The Legend of Zelda, the story of a boy destined to save a wise princess from a powerful beast. This 33 year old franchise, selling over 100 million copies in all its games combined, recently released a new game. It got beaten by a goose.

 House House, a game developer consisting of only 4 members released Untitled Goose Game on September 20, 2019. It’s currently selling digitally on PC and Nintendo Switch for $20, while it was on sale for $15 at launch. 

The game itself is pretty simple. You are a goose who harrases people. There is no narrative. No plot-relevant cutscenes. Just a goose who doesn’t apologize for anything. 

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was also released on September 20, 2019. Created by Nintendo, it was going to be their big $60 title for September. It’s technically a remake of a Zelda game on the Game Boy, but it added many new features, including a brand new artstyle.

However, on the Nintendo Switch Best Sellers list in September, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was 2nd, while Untitled Goose Game was 1st.

Many popular games released over the past few years have relied on higher budgets to create realistic graphics, hours of gameplay and heavy cinematic moments to play on the emotions of their players. These games are generally made by large companies such as Sony’s Spider-man and Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey.

However, many games have been made by only a handful of people and can be even more popular than these huge first-party hits. They go by “Indie Games,” where “Indie” stands for “independent.” These games often rely on gimmicks or nostalgia, instead of cutting-edge scenery or graphics.

Cuphead, made by StudioMDHR, is a game in the artstyle of 1930’s animation with challenging 2D boss fights. Due to many Youtube channels such as PewDiePie and The Game Theorists covering this game, it has sold over 3 million copies, and a Netflix show is even on the way.

Another example is Undertale, made by Toby Fox. You play as a child who has fallen into a magic area underground. There are many monsters that you can choose to fight or make friends with. The gameplay is not very impressive, but the story accompanied by an incredible soundtrack makes the whole game worth it. 

Many games release during the holiday season, as that is when most people buy them. Instead of waiting for the next Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, one could find entertainment in the smaller games, such as a sly goose.