Dick Dick Goose

I'd better squeeze in a few more posts to hit that magic sixty-nine for the year, huh? Fortunately, I've got just the thing to discuss... House House's Untitled Goose Game. Imagine if you will a flat-shaded world that's one katamari away from being flung into space. Now imagine you're a waterfowl that lives to annoy the residents of a little town in this world. You'll steal bras from a clothesline, trap people in their garages, raid vegetable gardens, and do whatever it takes to scratch off items on a lengthy to-do list. You'll have to think like a goose to pull off these pranks, dragging items behind you with your bill and distracting the townsfolk with a well-timed honk.

Yep, that's pretty much the whole game in a nutshell.
(image from Steam)

What's nice about Untitled Goose Game is that while it's definitely got stealth elements, the gameplay is decidedly low stakes, making it possible for even a klutz like myself to finish it. If you get spotted while taking an item, you get chased away and the item is returned, giving you another chance to snatch it once the character's back is turned. It's a refreshing change from the status quo of this often punishing genre... if Kojima had made this, you'd be shot by the citizens of the town on sight and served for Christmas dinner. (Either that or you'd be carrying fifty pounds of cargo on your back and an artificial egg on your hip. "Do geese even have hips?" Shut up, you're ruining the analogy.)

People are already including Untitled Goose Game in their top ten games of the year, and even their games of the decade, lists. I'm not quite that impressed with it, but the game is nevertheless fun and relaxing and more charmingly British than an army of Hugh Grants. If you've got Xbox Game Pass, or fifteen dollars to spare, definitely give it a spin.