I'm a simple man; when I see Matt Berry's involved in something, I'm probably gonna watch, or play it. I loved him in "What We Do in the Shadows," I loved him in "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace," and "Toast of London," to name but a few.
Welcome! This column is part of a series in which members of the Tom's Guide staff share what they're playing and enjoying right now, with the goal of helping you find great games that you might want to play next. Be sure to check out our last entry, where our writer discussed their one major issue with Bloodborne amid a full replay of the FromSoft classic.
So, when I saw that Berry was part of the voice cast of a new indie title that's been making some waves since its multiplatform release on August 1, I immediately picked up Thank Goodness You're Here! on PS5. I'm glad I did, too; this short comic adventure is easily one of (if not the) funniest games I've ever played and is definitely among the best PS5 games you can play right now.
Styled as a "slapformer" by indie studio Coal Supper, Thank Goodness You're Here! introduces players to the fictional northern town of Barnsworth, a heightened, surreal vision of provincial England populated by a cast of bizarre characters.
You play a small traveling salesman who is shipped off to Barnsworth ostensibly to meet the mayor. While there, you're quickly sucked into a series of increasingly bizarre (and occasionally disturbing) tasks as more and more locals seek your help, always with the immortal words, "Thank Goodness You're Here!"
A... slapformer?
"What the hell is a slapformer?" I hear you ask. Well, you have two main ways to interact with the locals; jumping and running around town, and giving everything in sight a short, sharp smack. It's how you'll start conversations with everyone and solve puzzles and, crucially, find all the best gags.
The next closest thing I can compare it to is probably Untitled Goose Game (also published by Panic, as it happens), but these two titles differ in one crucial way. In Goose Game you honk your way through town, gleefully causing total havoc for the local population. Thank Goodness You're Here! meanwhile, functions essentially as a 2-4-hour-long British sketch show, one in which the player plays a pivotal role.
You'll pick your way through a series of scenes, learning more about the drama between the characters and picking up fresh tasks... none of which will play out the way you'd expect. The entire point here is to build a game that's always pushing you to the next punchline, so even though it's a simple control scheme, you won't notice. Soon, you'll be pushing, jumping, and slapping everything in sight.
Just humor me
Look, the fact of the matter is, everyone's sense of humor is subjective, and as a northern English lad at heart, and someone who grown up watching tons of the quintessentially British comedy that's a clear influence on Coal Supper's creation, I've got to acknowledge that Thank Goodness You're Here! feels tailor-made to make me chuckle.
Right from the get-go, you're asked whether you want to play the game in standard English, or in a regional dialect, and I cannot explain how much seeing the word "Faff" in place of "Options" made me laugh. And that's before I even started playing.
The game's sense of humor ranges from cheeky to downright absurd, with the occasional, slightly sinister, uncomfortable undertone. The script's thick with double entendres and lowbrow or recurring gags, but they all land, and the town is littered with signs, posters, and other background gags that you'll quickly start hunting for every time you stray into a new sequence.
As we all know, having a joke explained to you is the fastest way to kill said joke. And since the game's only a few hours long, I wouldn't want to spoil any of the best moments. Just know that Thank Goodness You're Here!'s comic timing and delivery are both pitch-perfect and the actual game (simple though it is) contains enough variety to keep your attention before the credits roll.
Bottom line, if you're looking for something short that you can blitz through in one or two sittings, then Thank Goodness You're Here! is absolutely a title you shouldn't skip. If you're keen to experience this strange tale yourself, be sure to snap Thank Goodness You're Here! up in the next few days while it's still 15% off (though it's worth buying even at full price). It's unlike anything I've played all year, and I loved every second of it. And with that said, I'm off to smack some more postboxes.
