Few games released over the past decade match the quaint charm of 2019’s indie puzzle hit “Untitled Goose Game,” in which the player guides the winged title (or rather, “untitle”) character on a whimsical, rabble-rousing journey through a sleepy English village. With endearing missions ranging from pumpkin theft all the way to tea-spilling, it ensured a pleasantly amusing experience for casual and die-hard gamers alike. You may even have a non-gaming friend or relative who was drawn into the antics of the mischievous protagonist. After all, who can pass up the opportunity to be a nuisance from time to time?
It was with this in mind that we were taken aback by the game’s 2021 “January 6th” DLC level. The attack on our country’s congressional seat by hordes of disinformed idiots is known by rationally-minded Americans as the embarrassing and disgraceful culmination of an entire political party kowtowing to the narcissistic and demented whims of a wealthy conman turned failed politician, who was ultimately rewarded for his disgraceful actions with a second term in office. It hardly seems like it provides good fodder for something with Untitled Goose Game’s darling reputation, so we decided to revisit in case there was something we had missed in our first playthrough four years ago.
While the gameplay still consists of assigned checklists set to jaunty Claude Debussy piano passages matching the tempo of the onscreen action, it now has much more sinister undertones. Why is the focus all of a sudden on domestic terrorism, rather than on being an adorable pest to faceless townsfolk? Take the “use your beak to untie the Capitol police officer’s shoe” task early in the level. While seemingly harmless at face value, the intimation is clear as we see a bearded militia member approaching the distracted lawman with a can of bear mace in his hand while our goose makes its way to the next area. Or the “move Nancy Pelosi’s wastepaper basket out from under her desk” objective. This initially seems aligned with the gentle behavior of the little rascal we know and love from the original, until we see the Confederate-flag waving gentleman in the Carhardt jacket step into the then-Speaker of the House’s office and defecate into the freshly uncovered waste receptacle. The crafty stealth and puzzle-solving of the original are still there, but much of its appeal fades away as the gamer is reminded of how much of a repugnant hellscape Americans have let their once impressive empire devolve into. After all, this is something most people are trying to escape while playing video games.
In closing, do we still think this level is worth playing? Absolutely, and especially if you’re a fan of the original. We just hope the setting was a one-off misfire, and the franchise returns to its roots in any potential sequels the future may have in store for us. We definitely prefer the idea of using our antics to stir up minor inconveniences for a collection of good-hearted Brits over contributing to the rapid and irrevocable decay of our country’s political order, and we hope the developers over at House House Pty Ltd understand this going forward.
