Games: Untitled Goose Game honking good fun in an old-school ‘Advanced Goose Simulator’ kind of way…

Untitled Goose Game (Multi)

By: Panic

ONE goose that’s lasted beyond Christmas is the star of Aussie developer House House’s annoyance simulator, Untitled Goose Game. Bearing all the hallmarks of idiosyncratic (and very British) Spectrum titles like Skool Daze or Jack the Nipper, the emphasis here is on local hi-jinks rather than epic sci-fi carnage as our not-so-fine feathered friend generally makes an arse of itself in an English village.

Destined to be the most famous on-screen goose since Anthony Edwards in Top Gun, you’re guaranteed a honking good time with its fowl play.

Playing up the image of geese as annoying gits, you’ll terrorise a small English village in a stealthy sandbox puzzler that lends new meaning to ‘pest control’. The clumsy way our goose moves is spot-on, with only three modes of interaction –honking, flapping and grabbing objects with your beak to bother the locals.

Each scene offers a handful of scenarios ranging from “have a picnic” to “throw the groundskeeper’s rake in the lake”. All encourage loosey-goosey experimentation but invariably involve stealing certain objects or tricking humans into doing particular things.

Pilfering some keys, for example, is simple but more inventiveness is required to untie a kid’s shoelaces before chasing him until he trips in a puddle, allowing you to nab his specs. Or scaring a boy so much he drops his toy plane, which you must swipe before sneaking onto a local market stall while no-one’s watching.

More objectives unlock as you progress through its short adventure and, after completing four areas, the goose must grab a bell while the villagers engage in a wild goose chase. There are also plenty of hidden optional objectives, many of which span multiple locations or involve completing an area within a time limit.

And time is Untitled Goose Game’s biggest enemy – it’s simply over much too quickly. This goose is cooked in around two hours, but while it lasts, its slapstick sandbox is a game bird in every respect.

Stuffing pillows and middle-class stomachs for centuries, the humble goose seems an odd species to hang a game on, but the antipodean team have nailed English wit for free-range frolics that are silly as, well, a goose. And in a month when Royal Mail is releasing a set of stamps celebrating classic British game design stretching back to the homemade 80s, it seems the creative bedroom juices of the era have been resurrected by our convict cousins.

Well worth a gander for the budget ask, Untitled Goose Game is so much fun it’s like you’re on quack.