James O'Connor, "Untitled Goose Game" (Boss Fight Books, 2025)

Jul 18, 2025

James O'Connor, a journalist and game developer, delves into the delightful chaos of 'Untitled Goose Game.' He shares the quirky journey of its creation, emphasizing the camaraderie among the developers and their unique storytelling style. The discussion touches on balancing humor with critical analysis in gaming and the evolving landscape of game criticism today. O'Connor highlights the game's cultural impact and its significance within the indie gaming scene, revealing how a silly goose became a symbol of creativity and fun.

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ANECDOTE

Unique Origin of Game

Untitled Goose Game originated from a joke between four friends at House House in Melbourne.
The game’s success was largely incidental and grew from their close friendship and creative collaboration.

ADVICE

Match Book Tone to Game

Write game analysis that matches the tone and spirit of the game you're covering.
Use humor and lightness when the game itself is irreverent and fun for better engagement.

INSIGHT

The Importance of Game Criticism

Game criticism and scholarship are challenged by declining funding but remain vital for treating games as serious art.
Independent and worker-owned media might lead the resurgence of detailed analytical game writing.

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It's a beautiful day in the village, and you are a horrible goose, ready to wreak charming havoc on the weary locals. You'll ruin their gardens, invade their pub, and terrorize their children. What kind of scoundrels would make such a devious game?

Before the critical acclaim, the tweets from celebrities, the major awards, the memes, the fan art, and the legion of players, Untitled Goose Game was just the goofy dream of House House, four friends in Melbourne, Australia. What began with a photo of a goose and the joking caption "Let's make a game about this" transformed into one of the wittiest and most stylish games of its generation. Through interviews with the creators and their co-conspirators, journalist and developer James O'Connor tells the story of how this indie megahit came to be, revealing how the team succeeded by evolving their friendship into an art practice, contributing to the wider Australian game development scene, trusting their own good taste, and never, ever naming their game.

James O'Connor has been writing about games for most of his adult life. His work has been featured on IGN, GameSpot, Edge, and beloved Australian magazine institutions Hyper and PC PowerPlay. He has also worked as an academic, teacher, game developer, and in a handful of other roles around games.

Rudolf Thomas Inderst (*1978) enjoys video games since 1985. He received a master’s degree in political science, American cultural studies as well as contemporary and recent history from Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich and holds two PhDs in game studies (LMU & University of Passau). Currently, he's teaching as a professor for game design and game studies at the University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm, has submitted his third dissertation at the University of Vechta, holds the position as lead editor at the online journal TITEL kulturmagazin for the game section, hosts the German local radio show Replay Value and is editor of the weekly game research newsletter DiGRA D-A-CH Game Studies Watchlist.

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