House House #citation took inspiration from Super Mario 64 expressive moveset when making their game Untitled Goose Game. Mario's creators spent a significant amount of time during early development just honing in Mario's controls and moveset. There were no levels to play in, just a big empty room with some basic obstacles to traverse.
It wasn't until Mario was fun to simply control (Nintendo prioritizes function and mechanics over aesthetics) that they started making the rest of the game around those controls. The game can operate as a toy ( -discovery vs performing) at its most basic level even without the need for goals.
Similarly, Untitled Goose Game's goose has expressive controls that allow the player to use the avatar as a sort of performing puppet rather than just a tool to interact with the game.
#lomario #toolong