Developer: SweatyChair
Platform: PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
Publisher: Playsaurus, UltraPlayers
Tingus Goose is an indie game with strong artistic features and grotesque characters that comes from a developer who is unafraid to lean into the weird. The developer is SweatyChair, and the publishers are Playsaurus and UltraPlayers.
The main gameplay of the game is a constant loop. You start by planting a seed in a human patient, which in turn gets turned into a goose-grown tree and eventually gives birth to babies, tingis, which then fall down from the stress and buoyancy along different paths that have grown on the tree (quite like branches), where each bounce generates money. The money lets you water the tree, which further grows and unlocks more blossoms and specimens that help you progress. Over time, you unlock different upgrades, and new specimens emerge that make bouncing babies (you are quite literally letting the babies bounce and roll around for money) more profitable. The game includes around 17 chapters, with more than 150 unlockable bits of content and progression, giving the game more depth.
For controls, the game is fairly based on using mouse-based controls. Being an idle game, it doesn’t require high dexterity or fast inputs; the controls are simple and accessible. The game leans heavily into waiting, upgrades, and watching the absurdities unfold rather than being a twitch-based action.
The game is illustrated in a surreal, twisted cartoon-like style. The visuals can be bizarre, shocking, and often grotesque, as geese can be seen sprouting from a human torso, with babies being flung and bounced off goose heads, along with creatures offering blossoms and goose trees with all sorts of different and weird mutations. Humor and horror have intermingled, and some sense of the game can come across as dark comedy. At the same time, the cartoon style softens the shock of its graphic and unsettling concept. But visually, it’s more bizarre and funny than realistically horrific. In short, the art is the main selling point as it’s wildly creative.
The music has a nice ambience, with the repeated bouncing baby noise, the geese, and general absurd chaos that can almost become hypnotic. The background sounds and sound effects complement the absurdity of the overall strange and cozy setting.
Tingus Goose is one of the strangest and most bizarre games that I have reviewed, and that’s what I found most appealing about it. It doesn’t aim to be serious or polished; instead, it aims to be something completely different with its dark comedy. If you like weird concepts with dark humor and don’t mind a simple idle loop, this game is definitely worth playing.
Overall: 9/10
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