Thank Goodness You’re Here! Is a Silly, One-of-a-Kind Adventure Comedy Game
As a lover of tongue-in-cheek English humor, from the moment I first saw a trailer for the game Thank Goodness You're Here, I knew it was one I'd need to play.
Developed by Coal Supper, this silly title takes place in the fictional town of Barnsworth (inspired by the real-like South Yorkshire town of Barnsley), following a pint-sized traveling salesman who gets all wrapped up in the town's affairs ahead of a visit with the mayor. The team behind the game was kind enough to provide me with a review code for the game on the Nintendo Switch ahead of its release on Aug. 1, and I wound up loving it even more than I'd anticipated.
Befriending Barnsworth
Thank Goodness You're Here! begins with the player character, a tiny unnamed traveling salesman, planning a meeting with the mayor. However, with a bit of a wait ahead of him, he decides to explore the town, jumping out of a high window to do so, and setting the irreverent, slapstick tone for everything that lays ahead of him.
It won't be long before you hear what seems to be the town's signature catchprase of, "Thank goodness you're here!," because the majority of the town's oddball characters are a bit helpless, and it seems that only you're equipped to get them out of the pickles they're in.
The movement in the game is simple, mostly consisting of walking around, jumping and giving the people and things in your environment a good whack, but thanks to the storytelling and vibrant presentation, there was so much more to this title than its simple platforming, keeping me consistently captivated and giggling through its runtime of about two hours.
(Thank Goodness You're Here via Panic)
Also read about: 12 Games You HAVE to Play If You Have a Playdate Gaming System
The Vibe
The brilliance of Thank Goodness You're Here! lies in its presentation, with the story immediately popping thanks to its beautiful hand-drawn animation, eye-catching colors and ridiculous attention to detail. It's very English and very Northern, with hilarious signage absolutely everywhere (including frequent double entendres), though if you're not keen on the lingo, prepare for a lot of it to fly right over your head.
(Thank Goodness You're Here via Panic)
It also helps that the game is packed with colorful characters, fully and brilliantly voice-acted, including a role voiced by comedian Matt Berry of What We Do in the Shadows fame. It's such a critical part of the feel of the game that I couldn't imagine the title without it. The game also offers subtitles in the regional dialect for that touch of authenticity, though you can also change it to plain English if you're having trouble keeping up.
(Thank Goodness You're Here via Panic)
Also read about: Pepper Grinder Is a Fast-Paced Action Platformer Everyone Should Be Playing in 2024
The Gameplay
Of course, a game can't succeed on looks and sound alone, and lucky for players, it has plenty to offer in the gameplay department as well. Meeting the townspeople and completing odd jobs is really the name of the game—and the odder, the better. The puzzle solutions aren't always obvious—for example, using a massive stick of butter to free a man's arm from a grate, or helping a pie shop get its meat delivery by diving straight into a ham steak and dealing with the haunted, grotesque spirits residing within—but the more tasks you complete, the more of the world opens up and the closer you get to your eagerly anticipated meeting.
(Thank Goodness You're Here via Panic)
With each "Thank goodness you're here!," your character moves through the game, with their goals becoming increasingly more bizarre—and occasionally even lewd or gruesome—sometimes making certain characters' lives worse in order to improve things for others, and that's all part of the silly, cheeky fun. There's an amorphous quality to the hero, who's undoubtedly a man, but sometimes small enough to move through pipes, walk long store shelves or even fit inside of socks, depending on what's needed of him. He truly is a man of the people as he moves back and forth between the interconnected areas of the town, looking for any changes to see what he can help with next.
(Thank Goodness You're Here via Panic)
This mostly consists of stumbling around the place and hitting everything in sight to see if it triggers a response, which fortunately never got old because every screen is filled with funny characters or sight gags to keep things fresh. There are also minor platforming segments as well as sections where you wade through drink, pull yourself up on a fish hook or float to the sky on bubbles, further mixing things up. Because the main character is an eye-catching yellow, I never lost him, no matter how much excitement was happening on screen, and because each of the game's objectives were so idiosyncratic, they were also extra memorable, meaning I rarely got stuck for more than a couple of minutes.
(Thank Goodness You're Here via Panic)
And though by the end of the his little adventure, the game's hero is certainly fed up with requests, I only wished there was more of his wild adventure as I played through its delightful closing musical number. As soon as it was over, I was eager to jump right back in and experience it all over again.
Also read about: 6 Things I Loved, and 1 Thing I Didn't, About Another Crab's Treasure on Nintendo Switch
Bottom Line
Thank Goodness You're Here! is one of the rare comedy games that actually hits the mark and frequently had me laughing out loud, though if you're not a fan of crude, sometimes adult humor (or don't enjoy English humor in general), you might feel differently about how the jokes land. It's absolutely absurd, with the fun coming from interacting with absolutely everything as you try to puzzle out how to solve your latest quandary and move the story along. Truly, there's a laugh to be found in every segment, which doesn't happen often in games, and I wish the closing section could be accessed a mini-game, because it's something I want to witness again and again.
(Thank Goodness You're Here via Panic)
I played on the Nintendo Switch, and the entire game looked fantastic. Besides a couple of screens that seemed to take a while to load, I didn't experience any performance issues.
Thank Goodness You're Here! is rated M and will be available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Game Store on Aug. 1. It will regularly sell for $19.99, but will be on sale at launch for $16.99.
Developer Panic is also the inventive company behind the Playdate gaming system. Read our full review of it HERE.