Okay, look. My favorite game of 2024 is Astro Bot. At the beginning of the year, when Sony first announced that it was releasing a new Astro Bot game, I preemptively declared it my game of the year. This was not unprecedented. Have you played Rescue Mission? Or Astro's game room? You could easily say that both are the games of their respective years, and one of them is an extended controller demo of sorts.
And well, I wasn't wrong. It turns out that Astro Bot is pretty much everything I love about video games and I'm happy. Still, everyone is talking about how great Astro Bot is now. He took home the Keighley and everything. Which is fantastic. Well deserved. Like. He. Should. Ser. But now what am I doing here? Just add to the pile of speeches “Y'all, Astro Bot is good” or talk about something else? Maybe my second favorite game of the year? A game that would have easily been my number one if it didn't have the distinct disadvantage of being released in the same calendar year as a new Astro Bot title?
So, yeah… Thank goodness you’re here!
This self-described “slap feeder” from developer Coal Supper and publisher Panic has you, as an anonymous, silent, diminutive, lemon-headed salesman, wandering around a town in the north of England called Barnsworth trying to solve the various problems of his weird (and strangely charming) residents. It's beautifully drawn, supremely silly, occasionally creepy, and 1000% my type.
It's also short (you can knock it out in about two hours or so) and cheap (20 bones at full price, and I've reduced it to about 13 on sale). Both are big pluses in my book. If you haven't played it, I wholeheartedly recommend you do so if you like fun games. Make it quick, though, because I'm about to start talking about My Five Favorite Bits from My Second Favorite Game of the Year (but I'll try not to give too many spoilers).
“I love you”
This scene, which you'll find right at the beginning, was my “Oh, I see how this is going to be…yeah, I'm going to like this” moment. While exploring a park in the town square, you will find a lawn mower in an overgrown grass area. Interaction with the machine triggers a segment in which your salesman is mowing the grass in the background while a pair of flowers sheepishly (and somewhat distractedly) repeat “I love you” to each other. As you slowly scroll across the screen, you can tell exactly where the scene is leading, but the lengthy lead-up to the punchline makes it even more fun when the inevitable happens.
Florence + Colin (and Kerry)
As you explore Barnsworth, you quickly get to know the town's inhabitants through personal encounters, overheard gossip, random graffiti, and more. Two of these inhabitants are Florence and Colin, a pair of teenagers, anxious, clumsy and very much in love with each other. The two seem to be employed in almost every business in town, and running into them at almost every corner of the adventure, I found myself strangely invested in their budding romance. I'm not the only one either, given Big Ron's (of Big Ron's Big Pies) delight in his “young love” when the two start fawning over each other in his store. Unfortunately, Florence's malicious sister Kerry seems intent on coming between them. Luckily, Florence won't have any of that (“You're a real bitch, Kerry!”). Flo and Colin are very cute and I hope they are very happy together.
Cake Rivalry
Speaking of Big Ron, there's a war going on in Barnsworth. What cakes do you prefer? Big Ron's Big Pies or Tiny Tom's Tiny Pies? The election has divided families, broken relationships, and is apparently pushing a small baker to the brink (although I'm not entirely convinced Big Ron is even aware of the competition). One of my heartfelt laughs in this game was a quick cut right after Big Ron's biggest win. Like Florence and Colin's courtship, a good part of the fun in Thank God You're Here! It comes from figuring out how this strange little town works while gathering little bits of information about the inhabitants of Barnsworth through plots like this.
The lady who loves cabbage
Paying attention to background details is not only good for understanding the many interconnected relationships within Barnsworth; there are also plenty of jokes lurking on the periphery. Don't get lazy either! Barnsworth isn't very big and you end up revisiting areas several times throughout the duration of the game. Every time you re-enter a previously explored part of the city, things usually change. Sometimes for plot reasons, sometimes as a joke, sometimes for both. An easily overlooked joke occurs in the garden of Herbert, the local gardener and purveyor of excellent canned vegetables. During a visit to Herbert's Field, you may notice a woman becoming overly affectionate with one of the cabbages growing there. A curious man stands nearby watching the lewd scene. There's no real reason to pay attention to these two. They have no dialogue and play no role in the main narrative. They are just background material. Later visits to the garden, however, reveal more of its story as we see the man painting his head green, buried up to his neck in crops. Will your strategy pay off? The game lasts two hours, see for yourself. Heavens.
Matt Baya
Casting Matt Berry (Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, What We Do in the Shadows, and lots of other fun stuff) in your comedy game is essentially playing on easy mode, but what do you want him to do? Say no to more Matt Berry? Matt plays the aforementioned Herbert, and if you're familiar with his distinctive voice and propensity for reading quirky lines, you'll know that every conversation you have with the gardener will be a pleasure. Not for nothing, but my favorite of his lines is his disproportionately passionate one-word exclamation after the town cop alerts him to reports of crime in the surrounding area. You're sure to find one of your own (there are quite a few good lines to choose from).
Wow, thank goodness you're here! It's funny. Do I play it once… let me see here… a fourth time? Yes, probably. I bet there are some jokes I missed.
(But it also plays Astro Bot. It's so good!)