Life is a funny thing. You know what else is funny? Video games. Creating an entertaining or uplifting gaming experience is challenging enough. But creating a game that manages to be hilarious? This is a creative and literary achievement that deserves admiration.
If you’re in the mood for a hearty smile, we’ve got just the list for you. We have put together a selection of the best video games that are really fun. From amnesiac disaster cops to flying suitcases and more, here are 10 games (and series) featuring the best comedy writers the medium has to offer.
Image: ZA/UM
Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Disco Elysium is considered by many to be one of the best-written RPGs of the last decade, so it’s no surprise that it’s also considered one of the funniest. No matter how the player adjusts their starting stats, the protagonist of Disco Elysium is the living human embodiment of a train wreck, stumbling from one perversely embarrassing encounter to the next in his existential mission to not only uncover the culprit behind a murder, but also to agree on an ideological framework by which that murder should be judged. Most of the time, you can’t stop your character from putting their entire foot (or worse) in their mouth. All you can do is try to roll with the punches and laugh your way through it. –Toussaint Egan
Image: IO Interactive
Where to play: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
The Homing briefcase Alone would be enough to secure the Hitman series a spot on this list. But that’s just one example of the many ways IO Interactive’s immersive assassination simulator allows players to play with the game’s impressively designed levels. Instead of trying to create massive open-world environments, the games function more like the best city block simulators you’ve ever played, each with their own intricate patterns, paths, and ridiculous characters. The games’ tongue-in-cheek tone, silly weapons and penchant for jokes mean that every attempt to level up comes with a chance for something funny to happen. —Pete Volk
Image: Terrible Toybox/Devolver Digital
Where to play: Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X
Starting with The Secret of Monkey Island in 1990 and runs until then Return to Monkey Island in 2022 (which landed at number 16 on Polygon’s list of the 50 best games of the year), this series is a benchmark for comedy in point-and-click adventure games. That’s the credit of Ron Gilbert, a master of word games and interactive story design, who directed every game in the series. Very few games have made me laugh while playing them, but all six Monkey Island games have done the trick. However, you have to like puns. –Maddy Myers
Image: Incl
Where to play: Android, iOS, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC
In Overboard!You’re not motivated by justice – unless you think it’s fair to push your husband off a cruise ship because he’s holding you back in life. This point-and-click murder mystery begins with a grisly murder like any other, but in this colorful setting you’re not trying to solve it – you’re trying to get away with it. It has to be inherently funny, otherwise it would be morally corrupt, and the game succeeds in that. The main character is spirited and funny, and perhaps you order her to seduce the captain by complimenting him on his hat, or suffocate an evil old woman who knows too much. Regardless of whether you end up in prison or not, at the end of each 20-minute playthrough you can start over with your new information and a few new objectives. –Zoe Hannah
Paper Mario: Color Splashes
Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo
When it comes to the humor and real-world references in the Paper Mario series, the writers at Nintendo like to let loose. The entire franchise is funny to varying degrees, but 2016 may have seen the series reach its peak Paper Mario: Color Splashes for Wii U – a game that is unfortunately still stuck on that platform.
Paper Mario: Color Splashes sends Mario to Prism Island after the heroic plumber receives a letter in the mail – which actually turns out to be a paper toad that has been drained of paint, having suffered that fate thanks to paint-slurping, straw-wielding Shy Guys. On Prism Island, they meet Huey, a sentient paint can who provides much of the game’s jokes and meta-commentary. Color splashes is also packed with wise-cracking toads – there are SO many toads in this game – and Bowser’s minions who make fun of just about anything. There are great paper-based sight gags, groundbreaking digs at the Mario franchise, cleverly disguised jokes about gun control, and even jokes about the Watergate scandal. Some of the game’s real-world references may have even become a little too harsh for Nintendo’s taste.
If you don’t have a Wii U on hand, hope Nintendo sees fit to bring it along Color splashes
Image: valve
Where to play: Android, Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, Windows PC, Xbox 360
The first portal is a standout puzzle design, an irrepressible gem that remains on almost every critic’s personal best-of-all-time video game list for good reason. But the other reason it stands out is its dialogue. You take on the role of Chell, a silent protagonist stuck in a maze-like series of puzzle rooms that turn out to be a testing center run by a sentient robot named GLaDOS. For some reason, this robot was programmed to be a master at talking shit, and it will make you laugh even as you wonder what the hell is going on in every single puzzle room. She keeps it up Portal 2but their jokes become much meaner and (in my opinion) less funny; the original portal has the perfect balance. –Maddy Myers
Thank God you’re here!
Image: Coal Dinner/Panic
Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC
Do you like Monty Python? Fawlty Towersor That Mitchell and Webb look? If so, I have the game for you. If not, consider this an introduction (or indoctrination) to the world of absurdist British humor. Developed by Coal Supper and published by Panic Inc. (the latter is best known for Goose game without a title), Thank God you’re here is a comedic adventure game about a little guy who runs errands for the locals of Barnsworth, a fictional small town in northern England. They interact with everything – and I mean everything – through strikes, which proves to be an extremely effective strategy. The writing style is lively and cheeky, supported by an exceptional cast of actors including: What we do in the shadows Star Matt Berry. —Chris Plante
The Yakuza/Like a Dragon series
Image: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega via Polygon
Where to see: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Wii U, Windows PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Think of the Yakuza series (recently renamed Like a Dragon in Western markets) as a collision of The Godfather And The Simpsons. Each entry tells a life or death story of a former Yakuza member who moves in the gray area between crime, law enforcement and civilian life. But these dramatic storylines are interwoven with hundreds of supporting characters and their comedic, heartfelt ambitions. Take for example the latest version, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The protagonist’s desire to save Hawaii from a megalomaniacal cult leader is put on hold when he helps a struggling musician rediscover his passion for environmentally conscious death metal. For nearly two decades, the game’s developers have put fun first, be it a Pokémon parody in which you collect local perverts, an Animal Crossing clone set on a garbage island, or a boss fight in which the squad Construction fends off vehicles with a collection of immaculate office furniture. —CP
There is no game: Wrong dimension
Image: Draw me a pixel
Where to see: Android, iOS, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC
I will refrain from saying anything about how There is no game: Wrong dimension plays as it is a joy in itself to watch the confusing narrative unfold in each chapter. It feels clearly inspired by the point-and-click browser games of yore The hardest game in the worldwhere the game itself plans against the player. This version is animated and aged for the current moment, full of decisions and puzzles that tempt you to give up on the game but motivate you to pick it up again a few minutes later. This game isn’t fair, but it’s extremely fun – the perfect antidote to the current moment Also feels like the wrong dimension. —ZH
Image: Holy Wow Studios
Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC
Trombone Champion It could have been a one-note joke that involved the flatulent strumming of a trombone. The rhythm parody game could have effectively satirized the genre with nothing more than its out-of-tune, fart-like imitation of the instrument. An ironic selection of public domain hits like “The Blue Danube” and “The Old Gray Mare” would have sealed the deal as an instant hit on Twitch streams. But the more you play Trombone ChampionThe funnier it gets when you discover bizarre “trombone” cards and unexplained deep lore surrounding baboons. The community has created hundreds of custom tracks if you want to trumpet to your liking through the fire and the flames. But if that’s all too much satire for you, at the end of the day it’s still a game about making fart noises, and that will always be funny. Perfect! –Clayton Ashley
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