What's the funniest game you've played?

bermuda@beehaw.org to Gaming@beehaw.org – 111 points –

For me it's probably Jazzpunk, but I liked Disco Elysium too. I've been looking for something to scratch that "Jazzpunk surrealist comedy itch" for a while and not many games have come even close.

124

The Stanley Parable was pretty funny

For about an hour.

If Stanley Parable only lasted one hour for you, then you're playing it wrong. You're supposed to restart the game several times to get every ending. No two playthroughs are the same.

Untitled Goose Game comes to mind as a great "slapstick" game.

honk

I think it'd have to be Portal...mmm, the first one. I think learning about Glados the first time is a little better than the whole potato thing.

Portal 2 has some jokes that did not age well too.

Whoa, do you remember any specific examples? I haven't played since it came out

There are a lot of fat jokes, and they aren't punching up at all. Don't remember specifics since it has been about a year since I last played.

But wasn't that the evil AI very explicitly trying to psychologically hurt the protagonist and being really lame about it? I mean it's the evil AI doing it and I remember the point of it being that fat jokes are lame.

This is a new take to me, anyway. What do you mean?

There are a lot of fat jokes, and they aren't punching up at all.

I always sort of read those jokes as illustrative as GLaDOS being a bad person fielding weak material more than like, an earnest expression of the game writer's values. Like, the game itself doesn't present the remarks themselves as funny so much as GLaDOS being rude, snippy, and actively incorrect given that Chell is mega-fit.

Yeah, that always came across as "I'm trying to neg you but I ran out of my best insults like an hour ago so I'm throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks." Same with the adopted joke.

I've always assumed it's Gabe Newell getting revenge for all the fat jokes he's endured.

I agree, especially considering Wheatley makes fat jokes the moment

::: spoiler spoiler he takes over for GLaDOS. :::

I get that context, and I think that was for sure the intent, but they did not stick the landing. We already knew GLaDOS is evil. Casual fatphobia was not necessary. Plus the fact that some people won't get that context or choose to ignore it and just think it is funny, as evidenced further down this thread.

Edit: The person saying they would replay it for the fat jokes was removed, so my last sentence makes less sense, but that was the reason I said that

There's an extremely long list of creative works made to be satire that idiots don't understand. The Colbert Report, Starship Troopers, hell there are people that think Homelander is the good guy in The Boys. I think it's a little too restrictive if someone can't make a point that certain jokes are lame out of fear of how a few idiots might misinterpret it (many times deliberately). There are people right now arguing that the Barbie movie is actually "anti-woke".

Also consider how many people actually did get the message. They heard how lame the jokes sounded and realized how stupid fat jokes are. From what I recall, the game really makes an effort to deconstruct these jokes. There is no audience within the game laughing at the jokes, and the evil AI explicitly states that it's making the jokes solely to to negatively affect the protagonists psychological well being to prevent her from achieving anything. And the jokes are directed at the player, so someone that might have made these jokes themselves hears someone else directing these jokes at them and can hear how lame they are. The evil AI comes across as lame, petty, and desperate. Someone who made fat jokes before playing that game might have had the realization "is that how I sound?"

I feel like the people that didn't get the context likely made fat jokes before playing the game, and would be making fat jokes even if they never played the game. So I don't think there was any negative impact. Someone that committed to being an idiot isn't going change in either direction from any kind of media.

Like I said, I understand the context. I don't need more of it.

Jokes like this and the other examples require either a very deft hand or an extreme level of satire. The jokes did not achieve either of those for me. The harm it causes by folks misinterpreting or ignoring context is not worth the people who get it. I have friends that would 100% understand the context and would still be made uncomfortable by the delivery. That to me is the best indicator to how well it aged.

Also, posting a wall of text full of ableism is also not a great way to convince me otherwise

Yeah I never except anyone on the internet to admit they're wrong about anything. But randomly accusing someone of being ablest based solely on a disagreement over the interpretation of a piece of media is rather petty behavior (even by internet standards), don't you think?

I am saying you used a ton of ablist language in your post, that part had nothing to do with the disagreement. It put me off reading your post at all.

3 more...
3 more...
3 more...
3 more...

For a game that's a full comedy romp, West of Loathing consistently ruined me with laughter. The spittoon descriptions are probably the most derangedly funny writing ever put into the world. I've got to remember to play the sequel one of these days. Its also extremely mechanically satisfying, with several enticing roleplaying moments (as well as the occasional dramatic or scary moment that hits just as well as the comedy)

For a game that's not explicitly only comedy but still hits strong marks, Yakuza 0 is a full meal. While most Yak games are fairly wacky when it comes to sidequesting (1 being perphaps the single exception, as the beginning of the series was quite dry), 0 feels like the one where they really hit their stride. There's so many flat out ridiculous moments (you've most likely seen the chicken, and that's just one of many) that you even forget this is also a heavily dramatic story and a full blown action beat'em up.

If you liked that it's based on a browser game called Kingdom of Loathing, the gameplay is not as tight or refined but there's plenty to do and it's pretty enjoyable to play when you have some time to kill on a work pc lol.

Oooh, it's been a while since I've been on there. May need to revive my pastamancer.

Disco Elysium. It’s much more than funny, but it can also be really funny. Cuno is really funny.

Came here to say this; just wanted to add that it was simultaneously the saddest game I'd ever played.

It's both the saddest game I've ever played and perhaps the most uplifting one. It balances the knife's edge between nihilism and hope so well. It can also be hysterically funny, yes. It's truly unique in terms of writing.

It's funnier than 95% of film or TV comedies. The writers are amazing.

I'd recommend Sam and Max Hit the Road. It's older, and its sense of humor is a bit out there, but if you "get it" it's great.

So many of those old adventure games were hilarious. The Monkey Island series, Day of the Tentacle, Leisure Suit Larry, Space Quest. But I was also a kid back then (probably shouldn't have been playing Leisure Suit Larry...). I wonder if they'd still hold up for me today.

I'll add the Discworld games. And Simon the Sorcerer!

Loved the deponia series, Rufus is just a great goofball.

"I'm like herpes. The cool version of herpes,"

@JCPhoenix They definitely do! I replayed Sam & Max and DOTT on an emulator for my phone and played the remastered versions of Monkey Island. They are still awesome games.
I want to add "ToonStruck" to this list as well. One of the funniest, weirdest games I ever played.

@bermuda @Davel23

"You fight like a dairy farmer!" "How appropriate, you fight like a cow!"

Yes! Sam and Max is wonderful! There's something so perfect in the way they react with complete nonchalance to all the weird stuff going on. And the soundtrack is great too.

Conker's Bad Fur Day on N64 was definitely up there.

I was like 12 but it was funny as shit. I think now a lot of the humour might fall flat now the zeitgeist has moved on but that storming of the beach against the teddybears still cracks me up remembering it.

Having to piss out fires and flowers with tits will forever be in my memories lmfao!

I find the lack of Space Quest titles in this thread unsettling. For me, it's Space Quest IV, but they are all absolute gems.

I prefer Leisure Suit Larry, but I'll upzipper any Sierra game!

Only game I ever lol’d at was Psychonauts.

Both of the Psychonauts games had such great writing, comedy is best when interwoven with actual substance and they nailed it

One game series that is not known for being especially humorous actually can be: The Halo games. More specifically the enemy grunts. If you sneak up on them and listen to their dialogue, their mix of faux bravado, cowardice and delusion of grandeur can be really funny. Especially because Master Chief is β€œThe Demon” to them. A near-mythical monster. Just choosing the right time to reveal your presence to the grunts can result in comedy gold.

It's really hard to top Jazzpunk...

I know right? it's so great I reinstall it every few months just to experience it again. It never really gets old

Never heard of jazzpunk. Just added it to my steam wishlist, interested to play it.

No One Lives Forever though it's ancient now. I remember sneaking around just to listen to the bad guys talking to each other.

I remember a long discussion about correlation vs causation re being a criminal and drinking beer

Fucking love the game, will have to play again.

For me its gotta be Donut County. I was baked out of my mind and my best friend was like "Dude you gotta play this game" and handed me his controller. It was awesome.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/702670/Donut_County/

Have you played Katamari Damacy? I feel like it was a pretty obvious influence on Donut County.

PS - Donut County is on Gamepass for anyone who has it.

I've only played a little bit of Katamari Damaci but its such a WILD game!! I should go back again and try to beat it. Oh yeah, there's totally some influence

The game I've laughed the most while playing is Jackbox. Fibbage and Quiplash have me in stitches every time, although it depends on how funny your friends are.

I almost can’t believe the lack of Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People in this thread.

Stanley Parable and Trover Saves the Universe are both pretty funny. I'm sure there are a ton of really funny games, but for some reason, they're not coming to mind.

"Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun" is the funniest interaction in any video game I have ever played by an order of magnitude

Not single player/story funny, but I don't think I've absolutely lost it to any game (possibly even any thing) more than Gang Beasts. Get 8 friends together for a rumble and cry laughs will be had.

One time back when we were living in an apartment with an inward courtyard facing window, my wife and I were laughing so hard a neighbour threw something at our window to get our attention so they could shout at us to keep it down. It was only 10pm on a Saturday :/

South Park: Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole I'd guess people either hate it or laugh their way through it.

The Precession To Calvery was hilarious from beginning to end.

I also love the humor in Portal 1 and 2.

Frog detective is also super cute and funny.

The Precession To Calvery was hilarious from beginning to end.

You beat me to it because this game is genius!

I like LEGO games for their simple light-hearted humor and recreation of well known scenes from other IPs, esp. SW\LOTR ones.

Ultimate Chicken Horse might be one of the top party games for getting a laugh for me. It's always fun to see someone hyperfocused to make a jump, only to get hit by an arrow, followed by a wrecking ball hitting them into a sawblade.

Either Jazzpunk or Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Both had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes at various points.

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands if you're into Borderlands-style games (shoot and loot). I'm not, but for the 45 minutes that I played, I laughed quite a bit.

And of course The Stanley Parable.

Conker's Bad Fur Day.

First off, Rare had a reputation for good games, but they were cute, child friendly games. Conker was even a cute character with child friendly games. Then they made this... thing, which starts with Conker hungover from a night drinking and quickly descends into him fighting a giant poo monster. The game was rated R/18, which was crazy for Nintendo. The amount of little movie references everywhere was insane, also.

Those little French squirrels...

Some coop games, like Battleblock Theater or Magicka, were definitely the most funny for me, with all the dumb stuff you can do, fuck with your friends, etc. but those depend on the people you play with. With friends, every game can become super funny though, even more serious stuff.

As for single player, the ones I remember the most were Donut County and maybe the Frog Detective games, those had some really funny moments and writing.

Oh, yes. Any Arrowhead co op game will work, besides Magicka they also have Helldivers or their Gauntlet reboot.

I came here to say Magicka. my husband and I really enjoyed those games and I think the sense of humor in them is amazing. they had some really stellar jokes.

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon - (it is now abandonware, you can play it for free) if you have never heard if it but like sierra/lucasarts style games you really should give it a try. Extremely funny.

But also the Monkey Island Series and Grim Fandango?

Recently played the Grim Fandango remastered and man, what a fantastic game.

The humor, style and especially the music was great. If you like point & click games, this is one you should definitely try out.

Giants: Citizen Kabuto

Oh man, this jogs old memories of when I almost every weekend went to this lan game cafe. We mostly played counter strike, quake arena and age of empires.

But at one point every night we would fire up this game and the whole place would turn in to chaos. It was great.

Fun times

Any shovelware with lots of bugs, continuity errors, and English language fails. I’m the type of person who believes in β€œso bad, it’s good” (or at least so bad, it’s funny). Warning for TVTropes link.

Hatoful Boyfriend has some really great moments, especially if you pursue Anghel or Okosan. It also will make you cry your eyes out in the true ending, so there's a good balance.

Just recently played A Hat in Time. We're never told, but every detail points at this being the fantasy adventures of a little girl with A LOT in common with Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, an overabundance of imagination and hyperactivity. Charming and funny (well, save for Queen Vanessa, which I feel was instead a masterpiece in ambience). Loved it, gotta try the DLC. Just be ready for hard platforming at many places.

Ace Attorney has some really hilarious moments throughout the series.

Similarly, Ghost Trick, although it's been years since I've played it.

Recently played ghost tricks, and it's great mystery/detective/supernatural story! I can never look at Pomeranians the same.

(Also Lynn getting so used to "tricks" is really good too)

Yeah, it's a fantastic game. Didn't get nearly enough attention, so I'm super happy it got a Switch port and more people get to play it.

The art is lovely and the animations in that game are some of the slickest I've seen as well. Really enjoyed it.

Maize. I had no expectations going into that game except what the brief Steam summary gave me, and I was not disappointed.

Bucket Detective. This was recommended to me by someone who said "this is the weirdest game you'll ever play", and I think they were right.

Yeah imma a just gonna say it.

Borderlands 2 esp the Mr Torgue DLC. The DLC is a slog, but Torgue had me losing my shit throughout it.

Can't say which one is the funniest (probably jazzpunk), but here are some that I found funny:

  • Jazz Punk
  • Procession to Cavalry
  • Thousand Arms
  • Metal Wolf Chaos
  • Frog Fractions
  • Monkey Island

Probably Minecraft with my 5 year old. Yesterday and today. Been loving it.

Someone else mentioned Procession to Calvary - an adventure game set in a cut and paste world of renaissance art with a very surreal plot and sense of humour. Pythonesque.

There Is No Game is pretty hilarious, the voice acting always makes me crack up.

Agatha Knife is a funny point and click adventure game where you're a 7 year old girl who's a butcher and needs to set up her own religion sacrificing pigs in the basement for... Reasons.

I wish I could forget all about Day of the Tentacle, so I could play it all over again and rediscover everything.

That whole ordeal with Red Dead Uncle Fred is hilarious, especially after IRS arrests him and restrains him with literal red tape.

It's not a very good game, but I laughed my ass off through the Deadpool game. The one that immediately comes to mind though is Bulletstorm. It definitely set the bar for high-brow, sophisticated humor.It's a shame that People Can Fly chose to go with Outriders, because I'd kill for Bulletstorm 2.

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos is hilarious and fun rpg

Destroy All Humans 1&2 on PS2 & Xbox

Whiplash back on PS2

The MLB Slugfest series. I don't even like baseball, but they'd sneak these one liners into regular commentary and it just killed me.

"Everyone that came out to the ballpark today is getting a free piece of sandpaper"

Slugfest

I just tried 2003 on emulator and I really tried to like it. You're right, it's really funny. But oh my god these controls are ATROCIOUS! I get it was 2003 and gamecube controllers were already wacky, but I really wanna punch the guy in the face who decided that to throw an out to a base you need to press TWO BUTTONS AT THE SAME TIME.

Yes the GameCube version's controls sucked, it's a bit better on the PS2 IMO.

Disco Elysium is the most recent game that was just chock full of humor, though maybe not focused on it specifically... beyond that the only games I can even really think of that had a focus on comedy were the old LucasArts classics. Sam & Max, Full Throttle, Monkey Island... And Borderlands.

I was just thinking about how this doesn't seem to be a thing anymore. Where are the comedic oriented games? Why is everything so damn dark, and serious and brooding nowadays?

But I haven't played that Not-Really-Rick-and-Morty-shooter. I heard that was funny.

Nexomon: Extinction cracked me up pretty much throughout the entire game.