If there are two universal truths about the society we live in, it’s that 1) dying is easy and 2) comedy is hard. The subject of comedy is an inherently, well, subjective talking point; what makes one person laugh may make another person cringe. The biggest reason I think for why comedy is hard is because the audience can probably notice when the writers cheap out and don’t put in quite the effort to make a comedic setpiece work. Here are some of the ones that work for me at least, and feel free to agree or disagree on any of what I have to say:
**Luigi’s Mansion and Mario Strikers:** If there are two things that have never failed me about developer Next Level Games, it’s that their cutscene animations are top of the class and that their Mario spinoffs have excellent physical comedy. They don’t rely on excessive dialogue to make their laughs work; they communicate with their bodies. Luigi’s Mansion 3 goes above and beyond to make the green ghostbuster more adorkable than ever before. And even though I didn’t like it as a game overall, Mario Strikers Battle League likewise has amazing slapstick moments of seeing beloved characters getting blown up and body checked into an electric fence. I mean, have y’all seen [Shy Guy’s amazing animations](https://youtu.be/yOYvwI9nx_8)?
**South Park The Stick of Truth:** This TV show has provided me with tons of biting topical satire since I first laid on it in my middle school years. And while there have been South Park video games for a while, none of them had quite the seal of quality that Stick of Truth had upon release. This takes the traditional turn-based RPG genre and meshes it with South Park’s insanity and cast of characters, making for an RPG like no other I’ve played. And before you ask, no I haven’t checked out the sequel yet.
**Resident Evil 4:** Even though the port itself is as basic as you can get, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still Resident Evil 4. You still got Leon being the cocky indifferent legend, the iconic merchant, the one-liners, the over-the-top death animations, those flirtatious moments with Ashley and so, so much more. Some of those moments were toned down in the recent remake, so the original still has some merits to still be worth playing. Just maybe don’t pay full price for this game on the Switch eShop.
by Asad_Farooqui
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**The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles:** Never underestimate the comical power of this series. When I thought I had seen everything with the Phoenix Wright games, Herlock Sholmes arrives and his silly (And incredibly off) deductions always had me rolling in the floor. Of course we also have insane and totally ridiculous witnesses like the Skulkin brothers, William Shamspeare, or even the people on the Jury to keep me entertained during trials.
For me it’s Disco Elysium, a game about depression and politics, but it alternates so well between sadness and very funny punchlines/situations.
Paper Mario The Origami King is laugh out loud funny at times, and very charming
Golf Story
The Stanley Parable
Undertale gave me quite a few laugh out loud moments
Turnip boy commits tax evasion
Disco Elysium is hilarious. Maybe not for everyone, but if you like witty, sarcastic, dark humor then you will love this EXTREMELY well-written game. In fact I think it is the only game that has ever had me laughing out loud and genuinely weak at what was happening.
Baba is You. Whenever you come with a weird solution that turns every tile into Babas and somehow it works? Funniest I had.
Definitely Katamari Damacy Reroll. The game is just an absurd 10 minute-at-a-time humorous gameplay cycle.
Also on the GBA Online if you have it, I highly recommend WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgames! I haven’t played much Warioware titles outside of that, but after beating the GBA one this past week, I can definitely say Warioware games lean extremely hard on absurdity and humor.
I’d also rank the LEGO games as being highly humorous. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has a lot of humor if you know Star Wars references, but I’m sure it’s like that across any variation or franchise that they touch. Then you can turn stuff like Mumble Mode on if you want more ridiculousness.
Untitled Goose Game hands down
Katamari Damacy REROLL. Some of the King of Cosmos lines had me rolling… literally
west of loathing and flipping death were both better than I thought they would be, west was amazing especially since i’d played kingdom of loathing as a kid and had no idea it was going to just be that with cowboys
Stanley Parable and Portal 2 are the ones that immediately come to mind
Return to Monkey Island is good, especially if you’re a fan of the series.
Right now Conduct Together… hear me out.
I’m playing it with my 7 year old daughter and we burst out laughing whenever we cause a crash due to trying to stop the same train or not looking at the all of the intersections.
Borderlands. I think the second is best in terms of humor, and in general, but they’re all pretty hilarious.
Lego City Undercover was pretty funny. Any of the Lego games have great humor.
Pikuniko is a short (3/4 hour) but very charming and funny game.
The Procession to Calvary is pretty funny if you enjoy Monty Python-esque humor.
What The Golf?
Had me in stitches every couple rounds
Heave Ho Especially with friends
Not switch originals but Portal and Portal 2.
Little Misfortune
[AI: The Somnium Files:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeYn-uk3qLY) Absurd humor and events about a detective trying to solve murders together with his talking eyeball. They visit people’s dreams to find clues and anything can happen within them. Date and Aiba carries the game and you will love the two goof(eye)balls. The first game had me laughing the most, the sequel Nirvana Initiative wasn’t as fun.
Hands down golf story. It starts off pretty tame and funny. Then by the third chapter it’s gone off the walls crazy and the humour just jeez getting better.
I remember pissing myself laughing and my girlfriend saying “you’re playing a golf game, what’s so funny?”
Note: my girlfriend and her family to this day still see ***all*** video games as either Pong or Mario Kart. To this day, she does not understand or even think it’s possible that my outlet for stories is video games and not reading books/TV. They’re convinced the only media that can be used to tell a story is book and cinema.
It gets better: she watched me play through almost the entirety of xenoblade definitive edition. And still doesn’t get it.
The Messenger
A short hike
Thimbleweed Park. Made by the creators of Maniac Mansion on the NES. Highly recommend.
Graveyard Keeper – that game is hilariously morbid.
Undertale and Deltarune
Later alligator, short but one of the funniest videogames I have ever played.
Origami Kingand and Stanley Parable are also top tier in comedy.
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension