Goat Simulator 3 review – a deranged, self-destructive caprine bender

Xbox, PlayStation, PC; Coffee Stain Studios
Drag voters to the polls as your physics-defying goat runs for president in the silliest game of the year which can now be savoured in multiplayer madness

Despite its title, this game does not simulate the life and interests of the typical European goat. It is also not actually the third in a series; it's the second, following 2014's Goat Simulator. Chalk the numerological skip up to developer Coffee Stain Studios' frivolous tone: Goat Simulator 3 is absolutely loaded with bizarre non sequiturs, blissfully stupid gags, and wild cartoon violence. This is the silliest (or stupidest) game of the year, and its low-stakes chaos has a way of winning you over.

Embodying an indestructible, physics-defying goat, you run across the map at supersonic speeds, crashing through obstacles with a headbutt, all while dragging anything you want alongside your furry little legs with the elastic grip of your tongue. (This can include chairs, explosives, and unlucky human beings.) The joy is found in pushing the goofy, hallucinogenic physics system to its absolute breaking point. Your goat can bounce off a trampoline into low orbit, or smash oncoming traffic towards the distant horizon. The most interesting difference from 2014's Goat Simulator, aside from the larger arena of chaos, is that you can now do all of this in multiplayer.

Goat Simulator 3 is out now; 24.99