Back when it was first released in 2019, Untitled Goose Game seemed like such a unique idea for a game.  At first, my experience with it revolved around seeing partial playthroughs on Youtube, in which the player controls a very naughty goose who gets into all kinds of mischief.  Although the game succeeded in giving me no shortage of chuckles, I more or less forgot about its existence until I recently found the game on the PlayStation Store for 50% off.  And while the sale piqued my interest, it was the game’s description that guaranteed a purchase.  You play as a “horrible goose”, and your apparent hatred for the poor townsfolk “just trying to get on with their day” fuels you to cause all sorts of trouble, from tripping a boy and stealing his glasses to making a man spit out his tea to stealing from a man’s garden in order to give yourself a little picnic by the pond.

The game includes four main locations (and a fifth, shorter one at the end), each of which provide you with a to-do list of all sorts of terrible tasks for you to commit.  You will be stealing and terrorizing your way through this otherwise quaint village, not to mention honking your little goosey lungs out as you attempt to cause as much aggravation as possible.  Seeing as the gameplay consists of stealth and puzzle elements, you’ll have to avoid and outsmart the townspeople in order to complete your list of dastardly errands.  These puzzles could often be pretty fun as I would attempt to figure out just how I might carry out my wicked deeds, and most of the time, the solutions made logical sense once you put your mind to it.

Presentation-wise, the game features some very simple graphics with solid colors, and the human characters lack faces, though their body language and behavior make it more than apparent how they’re feeling towards you.  There generally isn’t much in the way of music, either, though short bursts of piano do chime in when you’re at peak mischief.  This all works quite well, with neither the graphics nor the soundtrack distracting from the most important aspect of the game, the sheer comedy associated with watching this one single goose cause all these people the most annoying day imaginable.

In general, I had a good time playing this unique game and laughing (guiltily, mind you) at all the mayhem I was causing, whether it be from terrorizing a kid with outstretched wings and persistent honking or from watching the lady at the pub finally locate all of her missing silverware.  My biggest complaint probably came from how annoying the goose can sometimes be to control, as it has a very wide turning radius.  Some tighter movement might have led to less frustration on my part when I struggled to elude my pursuers because the goose wouldn’t turn fast enough.  Nevertheless, if you want a quirky game about a truly awful goose, Untitled Goose Game is available on all major consoles and PC for $19.99, though considering its short length of 3-6 hours, I’d probably wait for it to go on sale for the $9.99 for which I bought it.