Review for Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Thank Goodness You’re Here! bills itself as a British comedy game, and so it is; but the comedy owes more to Benny Hill than to Monty Python – that is, low-brow farce rather than cerebral humor. But it is genuinely funny at times, and while I cannot in good faith present it to you as a superb example of "ars ludorum" (video games as an art form) or claim that it is emotionally impactful in any real way, the fact that it’s humorous may be enough.

In addition to movement, the game has only two verbs: “whack” and “jump.” As “jump” implies, there’s a bit of light platforming involved; I never felt particularly challenged by the platforming aspect, which is fine. “Whack” is really just “interact” but it’s fairly amusing that, to get to the next bit of dialog with a character, I have to slug them (though if they just start saying “Oof” or similar, you’ve come to the end of their dialog tree and should move on). You use “whack” a lot. It can open doors or interact with objects or open new paths. The game recommends a controller (which I used), but I don’t imagine using WASD and a mouse would be a problem, if you’re used to platforming that way.

The game takes place in a small rural town in Yorkshire, in northern England. Most characters (the game is fully voiced) have distinct North Country accents – so much so that subtitles are provided in case you find the accent impenetrable. I left subtitles on, but only rarely had to slide my eyes down to read them; I found the dialog perfectly understandable, for the most part. I did like that the main menu was also in North Country dialect: “Gu on then” for “Resume,” for example. (If you’re looking for options, they’re under “Faff” on the main menu.)

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There’s no inventory or inventory combination, but it is an adventure game in the sense that you wander about, encounter characters, and accomplish tasks that they give you to perform. These involve puzzle-solving, locating key hotspots, and platforming, but they are often quite absurd. Navigation is also somewhat absurd. I found myself sliding through sewers, rising through the sky on a spirit bubble, and being lost in meat until I found my way out.

The title, in fact, is something you learn to fear; when someone says – “Thank goodness you’re here!" – that means they’re going to assign you another convoluted quest you need to solve to fix their problem. And navigation of the world is non-trivial; there’s no map, and some of the ways you need to get where you want to go are pretty crazy (being plunged down a smokestack by a chimney sweep, floating down a fishing line, sliding along a sewer pipe).

I did have two issues with the game: the lack of a map, and the lack of a quest log. The map: Okay, I have to get to the Ham store, where was that again? The lack of a quest log: What am I trying to accomplish now? The addition of either (or both) would be a major quality of life improvement. In general, the game relies maybe too much on having you wander around randomly, trying to find the next thing to do. A little more hand-holding would be nice. One tip that may be useful: If you find yourself spit out somewhere and “jump” to stand up again, you are generally facing in the direction you need to go to encounter the next episode.

Despite these issues, I can’t deny the humor; there are overheard dialogs that are pretty entertaining, and I would often pause in gameplay to listen to them. In addition, there are surreal gameplay bits that break the usual platforming-and-whacking-things at certain times.

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I don’t particularly care for the graphics; the characters are stylized but somewhat unattractive to me. The soundscape is fine; most of the music consists of British music-hall standards, which fits the setting well. It’s fully voiced, and the voice-overs are varied and quite impressive if you enjoy that British North Country accent.

The puzzles can be strange at times, but that seems fitting since they’re intended to be comedic. I’ll give you an example: You wander into the pub, overhear a conversation between the bartender and a customer; apparently, the beer is flat. Platforming to the left, you jump into a sink – and emerge in the pub basement. There are six kegs here, attached by hoses to the wall; whacking a keg causes it to start bouncing, the hoses pulsing. When you’ve done all six, one hose falls to the floor; you can jump into the hose, whereupon you find yourself floating in beer. Wind up back in the pub, as the bartender dispenses you into a pint glass. You can wander about popping bubbles (a kind of minigame), which will lead you upward; you encounter two animated bottles, one surreally representing the pub customer and the other the bartender. Cut to the bar: The bartender dispenses you from a tap into a pint glass. There is a kind of logic here, but this is not typical adventure gaming fare.

On the whole, I quite enjoyed my time with Thank Goodness You're Here! despite its flaws, and I can recommend it if you like the idea of a bit of surreality and humor in your games.