Game Information
Developer: House House
Publisher: Panic Inc.
Genre: Action / Puzzle
Release Date: September 20, 2019
No Longer Content Bathing in Ponds and Hissing at Passersby, Local Goose goes Rogue; Terrorizes Townsfolk
Plot
You are no ordinary goose. Oh, no. You are a conniving little thing fuelled solely by your disdain for humanity and a burning desire to cause mischief and misfortune wherever you waddle. The town you’re living in is sickeningly tranquil, and this does nothing to please you.
With an agenda full of nefarious objectives in tow, you’ll embark on a journey across the village to deride, undermine, and terrorize your unsuspecting victims. You’ll be relying on your wit, wile, and will to peck away at each puzzle.
Gameplay
You have five main controls. They’ll allow you to honk, move, run, bend forwards and backwards, and pick objects up. While this move set may seem restrictive at first, you’ll come to realize that they’re all you’ll need to impose your will upon the town.
Following your trusty to-do list, you’ll have to find a way to achieve all your ends without being shooed away by shopkeepers or evicted out of bars (yes, a goose walks into a bar; there’s potential for a lame joke here somewhere).
There are a myriad of different approaches you can employ to solve each puzzle, and this game encourages you to try out whichever appeal to you most. There are no superior tactics; whether or not you’ll succeed doesn’t necessarily depend on whether you rush in heedlessly or stealthily slither about. Rather, it will depend on how you navigate the people, places, and items you come into contact with. Note that you won’t be able to outpace the humans, so any method you choose will require some critical thinking, a lot of effort, and a bit of luck.
Verdict
An inventive plot enhanced by hilarious directives and bolstered by the smugness of your goose with every victory he claims, Untitled Goose Game is a raucous success. Its loose and simple controls may frustrate some players, but it makes solving each challenge feel all the more rewarding.
The best thing about Unlimited Goose Game is its replay value. You can start it over to solve each puzzle using a different method than your last playthrough, or you could return to your saved game to scour the map for hidden objectives. It’s a sandbox game, so you’ll have the freedom to explore all the areas you’ve previously unlocked and move objects all around the town. Get the woman painting in her backyard to dress her bust with the boy’s glasses and the gardener’s hat, or push the soccer ball in the town square through the market and into the net!
It’s a short game if you know what you’re doing, so don’t rush through it just for the sake of getting to the end. There’s a lot to explore, and you won’t want to chance missing any of it.
Once you complete the main crusade, you’ll unlock additional to-do lists. Keep in mind that some of these quests will have time constraints, though, so it changes the pace of the game from lax to something more intense. Your antics are far from finished, and there’s never a better time to begin again than when everyone thinks the worst is over.
The little details also add to the quality of the game. The clumsy and realistic way your goose moves, how people startle when you honk, and the whimsical music that plays when you’re caught doing something naughty add some clever touches to an already comedic game.
If you’re into strategy, mischief, or geese, this is definitely one to consider purchasing.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
