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[The Ivy]

Hey dudes,

I'm conducting a bit of informal research about humor in games (or "humour," as the queen likes to spell it). I'd like to know your opinions about which games you've found funny, and which games have failed at it miserably. I'm especially interested in mainstream games, since I'm not all that familiar with them.

I'm looking for specific examples that I can use in my "indie rant" thing at the IGS. Oh, and don't worry, I already know about Portal.

Help a brother out?

[Nava]

well I was going to say Portal.
How about Fallout 3? I only played the beginning but it was pretty funny, and I think it was intentional.
This is making me realize how few games I play....

[Simon Andersson]

Monkey island, Sam & Max...
...anything by Tim Schafer, Lucasart or Telltale Games really.

Rare also made some sick stuff.

Not really mainstream anymore though, but it was.

[Ina Vegt]

Yeah, Monkey Island is genius.

[moi]

Yeah monkey island is a great example ...
Monkey island 1 was very funny.
But with each new sequel they kept repeating the same jokes and it became more and more boring to the point were I found MI3 tedious to play.
PERSONNAL OPINION YEAH!

[Zest]

I thought Psychonauts was wonderfully funny. Two games I have yet to find funny are The Simpsons Game and Eat Lead: Matt Hazard Returns. Coincidentally,both are made with the intention of mocking videogame cliches. The problems I have with both are the same: Great ideas, poor execution. I think timing has a lot to do with it. The Simpsons Game especially has tons of awkward silence between lines, such that punchlines have no punch at all.

[redoubtable troutbot]

Tim Schafer

Yes. Psychonauts. I'm pretty sure I had a smile on my face the entire time I played through this. Probably the second time, too.

Most Rockstar games are filled with humor.

Team fortress 2? Left 4 dead?

King's bounty: The Legend is quite hilarious, but more in a "wtf?"-kinda sense.

Trials 2, stair dismount, sumotori dreams, etc in a "ragdolls are hysterical"-kinda sense.

[fish]

noby noby boy is hilarious.
in a non-joke way.
so was a lot of katamari damacy.

the GTA series always had great humor in its fake ads on bilboards, radio, TV, brand names, stores, etc etc. lots of "environmental humor", if you will. it's just everywhere around you.

world of goo had a lot of funny bits in it, too! the sign painter's stuff was great.
there's even jokes hidden when the game boots and initializes itself.

[increpare]

the karoshi games have a very unique sense of humour, in their subversiveness, beyond the more obvious dark elements.

[Ivan]

Well, there's like well written joke humor, in which case all of Tim Schafer's games go neatly at the top of the list, and there's emergent humor (there was a thread on slapstick in games around somewhere), in which case I'd say Sumotori Dreams and second Phil's Noby Noby Boy.

[increpare]

there're also games like theme park and theme hospital; whose humorous elements can be viewed in several different lights.

then there's the humour you get from doing nasty things to people, like in the sims.

then there's the humour of the sort in the trial scene near the beginning of chrono-trigger, which plays on the genre.

giants: citizen kabuto was quite funny.  maybe one of the funniest games i've played?  in a very recognisably funny way. (you know, it had a decent script/&c.)

[Ivan]

OH MAN!!! I forgot about Giants completely. That WAS a great game, if a bit unpolished. I still have the CD somewhere.

[Simon Andersson]

Would also like to add Earthbound and the rest of the Mother-series. Great humor all the way around.

Super Paper Mario, I think, is a pretty good example of a game that is trying to be funny much more than it actually is.

[TooMuchSpareTime]

The Monkey Island games had anachronistic humour, slapstick humour, classic old-school cartoon humour, video-game humour, puns, and funny characters too. ("I AM MURRAY! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHHH!!!")

I haven't played the other ones after MI3 yet.

A lot of good shareware games were "humorous" too. Commander Keen, Monster Bash, Duke Nukem, Halloween Harry (AKA Alien Carnage in some countries), Paganitzu, Jazz Jackrabbit, Boppin...

[Alex May]

Life of D Duck II - play this at your own risk. This is hands down the funniest game I ever played.

Space Rangers 2 - the writing is genuinely funny, but the bad translation from Russian just makes it even funner. See also: King's Bounty

I have to second the GTA games, they've always been lough-out-loud funny for me, not just in the puns and environmental jokes but also because of the dialogue, the situations the characters get themselves into, the acting, the cutscenes, the radio, all of it (GTA 4 failed to amuse me though - not sure what went wrong).

I also found the cut scenes in Disgaea genuinely funny in lots of places, and the way the vassals in the castle just sit around and banter at you between missions, really funny stuff. Incidental and missable if you rush past, but really good fun if you stop to look. I Think that covers a lot of the humour that appeals to me actually.

[team_q]

Armed and Dangerous was pretty funny in a Britishy way.
Also anything by shiny up until 2000 was hilarious.

[increpare]

thief had an interesting feel of humour; listening in on people's rather dull conversations had a definite voyeuristic charm.

[Seth]

I second Earthbound/Mother series

[ஒழுக்கின்மை]

I found most games translated by Working Designs to be pretty funny (they worked in a lot of jokes). Sometimes the jokes weren't that good, but most were okay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYvPTW08MJc

[pgil]

I third the Mother series.

Simon the Sorcerer games were pretty funny, though it kind of sucked that they tried to work punchlines into the puzzles (hush puppies.. WTF!)

I think second Mondo game had some great deadpan humor. Mostly through the Boss's monologues, but also emerging from gameplay and visual design (there's something kind of absurd about a guy with a TV for a head shooting at flashing red pixelated indians).

Humor emerging through gameplay is actually a pretty interesting topic. I keep thinking of Lemmings, but I'm sure there are better examples. Maybe Sim City, depending on how you play...