Goose 64

Goose 64 is a homebrew game by James Friend and released on 5 Sept 2020, with the latest release being on 3 Dec 2023. It’s an unfinished N64 port of the popular Untitled Goose Game from 2019.

To get the ROM, you can visit the download page and use the password untitledsixtyfour. You can also get the source code from Github and compile it yourself with the N64 SDK.

About Goose 64

The original Untitled Goose Game is set in an English village where players control a mischievous goose with a knack for causing chaos. The objective is to complete a list of tasks, like pranking or harassing the unsuspecting villagers, stealing items, honking to scare people, and creating elaborate chain reactions to achieve the goals.

Goose 64 attempts to replicate that style of gameplay on the N64. The game is made by using the official N64 SDK over the course of three years from 2020 to 2023 by James Friend and it has become an impressive demo of the actual game.

This game has the following features:

The screenshots show a debug mode, but I couldn’t figure out how to activate it. The whole ROM isn’t a complete game in and of itself, but rather a demo of an engine that can be further developed into a full game.

Review and conclusion

When I first came across Goose 64, I got really excited to see a demake of a popular recent game made for the N64. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed to see that it was just a game engine and not a complete game (or even a short version of the original). It hasn’t been worked on for a while, so it’s unlikely to be completed anytime soon, but I had a look at the older ROMs and there definitely has been some progress over the years.

That said, I do enjoy Goose 64 for what it is. Getting the 3D environment set up, as well as the goose/farmer animations are an achievement in and of itself. I just wish that the creator could have gone the extra mile to add some kind of objective like “take the book across the river” so that it could at least be considered a short game, if anything.