Untitled Goose Game – honking great fun (pic: Panic)
A reader explains why Untitled Goose Game has become such a family favourite and how it helps with his daughter’s problem solving skills.
‘Daddy, let’s lock the boy in the phone box!’ my daughter says to me. ‘Not again!’ I say. No, my daughter isn’t a sociopath (well, no more than the average six-year-old), we’re playing Untitled Goose Game for the umpteenth time.
For those that don’t know, the premise of the game is simple: you play as a mischievous goose who is tasked with completing various tasks and causing havoc in a peaceful English village. The game is filled with puzzles and challenges that require you to use your wits and creativity to solve various tasks. There is also something uniquely charming and, well, English about this game that I haven’t experienced since playing games like Hover Bovver or Monty On The Run from the increasingly distant days of my childhood.
We mostly go about causing chaos and mayhem, while I generally feel slightly horrified by our behaviour, but we do occasionally work together to figure out how to complete each task. My daughter is always full of ideas and suggestions, and it’s a lot of fun to see her get excited when we solve a particularly tricky puzzle or if she discovers something new, such as being able to honk at each other through a pair of walkie-talkies.
One of the things I love most about the game is how it encourages creativity and imagination. There are often multiple ways to complete a task, and it’s great coming up with our own unique, and slightly sadistic, solutions. It’s also good to see her problem-solving skills improve as we play – she’s become much better at figuring out the best way to approach each challenge.
Mainly though, my daughter just finds this game extremely funny. The goose is a pretty hilarious character, and she can’t help but laugh at all the mischief we get up to. From stealing a gardener’s hat to honking at unsuspecting villagers, the goose never fails to entertain. However, I do sometimes wonder whether the game is instilling the correct morals, although she hasn’t stolen a bra off anyone’s washing line or locked anybody in their own garage in real life yet.
The game has also been a great way to teach her about teamwork and cooperation. Having to work together to complete each task, it’s important that we communicate and listen to each other’s ideas. It’s a pretty valuable lesson that I hope will stick with her as she grows older. It’s amazing how managing to steal a gardener’s keys together can be such a rewarding experience.
As wonderful as this game is though, please House House – we need more. There are only so many times you can steal a gardener’s carrot or hide in a tomato box. For the sake of my own sanity, please make a sequel. Give us some new areas to explore and some new characters to interact with so that maybe the boy can go about his day, playing with his blue aeroplane, without the fear of being locked inside a phone box by two marauding geese.
Thank you.
By reader Colin Harrison
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A reader explains why Untitled Goose Game has become such a family favourite and how it helps with his daughter’s problem solving skills.