Untitled Goose Game - Games Lab

Untitled Goose Game’s early days

Untitled Goose Game had humble beginnings – it began as a joke in a group chat between House House’s Jake Strasser, Stuart Gillespie-Cook, Nico Disseldorp and Michael McMaster.

The goose appealed to them both visually – it’s made up of just two colours, white and orange – and conceptually. Geese aren’t common in Australia, so the idea of being terrorised by a nasty bird immediately felt funny and absurd. Imagine being frightened of a goose? During their research, House House found out that a lot of people are.

The disconnect between the goose (a wild animal) and the urban location of the village is another source of the game’s sense of humour. The goose’s mischief stops short of actual harm – the villagers aren’t exactly terrified, they’re more puzzled and befuddled, which is also hilarious.

Untitled Goose Game’s level – The Garden and The Pub

The Garden was the first area that independent videogame company House House developed for Untitled Goose Game. They aimed to create a picturesque environment inspired by British kids’ TV shows like Postman Pat (1981–2017) and Brum (1991–2002).

The groundskeeper who appears in the Garden level was also the first character they developed. It’s through the personalities and appearances of the townspeople that the mischievous goose came to life, with House House quickly realising that the interactions and reactions between the villagers and the goose gave their avian antihero its character.

The levels in Untitled Goose Game each present a new challenge. In the Garden level, the goose contends with a single groundskeeper. By the time the goose makes it to the Shops, there are two villagers to navigate. In the Backyard, the goose must learn to be stealthy to get past the neat neighbour without having their chaos cleaned up and put back in order.

The Pub level builds on all of this – it’s a stealth fortress, with a complex layout and multiple characters who guard gates or shoo you away. It’s the most difficult level in the game.

House House developed the levels as an escalating series of challenges so that players could gradually learn the skills required to succeed – the groundskeeper is relatively docile, while the burly man who guards the pub runs the goose all the way back to the entrance if he spots the infiltration.