This very clear path to success, balanced neatly by hiding from two people with their own rhythms and paths around the yards, made for a truly enjoyable level. The Back Gardens-where that exception is found-involve a significant amount of sneaking around, working hard to not get chased out (and a bit of clipping clothes through fences). I will not deny that the stealth puzzles are the most effective. Untitled Goose Game is a puzzle game, at least according to whoever wrote its tutorial.Īnd what would a honk button be doing in a stealth game? I know I said every game should have one, but consider this: If this were an environment I was meant to move through undetected, why on earth would I be given a button specifically meant to draw attention to myself? While Untitled Goose Game may be playable like a stealth game, it wasn’t designed as one. Rather, the tutorial was designed around using objects and running away from the gardener, perhaps using some of those objects to slow them down.
Stealth was not the focus of UGG’s tutorial. It’s certainly possible for those who prefer stealth games to purely play UGG as one, but the gameplay and level design do not support this as the “intended” method of play.Ī game’s tutorial shows us how to play it informs our understanding of the mechanics. While I understand the argument-the best puzzle in the game is a stealth puzzle-I just don’t agree. I’ve heard the rebuttal that Untitled Goose Game isn’t a puzzle game, it’s a stealth game. With one exception, this was not the case, and the overall experience of UGG truly suffers for it. I mean, I guess?”Īnd that’s not how puzzle games should feel! It is when a solution must be teased out, when trial and error feels fun and each trial gets you a little closer to a true solution, that puzzle games are at their best. Instead, I was sitting in my bed saying, “Huh. When I discovered the solution, I was not kicking myself for not figuring it out. They sat at the two far ends of the puzzle comprehensibility spectrum, being either very straightforward-Steal a fork! Frighten a child!-or a complete mystery that left me guessing seemingly at random. This game engaged my funny bone in a major way, but the puzzles, the main thrust of Untitled Goose Game, simply did not work. You may notice I said “tasks,” not “puzzles.” And this, unfortunately, is where I felt Untitled Goose Game ultimately failed. And chasing that stripe-shirted boy into the phone booth, honking all the way? It absolutely made me laugh. If you want me to laugh about aggressively honking at people, inserting that into required gameplay makes sure I will. In addition to being so much fun to use, the honk button was useful in completing tasks! There’s certainly something to be said for the addition of elements that are strictly about atmosphere or mood, but there’s arguably even more to be said for having those elements being a necessity of gameplay. The whimsy of this game is woven into its details, with an art style nicely suited for a game about a horrible goose. I’d also be remiss not to mention how genuinely delightful being able to put a bow on the goose was, and that’s emblematic of something more. If Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla doesn’t feature a dedicated button I can use to make my character honk, it will not be worth playing and I will stand by that statement. From now on, I demand that all games have a dedicated honk button. The goose’s movement mechanics are smooth and fun to use, and the dedicated honk button is truly magical. It has much to offer, starting with… The Goose This was a simple little puzzle game about a horrible goose.īeyond my disappointment that a short puzzle game did not meet my impossible standards, though, this game was fine. Expectations were in the stratosphere, and that simply wasn’t the game that this was. It would, however, be disingenuous to pretend as if the conversation around the game at the time didn’t color my experience when playing it. I want to acknowledge that it is not the fault of anyone who made or worked on UGG that their game became an overnight meme or that it got ridiculous levels of hyperbolic praise in casual spheres. So when our editor here at The Punished Backlog said we had a code for UGG, I couldn’t have been more excited. Friends covered my social media feeds in screenshots of this silly game, and claims that it was Peak Chaotic Protagonist Design were everywhere. I wanted, desperately, to unabashedly love Untitled Goose Game. Untitled Goose Game Review: Not All It’s Quacked Up to Be