▲
3
▼
The title "Untitled Goose Game" was first used after submitting the game to Fantastic Arcade, a game festival in Austin, Texas, due to the team's indecisiveness with choosing a name. The game was internally referred to as "Goose Game" before then, although that was deemed unusable for the final release. However, the placeholder title they chose stuck due to positive public reactions, technically (and ironically) leaving the game without a title.
Nintendo Life article:
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/09/feature_how_a_joke_hatched_gamings_most_horrible_goose
IGN article:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/09/27/heres-what-untitled-goose-game-was-almost-called
Forbes article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattpaprocki/2019/09/24/how-untitled-goose-game-got-its-non-name/
Fantastic Arcade page:
https://fantasticarcade.com/games/2017/goose/
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/09/feature_how_a_joke_hatched_gamings_most_horrible_goose
IGN article:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/09/27/heres-what-untitled-goose-game-was-almost-called
Forbes article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattpaprocki/2019/09/24/how-untitled-goose-game-got-its-non-name/
Fantastic Arcade page:
https://fantasticarcade.com/games/2017/goose/
▲
3
▼
Shortly after the game's release, some of the game's fans began speculating on the political leanings of the human characters, who the goose antagonizes. As many of the game's fans were left-of-center, the most common theory posited that the humans were all conservatives who voted in favor of the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union. After a Twitter user sent a tweet to the game's developer House House asking if this was the case, they denied the theory, instead stating that the game took place in an alternate timeline where Britain underwent a Marxist revolution after conservative and Euroskeptic prime minister Margaret Thatcher was chased out of office by a goose, causing the Conservative Party's "irreparable decline".
In a 2019 interview with Vulture, developers Jacob Strasser and Michael McMaster stated that this story was "a joke canonical version of the world of the game," noting that many fans responded to the explanation by expressing sympathy with the human cast. The pair additionally described the goose as "chaotic neutral" (an alignment from the Dungeons & Dragons franchise) and expressed flattered amusement with fans' political interpretations of the title, stating that "Anything the left can take joy in and pride in and have a bit of fun with, we love. And if it pisses off some alt-right people, then great."
In a 2019 interview with Vulture, developers Jacob Strasser and Michael McMaster stated that this story was "a joke canonical version of the world of the game," noting that many fans responded to the explanation by expressing sympathy with the human cast. The pair additionally described the goose as "chaotic neutral" (an alignment from the Dungeons & Dragons franchise) and expressed flattered amusement with fans' political interpretations of the title, stating that "Anything the left can take joy in and pride in and have a bit of fun with, we love. And if it pisses off some alt-right people, then great."
Article about political speculation:
https://happygamer.com/untitled-goose-game-takes-place-in-alternate-timeline-margaret-thatcher-chased-out-of-office-by-irascible-bird-28221/
Developer interview:
https://www.vulture.com/2019/09/untitled-goose-game-creators-interview.html
https://happygamer.com/untitled-goose-game-takes-place-in-alternate-timeline-margaret-thatcher-chased-out-of-office-by-irascible-bird-28221/
Developer interview:
https://www.vulture.com/2019/09/untitled-goose-game-creators-interview.html
▲
1
▼
In 2021, the game's developer and publisher collaborated with the animation company Chromosphere Studio to create a 4-minute pitch pilot for a potential animated series based on the game called "Untitled Goose Programme". The show would have been presented as recorded TV feed flipping to different channels where the Goose bothers the host and/or villagers. It's not known which networks or streaming services it was pitched to, but due to a lack of interest, further plans for the show were shelved. The pitch pilot was later officially uploaded to YouTube in 2024.
Related Games
Thank Goodness You're Here!
Mortal Kombat 4
Observation
Hiveswap: Act 1
Big Boy Boxing
Scratchin' Melodii
Duckman: The Graphic Adventures of a Private Dick
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Dislyte
JumpStart Adventures 5th Grade: Jo Hammet, Kid Detective
Dragon Age: Origins
Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style
Nicktoons Racing
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution
Deer Avenger 3D
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
Divekick
Dead Space 3
WWE 2K16
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
River City Girls 2
Call of Duty: Black Ops
My Hero One's Justice 2
HellSinker
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Mafia: Definitive Edition
Skipper & Skeeto: The Shadow of Mr. Shade
Final Fantasy XV
Mega Man Legacy Collection
Colin McRae Rally
Fallout 2
Five Nights at Candy's 2
SimCity 2000
PUBG: Battlegrounds
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Madden NFL 99
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Sega Ages Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Dead Space
Alone in the Dark
Rain on Your Parade
SimCopter
Bendy and the Ink Machine
Thief: The Dark Project
Twisted Metal
Toy Story Activity Center
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
WWE 2K17
Assassin's Creed II