Goat Simulator’s Symbolism and Story Only Make It Weirder

A game about a goat running around breaking things, licking things, and swinging axes has captivated us with its weirdness, because it seems so completely random. Surely, if it was actually about something and had a story and symbolism, it’d seem much more normal. Nope! Turns out, it has those things, and they only make it stranger.

Vigilant players noticed that there are road signs on the outskirts of Goat Simulator‘s open-world town that read “Himlen” and “Helvete.” Then, a fan posted a theory on Steam that the goat was in purgatory, and Armin Ibrisagic of developer Coffee Stain Studios confirmed to Polygon that the theory is accurate, saying in an email:

Once the Devil and Angel goat were in, along with the Heaven and Hell road signs, we felt it was kinda obvious. We can’t believe you guys didn’t see it, it was all there! … The world is so strange that people should have noticed that something wasn’t quite right about it.

Well, that throws a pretty dark tone on all the game’s madness, violence, and the discordant music from the trailers. The game’s new eeriness doesn’t end there, though. The developers also mentioned that goats were a common sacrificial animal throughout history, and ibrasdads further commented:

You might also notice that, no matter what you do, you can never interact with humans. If you lick them or even touch them a little bit, they will instantly go limp. If there are any humans nearby, they will run away from you. When it comes to other humans, you are always the onlooker, always staring from a distance, never part of the group. Always alone.

They wouldn’t say outright whether the goat was once a living human being, but the implications are pretty strong. That certainly makes this horrifying:

There’s also a goat version of stonehenge in the game and some minor references to current events like the Ukraine crisis, because what’s a hilarious animal simulator without some deep social commentary?

So, enjoy your wanton destruction, goats. You’re stuck with it for all of eternity.

(via Polygon, image via Goat Simulator)

Meanwhile in related links

• I’ll never look at their Dead Island trailer parody the same way again
• There’s goat parkour in purgatory, at least
• You can play as any animal you want without purgatorial repercussions in GTA V