Thank Goodness You’re Here! [Review]
Beautifully designed and hilarious adventure has you do odd jobs in a bizarre Northern English town.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! Credit: Coal Supper / Panic
I knew I’d love this game from the moment I watched the first trailer and it didn’t let me down. Coal Supper’s Thank Goodness You’re Here! is a gorgeously animated, laugh-out-loud funny experience. There’s a slight similarity to Panic’s Untitled Goose Game, but the tone is very different here with the absurdity cranked up.
You’re a diminutive salesman in a shirt and tie. Your boss tells you that he set meeting with the mayor of Barnsworth because the town “needs what we’re selling,” and sends you off. What is it you’re selling? We never find out, and it doesn’t matter.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! Credit: Coal Supper / Panic
When you arrive at the mayor’s office, his receptionist is playing solitaire on her computer by licking the backs of physical cards and sticking them to her screen. She tells you the mayor will be busy for a few hours. You head out the door to kill some time in town and meet a young man by the fountain who trapped his arm in a sewer drain trying to reach for tuppence and needs your help. This is the first of many tasks you’ll help the townspeople with, many who will greet you with “thank goodness you’re here” the first time they meet you.
From then on, you’ll run around the town, where you can jump for some simple platforming and can interact with people and objects by slapping them. New areas of Barnsworth will open up as you solve the adventure game’s puzzles. Help the gardener—played by the always great Matt Berry—grow vegetables. Find the handyman’s tools to fix the chip shop’s fryer. Get beans for the crazed man living in a dumpster. Pick up meat for local pie maker Big Ron. Every one of the jobs you have to do will lead you in unexpected, funny, and often surreal directions.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! Credit: Coal Supper / Panic
Residents will move around to new places as you make progress and almost always have fresh dialogue for you. Barnsworth feels like a living, breathing place thanks to people’s movements and all the related changes to the town as well as all the other life you’ll see around you. Bugs crawl on the ground that you can accidentally step on, butterflies fly in the air, pigeons and other birds hang out, and rats pop out of the trash. You can slap nearly anything you see on the screen and it’ll result in a reaction, even if it’s just a dent.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! is beautifully animated with Barnsworth depicted in cartoonish bold lines and bright colors. The style pairs perfectly with the absurdity and humor of the game’s situations and writing, while the cartoonish character designs make every person you meet unique. The little yellow salesman you play is a blank slate with friendly eyes, but everyone you meet is brimming with personality that makes it a pleasure to hang out in Barnsworth. I loved every one of the game’s cutscenes and all the little animated slapstick bits.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! Credit: Coal Supper / Panic
The game’s art is a big part of what makes everything work, but the writing and vocal performances are what push Thank Goodness You’re Here! over the top. When you slap people, they usually have multiple things to say in authentic and often riotously funny regional dialects before they default to “oof” or “ouch.” All the direct interaction dialogue is great, but throughout the game you’ll witness little background stories as characters interact with each other and some of these are the game’s funniest bits. Thank Goodness You’re Here! is also a feast of visual gags, so you’ll want to pay attention to the details.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! is a short but very rich experience. You’ll likely finish it in a couple hours. The thing is, each minute of the game’s two hours of playtime is overflowing with joy. Coal Supper is a studio to watch and I’m now even more excited to see the titles coming down Panic’s publishing pipeline. This game is the latest proof that they’ve got a real eye for excellence.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! will be available on PC (Steam / Epic), Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4/5.
Overall Score: 9/10
Played on: PS5
