Review: Braving Beautiful Barnsworth – Thank Goodness You’re Here

Initial release date: August 1, 2024

Developer: Coal Supper

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems

Publisher: Panic Inc.

Genres: Platform game, Adventure game, Indie game, Casual game, Adventure

Engine: Unity

It is a commonly held belief that comedy is far more challenging than drama. Any gaming platform retail will likely have nonstop action, much of it filled with drama, but some of it may have a lighter tone. Hollywood has obviously given up trying to make us laugh, so it’s up to the developers over at Coal Supper to give us that dry, yet ludicrous, English humor. It’s hard to elicit a laugh, but it’s even harder to say, “Hey, give me money and I’ll give you consistent laughs for several hours.” After playing The Good Time Garden, the debut game from Coal Supper, it was immediately clear that they had expanded upon their peculiar style with Thank Goodness You’re Here! The Good Time Garden was a wildly bizarre, comical, and quick romp through what they describe as a “throbbing pink world full of strange and naked creatures.”

The player assumes the position of a traveling salesman, whose size changes based on their accommodation, but this is not immediately clear from just playing the game. You were sent to the Northern English town of Barnsworth, I suppose by their sales manager, and your first assignment is to meet with the mayor. Putting in the “Thank God You’re Here” It is difficult to adequately sum up this game’s events in a genre box. Our traveling salesman has the ability to punch and jump. He is able to alleviate a great deal of the problems that the residents of Barnsworth are facing with just two moves.

The most of what I know about the British is from television, movies, and music as an American. To be honest, I have no idea about the UK. Nonetheless, I can identify a lot of the comedic tricks and clichés from Thank God You’re Here! To be honest, I laughed the entire way through the game. And it began the moment I walked into the mayor’s office. The receptionist informed me that he was attending a conference and it would take several hours for her to return to her solitaire game before slamming the window shut. When I say solitaire, I mean that she was drawing from a real deck of cards and every now and then she would lick a card and slap it on the computer monitor while the application was active.

I suppose I was supposed to sell Barnsworth residents something, but I didn’t actually do that. I spent most of my time fixing pipes, preparing huge meat pies, sleeping with fevers, and assisting an elderly man with fixing the fryer at Marge’s Chippo. Thankfully, you are here! is a game that features a ton of fascinating characters who are all trying to live their lives to the fullest. Thank God You’re Here! from the food truck vendor who would close every time I whacked his enormous ass, to the grocer whose malformed head has affected him his entire life! is about characters that are sad, funny, and ultimately sincere.

The artwork greatly contributes to the humor, and I want to emphasize that Thank God You’re Here! is an incredibly lovely game. With so many sceneries, vibrant colors, and finely detailed items that perfectly capture the essence of Barnsworth’s world. Almost anything that makes you say “thank god you’re here” The sceneries and character animations are incredibly vibrant and add life to every moment. I couldn’t stop grinning while playing, thus it would be an enormous effort for me to enter a new scene without grinning.

As a novice, I find it challenging to talk on the game’s soundtrack. To support them, a multitude of loud horns and voices may be heard. From a musical standpoint, I’m glad you came! was a ton of fun; each track improved the scene and included a song that turned out to be something of a hit.

Even though it was a shorter experience overall, Barnsworth offers a lot of extra activities. Upon revisiting, I had already discovered a few items that I had overlooked on my initial runthrough. I’m listening to Thank God You’re Here! got me wondering why there aren’t more comedic games like this, and I think I addressed that query at the outset of this review. Comedy is challenging. It can be difficult to define and execute humor well, and when it is done badly, it truly lacks impact. Even if I wish there were more comedic video games available, when one does well, it becomes even more noticeable.

Review Overview

Gameplay – 83%

Story – 88%

Aesthetics – 90%

Content – 85%

Accessibility – 80%

Value – 87%

Overall Rating – 86%

Excellent

Summary: Thank Goodness You’re Here! is a hilarious and masterfully executed experience. When a game is at its best, it looks like this: a masterpiece of design, music, platforming, and puzzle solving.