Honk! World premiere exhibition celebrates Untitled Goose Game
It’s a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose.
Enter a world of comedy, chaos and calamity in Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition, a free ACMI exhibition that dives into the making of global-hit videogame Untitled Goose Game.
Flying into ACMI from 17 September 2024 to 16 February 2025, the playful world premiere exhibition lands ahead of Melbourne International Games Week in October, transforming ACMI into a hub of free, family-friendly activity for the festival.
A game of stealth and slapstick about a naughty goose on the loose in an unsuspecting village, Untitled Goose Game was created by Victorian developers House House and released in 2019 to worldwide acclaim. Critics applauded its gameplay and comedy, awarding it D.I.C.E. Game of the Year and BAFTA Games Award for Best Family and Social Game in 2020.
Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition gives audiences – be they videogame experts or the uninitiated – fresh insight into the game’s hilariously mischievous humour and development. Connecting its design to the history of slapstick, the exhibition traces the game’s enduring popularity and comedic stylings back through a century of film and television. Extensive design material, sketches and concept art, plus playable versions of the game from its early development, will be exhibited publicly for the first time. Families are encouraged to play with sound effect buttons (HONK!), and colourful, interactive displays – nothing is under glass.
The exhibition continues ACMI’s strong support for the Australian videogame sector, and particularly local developers.
Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition, concept art from Untitled Goose Game (2019), ACMI Collection ACMI Director & CEO Seb Chan said: “As a museum of screen culture, videogames are at the heart of what we do. Since ACMI’s inception we’ve been collecting and exhibiting games and bolstering their local creation. Untitled Goose Game is one of Melbourne’s most recognisable videogame exports of the past decade.
We’ve been involved from playtesting its early development in the ACMI + RMIT Audience Lab, to presenting a series of live scored events in partnership with Orchestra Victoria. We’re honoured to give the goose the exhibition it deserves, revealing to audiences how it was made, and the wider cultural context it has come from. Hold onto your hats – let the fun and games begin!”
House House Co-Director Michael McMaster said: “It’s a very strange privilege to see our work commemorated in a public exhibition. Though we design our games to be played by a wide audience, we never imagined that that design process might itself be made accessible within the walls of a gallery. It’s been such a pleasure working with ACMI to open up our sketchbooks and hard drives and present them to the public like this — we can’t imagine a better place to showcase our goose.”
Minister for Creative Industries, the Hon. Colin Brooks MP said: “Whether you’re an Untitled Goose Game fan or a newcomer to the world of video games, you’ll love exploring this free and family friendly exhibition, which is a unique celebration of a local game that went on to conquer the world. Digital games are a big business for our state and we are proud to back our digital games industry as it continues to break new ground and bring incredible new games to audiences across the globe.”
ACMI, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) and Powerhouse Museum announced the joint acquisition of Untitled Goose Game in 2022, preserving the iconic game for generations to come.
Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition follows ACMI’s monster outdoor event Cult of the Lamb: The Ritual in Fed Square as part of Melbourne International Games Week in 2023, which celebrated the globally successful, Melbourne-made game. It builds on the international success of ACMI’s Code Breakers, the first Australian exhibition celebrating the achievements of women working in the games industry and sets the scene for a major new ACMI-curated exhibition in 2025 centred on the playable worlds of videogames.
Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition is free and unticketed, running 17 September 2024 – 16 February 2025 in ACMI’s Gallery 3, before touring nationally and internationally.
Honk! Untitled Goose Exhibition, animations from Untitled Goose Game (2019), courtesy of House House
About the Author
Adrian Gunning Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.
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