When it comes to games, comedy isn’t exactly an easy thing to pull off. Unlike books or movies, where everything is controlled by the maker, games have to account for how players behave within them. Careful comedic timing can be easily ruined, funny dialogue can get repetitive and even characters that are comedy gold on paper can wind up falling entirely flat during actual gameplay.
Despite these hardships, there are still games that not only hit the target, but shatter it.Helldivers 2is perhaps the most notorious example at the moment thanks to its commitment to the reality of its (utterly bonkers) universe, but thankfully, gamers looking for a good laugh need not rely on it entirely. Here are a few more good options for when one eventually wants to take a break from spreading Managed Democracy.
1The Stanley Parable
Its fun writing and outstanding narrator aside, the quality that makes The Stanley Parableboth addictive and hilariousis how it seems to have an answer for everything. Try as one might to do something outside the game’s expectations, the game comes back time and again with some witty response. Its reactions keep escalating, and one’s attempts to break out of their story are increasingly mocked. Ever since its original release, The Stanley Parable has enjoyed a kind of cult status and will likely continue to until some studio manages to create a superior experience. Considering the unique use of the player’s own sense of futility to fuel its laughs, though, that’s probably not going to happen anytime soon.
Jazzpunk is a “something else” kind of game. It’s supposedly about working as a spy in a world where Japan took over much of North America after World War II, but it’s so filled with oddball side stuff that one wonders what exactly it’s actually about. To play Jazzpunk is to be trekking through the “pizza dimension” in one moment, going on a fly-killing spree in the next and suddenly jumping to pelting ducks with toast another moment later.
While all this is going on, the game is doing its utmost to cook up puns and gags that’d all feel right at home in something like Airplane! or any of Leslie Nielson’s other parody films. How it all ties into the player’s role as a spy, perhaps only the developers know. Regardless, it’s a crazy ride that will almost certainly get a chuckle or two out of anyone who picks it up.
3Brutal Legend
Brutal Legend isn’t exactly a comedy game, but it’s funny enough to be considered one. Its sheer outlandishness pretty much ensures that. Certainly, having Jack Black star as a reluctantly heroic roadie will almost certainly be enough by itself to get players smiling, but he’s not the true secret sauce. Rather, it’s Brutal Legend’s total commitment to its world and premise that makes it a true riot.
It’s a world wherein headbanging is a form of combat, where goths are the equivalent of the undead, where putting on a concert is the same as going to war and where Ozzy Osborne serves as the Guardian of Metal. Not a single character so much as bats an eye at any of it either, not even Jack Black’s Eddie Rigs, who’s supposed to be an otherwise normal guy thrown into this utterly crazy place. Brutal Legend has no problem at all selling its world to the player, making it an absurdly fun time even if one isn’t a metalhead themselves.
4Two Point Hospital / Two Point Campus
While Brutal Legend kind of just happens to be funny, the Two Point gamesare absolutely in it for the gags.Both Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus are completely filled with puns, plays on words and visual jokes. Sure, it’s “low comedy,” but even enjoyers of more subtle humor will eventually catch themselves giggling at illnesses like “8-Bitten” or courses with titles such as “Funny Business.”
They aren’t all winners, but the sheer number of them combined with the game’s commitment to playing them absolutely straight will almost certainly overcome one’s defenses eventually. It also helps that both characters and equipment serve as secondary punchlines for all of these wordplay gags. So, even if the idea of chronic “cubism” doesn’t cut it, its very literal illustration and questionable treatment almost certainly will. Truly, it’s easy to tell thatTwo Point Studios had all kinds of funmaking these games, which actually kind of enhances the fun of it all too, as if the player is getting in on a whole book’s worth of inside jokes.
5Journey to the Savage Planet
Like Brutal Legend, Journey to the Savage Planet isa game founded on unabashed goofiness.Where Brutal Legend draws its humor from a metal fantasy played completely straight, however, Journey to the Savage Planet does so via utter self-awareness. The gameknowsit’s crazy and its characters seem to as well. Everything is too out in the open for them not to, and yet they either don’t care or simply embrace it.
The Kindred Aerospace Company is perhaps the best example of this. Its CEO, Martin Tweed, does little to hide how terrible his company is (or how raw of a deal the player’s contract is), yet he still puts on an air of kindly wonderment that actually manages to charm. The player knows Tweed isn’t really a good guy (and so does Tweed), yet one still can’t help but want to help the guy achieve his terrible dreams of cornering the market via extremely poor quality and downright dangerous products. The very dangerous planet players explore is nothing in comparison, and that contrast can be endlessly entertaining.
There are plenty of other classics not on this list, like Portal orSouth Park: Snow Day!,but those are already well-known for their comedic brilliance. Portal in particular launched an entire era of memes, and it could be said that it opened the door to games like those discussed above.
Still, famous or otherwise, good comedy-oriented games are always worth greater discussion. The more we all talk about what works and what doesn’t, the more likely it’ll be that we’ll get more of the good stuff in future releases. So, verify to let us know what some of your favorites are below!
Helldivers 2: Full Guide Hub
An updated catalog of all of Hardcore Gamer’s guides for Helldivers 2.
