Thank Goodness You’re Here review

‘Ow do, if you’ve nowt goin on then ‘ave a luck at this review. Am reet chuffed to ‘ave you here, so get tha’ sen sorted, grab a brew and a butty, an’ tek an ‘oliday to Bamsworth wit me. Oh aye, this grand likkle Yorkshire town ‘as nowt but character, an’ is full of crackin’ lads and lasses. If you’ve understood even half of what I’ve said so far then you are ready to play Thank Goodness You’re Here, one of the most weird, wonderful, and Northern games ever created.

In this slapstick comedy adventure, you play as a traveling salesman who has been assigned to meet with the mayor of Bamsworth (a fictional 80s Yorkshire town that’s full of charm). When you arrive you immediately discover the mayor isn’t ready to see you, and as you wander the streets while you wait for him get tasked with odd (and I mean odd) jobs by the locals. As you help more people, the town will open up, and before you know it you’ll have met all manner of folk in this sleepy little place.

Actually playing Thank Goodness You’re Here is a particularly simple experience, because there’s pretty much nothing to it. To call it an adventure game would be overselling it, because there’s no bringing items to people or using them to solve problems here. Your little salesman character can walk around and he can punch things to interact with them, and that’s it. There’s a little bit of light platforming occasionally, but nothing that really constitutes “major gameplay”. Nothing more than that is needed though, because this game is all about spending time with the weird and wonderful people who make Bamsworth their home.

The characters of Thank Goodness You’re Here absolutely make the game. Like Big Ron who makes big pies that are far bigger than is convenient, or Rog the greengrocer who is perpetually angry because of the size of his head. Every ridiculous resident of this time warped town has something daft to say, and with sensational voice acting and hilarious writing you’ll want to spend time with them all and help them with their problems.

Almost every time you meet someone new in this game they’ll greet you with the titular phrase and ask for your help. These tasks come in all shapes and sizes, from helping a posh lad butter up his arm to free it from the grate it’s trapped in, to buying chips for a cow so it can be milked. By walking back and forth you’ll almost always have an easy time finding where to go next because the wrong directions are blocked by various cars and obstacles, so it’s best to just lose yourself in the world and see what funny situations are playing out.

I’m not sure I’ve ever played a game that’s as outright funny as Thank Goodness You’re Here. With an outlandish comedy style sitting somewhere between Rick and Morty and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared, there were multiple moments that caused me to laugh out loud while playing through the game. Even the smaller details like shop names and bits of graffiti are often hilarious, and make drinking in every ounce of this stupid game a joy.

As good as the characters and writing are in Thank Goodness You’re Here, none of it would matter if the visuals didn’t hold it all together. The adult cartoon art style of the game is simply sublime, with animations that bring the characters and funny situations to life. A Thank Goodness You’re Here TV show would provide the easiest binge watching experience of my life, but by embracing video games this outrageous comedy is all the better.

I have very few complaints about this unique and funny title, but there are a couple of tiny issues. Although very rare, there were a few moments where I wasn’t sure where to go next, which saw me backtracking in entirely the wrong direction with nothing new to explore there. The other issue with Thank Goodness You’re Here is that it lasts about two hours from start to finish, and I frankly didn’t want it to ever end.

Thank Goodness You’re Here is one of the funniest video games ever made, with dozens of laugh out loud moments, a vast array of delightfully daft characters, and some of the low key best visuals I’ve seen all year. It might have ended sooner than I’d like, but I won’t be forgetting my trip to Bamsworth in a hurry.