needed. What’s great about this art style is it’s very playful. The game as a whole is a very funny look at this goose (you) terrorizing this small village by stealing things, moving things, breaking things, and generally being a jerk. You know, like a real goose. So a playful and simple art style just adds to the absurdity and really keeps the game fun.

Untitled Goose Game is not a long game. I’ve already finished all of the regular “To Do” lists and I’ve found a few items on the “Also To Do” list that has a bunch of “????” instead of telling you what to do. I’ve only spent around 4 or 5 hours on the game, so that is disappointing that I’ve progressed far. I am not good at video games, but I do love them. So if I’ve made it this far in a matter of a few hours, somebody else may be able to beat the game in one sitting. At $20 the game is really well made and really fun, but I don’t see much replay-ability and I probably only have a few more hours of gameplay left, at most. Bear that in mind when picking up the game. I recommend it just for the absurdity of the game, but it is really well crafted and deserves some attention.