What makes jokes funny?

For me, it’s a combination of different criteria: the absurdity of a situation, the subversion of expectations, and expert delivery- both verbally and through body language. With most psychologists believing that body language makes up 70-80% of human communication, this becomes an essential part of the package. Video games often struggle to incorporate humour effectively into their structure. Sure, there are moments that elicit a chuckle – brief snippets of entertainment that juxtapose serious themes – but rarely do they produce a full blown, uncontrollable belly laugh. Why is that?

I believe the issues lie in the delivery. Strong voice delivery along side effective use of body language is challenging to achieve when characters are just pixels on a screen. Additionally, the variety of fictional worlds in games can make it difficult to relate to situations, which in turn makes subversion more challenging to execute with success.

Thank Goodness You’re Here

So, it’s the highest paise when I say Thank Goodness You’re Here had me in genuine fits of laughter. The game sets the tone immediately with a series of hilariously absurd advertisements, and once the tone is established, it remains consistently unrelenting throughout its run time. It’s difficult to go more than a minute without encounter another zany character caught in an equally ridiculous predicament.

The gameplay is bare-bones, with most interactions triggered with a single button press. Slap nearby objects, slap the town’s occupants, or slap… well, anything in sight really.

Each slap elicits a response from the world. Characters react with a degree of realism, albeit sprinkled with the same absurdity that adorns the rest of the game. Their unpredictable behaviour and the variety of their responses were so delightful I found myself slapping everything and everyone, just to see what would happen. I was rarely disappointed.

Much of my appreciation for the humour came from its distinctly British nature. Many of the games circumstances or jokes borrow heavily from the slapstick style of comedy show like Only Fools on Horses or Blackadder. The characters have overexaggerated features and personalities the emphasise certain British cultural tropes – like Brigadier Bean Tin the towns eccentric homeless man who has somehow earned the loyalty of his army of seagull soldiers.

The town of Barnsworth also maintains a quintessentially British aesthetic with shops like PriceShaggers – a shameless parody of Poundland – and royal family memorabilia proudly displayed in the townsfolk’s homes, which players regularly revisit throughout the game.

To top is all off, Matt Berry – of The Mighty Boosh Fame – voices Herbert the gardener, delivering many of the games standout comedic moments.

A Comedic Roller Coaster

Thank Goodness You’re Here does an excellent job of meeting the criteria for comedy. It throws you into a series of bizarre situations – ones that are often just grounded enough to be believable – before pulling the rug from underneath you and diving off the deep end at the perfect moment.

The beautiful hand drawn animations exude character and are so expressive that they overcome the body language delivery challenges that often hinder typical video game humour.

Importantly, the game never overstays its welcome. Barnsworth is a small, easy to explore town, filled to the bursting with charming characters which you quickly become familiar with. With a run time of no longer than three hours, it leaves you wanted more of its slapstick humour,  never dragging on or feeling overplayed by the time the credits roll.