This is Pastor Tim’s Article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2025
I was born in 1975, so you know for certain that video games were a big part of my childhood. I vividly remember the Christmas we got an Atari 2600. We had Pac-man, Space Invaders, Frogger, and River Raid. We even had the infamous E.T. game for the Atari, the game that was considered to be so terrible that it destroyed the video game market. I saved E.T. so many times in that super weird game. Only Gen Xers will know what I am talking about with this one.
Games today are way more complicated than they were when I grew up. I currently own what will probably be my last video game console, the original Nintendo Switch. I don’t play it much, and most of what I do play on it are old Mario games on Super Mario Maker. I am used to games that just run and shoot. Games today have too many buttons and it is annoying. So many times I try to attack and my guy just starts jumping and I get killed. And don’t even get me started with online gaming. It did not take me long to realize that online gaming compromises my walk with Jesus.
Well, I want to tell you about the new game I just discovered because it is absolutely delightful. The game is called The Untitled Goose Game and it was released in 2019. I had never heard of it before. I saw a bumper sticker on a car in a parking lot in Walmart in Celina and it caused me to look up the game. I dropped my $20 and downloaded the game and it is an absolute delight. I have never laughed so hard at a game.
The objective of the game is you are a renegade goose. In each level, you have a list of objectives you have to do and all of them are just to mess with the people in the game. In the first level, I had to set up a picnic by finding certain items and gathering them on a picnic blanket. That seems pretty straight forward. What the objectives do not tell you is you have to go steal them from this poor guy who is working in his yard. He gets all upset and chases you around and will steal items back if you take too long. Once I completed that objective, a new list of objectives showed up. According to the new objectives, I had to steal his rake and throw it in a pond. Why? Who cares? It was delightfully sadistic. I had so much fun throwing his rake in the pond that I stole all of his stuff and threw all of it in the pond. I didn’t have to do that, it was just so funny to watch the farmer get mad about it. I also had to pick his keys out of his pocket, turn on the sprinkler while he was standing next to it, and I had to steal a bunch of carrots out of his garden.
It was the most cathartic experience playing a video game I have ever had. Why is it so wonderful to be a vengeful goose? I have no idea, all I can say is don’t knock it until you try it. The graphics and music were just wonderful. All the hijinks that were going on, Susan came in to see what I was laughing at. She could not understand why the goose throwing the farmer’s rake in a pond was so funny. Sometimes she just doesn’t get me at all. I had her watch me throw his radio in the pond and how angry the farmer got. She didn’t find it nearly as funny as I did. I couldn’t quit laughing.
Here is a sentence I never thought I would write. If you ever wanted to play as a sadistic goose who loves torturing innocent Non Playable Characters, then The Untitled Goose Game is for you. If you are a hardcore gamer, this is probably not the game for you. But I can tell you there is no blood and guts, no foul language, no objectifying women. There is just a goose with a vendetta against most of the world and it was a blast for this below average gamer.
The Untitled Goose Game is released by House House and is available on Switch, PS4, xBox One and PC. It is a great title for all ages with excellent control response, graphics and the music follows what is happening on screen like an old episode of Loony Toons.
I should mention that the farmer I was torturing eventually got mad and put up a sign with a picture of a goose with a red line through it announcing I was no longer welcome in his yard. I took that sign and threw it in the pond too.