If you mess with social media, you might be familiar with the sight of a white goose with a knife in its bill. Or of a goose honking at some unsuspecting villager and ruining whatever they’re trying to do. Or of a goose tripping a kid, stealing his eyeglasses, and then sticking a different pair of glasses on his face, making him run around in a blind panic. (What you’ve seen of the goose may or may not have been soundtracked by the best song about mischief since Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law”.)
Those clips, and that goose, are from Untitled Goose Game. The new game from House House hit computers and the Switch two weeks ago, and has gone on to become a pop culture hit beyond anybody’s expectations. Untitled Goose Game has pretty much been everywhere since it came out, and there’s good reason for that.
People love the goose game. We love the goose game. Or at least we love watching other people play it, and then talking about it on YouTube. Talking about other people playing games is just what you do in the 21st century, and Paste is up on all of the stuff. So contempo.
What makes it so fun to watch and play, though? Why has this relatively small, unheralded game blown up outside the realm of game fans and turned into a legit mainstream hit? And what’s up with all those memes? Paste’s games editor Garrett Martin and social media editor Annie Black, both an avowed fan of playing and, even moreso, watching people play the goose game, discussed this crucial topic in Paste’s brand new Atlanta studio. Whether you’re a fan of Untitled Goose Game, games in general, or just strangers awkwardly talking about stuff on your computer or phone screen, you’ll find something to enjoy, ponder, or, most likely, complain about in this video. Watch it below and keep an eye out for more videogame chats in the Paste studio every week.