Gigging Around In Thank Goodness You're Here! (2024)

I was not ready for Thank Goodness You’re Here!, developed by Coal Supper and published by Panic.

The game is described by the developers as an “absurd comedy slapformer,” and that’s a pretty accurate description. The bulk of the game-play involves navigating around the small town of Barnsworth, slapping everything in sight to see what happens. There are a number of key locations that you will revisit a number of times as you make your rounds, helping the townspeople with their daily business as you go. This is all while you wait for an appointment with the mayor, who is currently occupied with… something. As you revisit these locations, multiple jokes and visual gags build on each other in really satisfying ways that serve to further characterize the town and its various inhabitants.

What makes Thank Goodness You’re Here! standout though is how it seamlessly blends different elements together. For example, it opens with a reel of fake commercials for various of Barnsworth’s goods and services before launching into the action. At various points, the game embraces surrealist perspectives (see above image), off-kilter vignettes, and even dream-like sequences that all blend into one another without any real disconnect. I finished the game in about 3 hours, so while it’s not a terribly long experience, it doesn’t need to be. It’s got enough packed in there to keep you thinking about it long after it’s over.

As previously mentioned, the bulk of your time is spent traversing the world and slapping everyone and everything in sight. The world is surprisingly smackable for what you might expect from a 2D environment, and many non-critical objects react with satisfying thumps upon getting a good smack. This keeps the game moving, as you are always looking for the next thing to hit or find to trigger the next beat. Usually this takes the form of “assisting” the townsfolk with their daily tasks, though not without unintended consequences. The game is actually fairly linear, but it does a smart thing where you may be working on a couple tasks at once, haphazardly solving one by accident and then stumbling into another request before satisfying the other one you were working on, etc. This structure also serves to keep the momentum going, and the sheer rapid-fire nature of the jokes makes the whole experience flow. There is hardly a dull moment in Thank Goodness You’re Here!, and at most you may find yourself wandering around and re-treading your steps for a couple minutes because you missed The Thing. This is not a huge issue, as the relaxed jazzy soundtrack perfectly fits the mood and the vibe and is a delight to get to just listen to for a bit as you take in some of the smaller details you may have missed.

Of course the defining feature is the game’s relentless Englishness, which goes a long way. I’m sure the game is peppered with references that, if you’re from or familiar with the area or culture more broadly, you’ll probably pick up on. As for me (a non-Brit), I certainly found myself still cracking up a fair bit, as a lot of the humor isn’t strictly referential but uses the setting, tone, and characterization of the town to let the player in on the joke, as it were. That said, it’s not mean-spirited - there are characters that, although presented in a humorous light, also elicit sympathy, grounding them in an otherwise absurd world. This characterization in turn makes the comedy land harder, because it ultimately makes it more relatable, regardless of your cultural background. Obviously your mileage may vary, but this game had me in stitches. The timing and delivery on almost all of the bits are spot-on - in fact, most of the time you are a part of the joke in some capacity, and you can even choose when to trigger certain “punchlines” which may play out in unexpected ways, further adding to the comedic effect as well as the sense that you were part of making the joke funny. This is a powerful feeling to bestow upon the player, and it makes you feel more connected - you are not simply observing this absurd world, but are a key part of it.

I’ve heard the comparison made before, but as I was playing I was really reminded of 2014’s Jazzpunk, which is also a comedic game where you walk around interacting with stuff. Or the upcoming Tom the Postgirl by Oopsie Daisies, which also portrays comedic situations arising from unexpected consequences. What makes Thank Goodness You’re Here! stand out though is the use of mixed media to really cement the locale. The title screen (pictured above) has the effect of placing you exactly in a time and place. Even if you’ve never physically been to an idyllic English street like that, you’ve probably seen one. Maybe you can even smell the rain. Putting this footage up front at the title screen immediately sets the tone and puts you in the right state of mind for the Barnsworth experience and adds another layer of depth to the whole thing.

All of this is to say that I really enjoyed my time with Thank Goodness You’re Here!, and would love to see more stuff like this. It leaves a really good impression, and I could see myself dipping in again to try and find some of the secrets I almost certainly missed. Overall, just a real charmer.