

The world of the game is a world that has been simplified down to its most basic parts. The goose itself is a splash of white, with a little yellowy orange for its beak and feet, and a small dot to represent one beady eye. The goose and the village are represented in flat matte blocks of bright color, with no shading or unnecessary details. The game’s simplicity meshes well with its aesthetics. The game encourages this sense of play by keeping the to-do list simple: items are statements like “rake in the lake,” leaving players enough room to figure out the list’s requirements without demanding they complete them with any sense of urgency. This goose is no exception, waggling and honking as it runs around the village, and the effect is one of amusement. Their feet slap a little when they walk, like clown shoes. Geese are inherently a little silly, with their long, snaky necks and their boat-shaped bodies, which are so unwieldy on land. The villagers themselves grow wise to the antics of a wild goose running and honking around their village, which means that players must get creative in achieving their goals. Players can only waddle around, pick things up in their beak, flap their wings, or honk. Playing as a goose has its limitations, of course. It’s a leisurely game and a good reminder that creation was not intended to just be work. The game is designed to be fun and not just a list of chores to do. It’s possible to speed through the list of things to do, but it’s more fun to throw the list aside, sneak up behind different villagers going about their business, and honk loudly and watch their reactions. But none of these goals must be done in any particular order, and each of them is simple: throw a rake into a pond get one of the villagers to put on a different pair of glasses collect a number of items without anyone else noticing. Players have a list of goals they must accomplish in order to move on to new locations within the village, where they will have new opportunities for mischief. Technically, Untitled Goose Game is a puzzle game.
#Untitled goose game play free#
The effect mirror’s Philip Hefner’s ideas about co-creation: while playing the game, I am a free actor within the game’s world, able to play, to explore, and even to shape events within that world, all as an agent of the game’s creator’s intentions. The point of Untitled Goose Game is to explore and wreak havoc in an otherwise sleepy English village, all while playing as an unruly goose. There are no levels to achieve or points to earn. The point is not to build anything or to fight monsters or even to grow as a character. Untitled Goose Game is an excellent illustration of this idea, because it is a video game about play. Play is not merely an escape from work it is a valuable blessing, an opportunity to share in creation, either by being creative or by taking joy in someone else’s work. So is play, which is mentioned in the Bible again and again as God’s intended purpose for creation. Rest is just as important as work-even God rested after creation, and made rest holy.
