Oh, What A Beauty...Thank Goodness You're Here!
Spare £15 (or $20) for the funniest game you'll ever play
You may have seen the meme: “My body is a machine that turns Steam purchases into unplayed games”. I feel it deep in my soul. An - albeit funny - painfully accurate phrase.
Mind you, I don’t even really think I’m a “gamer”. Excuse the blanket stereotyping, but even typing the word “gamer” felt misogynistic.
I’ve dabbled in sandbox games (Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 had my childhood in a chokehold), and even the odd FPS (16 year old Fred would like to apologise for anyone who knew him when he was deep into CS:GO). Yet, my steam library is chock full of one-and-done, DNF undertakings (or lack thereof). Experiences that just weren’t my bag for whatever reason.
However: every winter period, without fail, my body goes through some sort of biological shift.
Maybe it’s the whole ‘being stuck inside’ thing? I’ll always end up purchasing at least one video game. Something to pass these dreary cold-snaps by (on that note - can the UK get its act together and leave this one already?).
Is that really something I want, though? Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I don’t really want those poorly misguided purchases to be the defining characteristic of my behaviour as a consumer. Take Cyberpunk 2077 - a game that has been rotting away on my wishlist for years now. More or less, on the basis of howlongtobeat.com’s verdict that the main story takes 25.5 hours to complete.
Sorry, what?
As someone who wants to be more into games as a hobby, how on earth do you guys find that time? I won’t give up on a film I’m not really into - even if it’s, like, 2 and a bit hours - to get that completionist hit of dopamine. But, 25 hours? Do you all just abandon games willy-nilly? Dying inside each and every time?
No wonder you’re all misogynists*
Suffice to say, I’m a lot more selective - or I’m at least trying to be - with what I’m buying.
After watching NerdCubed’s annual awards countdown on YouTube last December (my go to source for finding winter game recs), his ‘Best Comedy Game’ verdict was one of 2024’s indie darlings - Thank Goodness You’re Here!
‘Huh!’ I thought ‘I don’t think I’ve played a comedy game before, and a 3 hour playtime at that? On the wishlist you go’
That was a month ago, the New Year has passed, and no new game had graced my prescence. Would this be the year I put this habit to rest…? Well…nope. This week, I caved. I bought it, and my biggest takeaway? Maybe I should…fuck it…cave in a little bit more often.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! is, putting it plainly, an utter delight.
The central premise is this: you play as a small lemon (melon?) shaped salesman, whisked away to the dysfunctional, fictional Tyke town of Barnsworth. This ain’t yer da’s, south of Brum, posho platformer.
Welcome to the surrealist side of Yorkshire, lad!** Hope ye like pie ‘n’ pit.
As mentioned, I hadn’t really played comedy games before this. Nevertheless, I’m more than comfortable to proclaim: this is the funniest game ever made.
Every interaction with every character, sign, animal, and object is beaten beyond belief into the realm of hilarity. Not even two minutes into the game, and you’re greeted by Matt Berry’s distinctive voice (yes, he’s actually in the voice cast) narrating a TV advert for ‘Peans - not quite peas, not quite beans, but something in between’. In fact, it’s on the joyous wavelength of absurdist, British comedy greats like The Fast Show, Boosh and Monty Python for the entire time you’re playing. Even tiny visual gags are given a veneer of crude, barmy, blighty bemusement. Take, for instance, a Police Box with the sign ‘See It. Smell It. Sort it.’ taped on, or the graffiti littered around town (‘Carol Sucks Peas’ and ‘Roger is a Nonce’ are personal favourites).
All of this is also bolstered by its quirky animation style, which I can only describe as something that would’ve been blasted without warning on Cartoon Network at 3am. An Adult Swim adjacent, distinctively bright and warm texture to the art style. The experience is not only just funny, but beautiful to look at too.
You ever had the media meet you at just the right time? A film, a book, a…game?
Thank Goodness You’re Here has picked me up, lobbed my head off, and massaged my brain with the sensation that only a piece of media you’re going to become chronically obsessed with forever has the tenacity to do. No less, in an area I’m hungry to explore more of.
All I can say is, plainly, thank goodness you’re here Thank Goodness You’re Here! You might just change my life.
Find the store page here
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*for legal reasons, this is a joke. Also, please don’t hurt me
**if you’re curious, this piece’s title is taken from the lyrics of The Marrow Song (from the Barnsley based Ken Loach film Kes), which plays over the game’s opening credits - give it a listen!