It has taken me a few days to arrange my thoughts on the matter at hand because of how badly I am hurt by this situation. I feel betrayed, lied to, and stabbed in the back by the gaming industry. They have shown us a game that appeals to the masses with little chance we will ever get to play it. If you don’t know what I’m referencing… I’m talking about the lie that is Untitled Beaker Game.
For me, this was the greatest disappointment of the night. I know for most it was Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodrigues pretending to be gamers for far too long, paired with the last big announcement of the night being a very polygonal looking Fast and Furious game. But for me, it was being teaser with Untitled Beaker Game and knowing I may never be able to play it.
At The Game Awards 2019, two of the most beloved muppets, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his meepy assistant Beaker, made an appearance at the awards show to present the Games for Impact award. During their presentation, the pair told a series of puns that were gaming related… but seemed a little detached from the culture of gaming.
The presentation could have easily been blown off as another media franchise poorly attempting to reach a new market by making their IPs into gamers. But amid the joke riddled train wreck, the pair showed a teaser for a game that I thought was the most significant reveal of the night. They showed gameplay from the unattainable Untitled Beaker Game.
The title may sound familiar because it is a rip of this year’s indie smash hit, Untitled Goose Game. If you somehow aren’t familiar with that… where have you been all year? Untitled Goose Game is a funny game where you play as a Goose, a universally hated animal, and you terrorize a local town by performing goose-like antics. From what the teaser has shown, it is the same game, but you play as Beaker instead of Goose. You can watch the gameplay teaser below.
Now I know this was a joke. It was never supposed to be a real thing, and it probably never will be. But I want it to be real so bad, and so do many people on the internet. A quick Google search of Untitled Beaker Game will lend you to a plethora of articles from news outlets begging for this game to be real. And if the teaser was actual in-game footage, there is no reason for it not to be.
From a marketing standpoint on both House House (the developers of Untitled Goose Game) and The Muppets ends, this is a golden opportunity. The Muppets, a beloved franchise, working with arguably the most popular indie developer of the year seems like a no-brainer win-win to me. And it would help The Muppets leave a lasting impression on gaming culture outside of their yearly appearance at the Game Awards.
Plus, if the teaser was in-game footage, they already have the model, soundbites, and inputs they need. Untitled Goose Game is not a very complex game. There are just a few actions Goose can make, and one of the (spreading wings) is absolutely useless. Just allow beaker to hold things to his chest with his arms crossed, make the honk button a meep button, and the wings spreading can be his hands thrown in the air. There House House, I just made Untitled Beaker Game for you.
I don’t care about new content other than playing as Beaker. I want the charm of playing as a beloved Muppet character who is reasonably timid but has decided to be a jerk to everyone. I want to see the speed-running categories where players have to play as Beaker. I want to be a mumbling little whatever-he-is wandering around the quaint setting of Untitled Goose Game.
And for this, I have a plan. I have made a petition on Change.org for House House and The Muppets to release Untitled Beaker Game. This may seem like a ridiculous use of such a powerful platform, but if you want something bad enough, you have to try some ridiculous stunts. All I request is for those reading this cry for help to sign and share the petition. You don’t even have to send people this article (although you totally should) just send them the petition. I will link the petition here.
I do not know how many signatures we will need, or if anyone will even sign the petition. But I do feel like it’s an excellent way to let House House and The Muppets know that we are interested in Untitled Beaker Game. If anything, fans of The Muppets and Untitled Goose Game will have a place to express their mutual interest in the game.
At this point has been no clarification as to whether or not the footage was real gameplay or a cinematic. There has also been no talk of whether or not the game will actually be released. All we have to go off of is a small glimpse of a beautiful experience that could be.
What I can say is that despite the rocky start to the presentation, The Muppets accomplished something that, for some unknown reason, seems nearly impossible to do. They related to gamers on a level that didn’t seem disconnected. In contrast with the Diesel/Rodriguez fiasco, where they both pronounced the title of the games, they were talking about incorrectly (including when Diesel pronounced the game of the year wrong). The Muppets gained a level of respect from myself and many other gamers because of their effort to relate to our culture.
And for that, even if we never get our hands on Untitled Beaker Game, at least The Muppets gave a great example of how franchises outside of gaming can communicate and relate to the culture of gaming. You don’t need to make silly puns or fake your interest in games. You just need to find a way to communicate with gamers using things they are already interested in.
