I’m going to cut the chase here and say that Thank Goodness You’re Here! is a must-play for every single person that falls within the games age-rating bracket. There’s a reason Coal Supper and Panic are releasing it on so many platforms (Sorry, no Xbox or Mobile yet!).
With Thank Goodness You’re Here! (TGYH), Coal Supper are coining the term “Slapformer”. Though this is not their first foray into their own genre. Back in 2019 they released the rather carnal “The Good Time Garden” (Free on Steam) which in the dark of night is maybe the best way to spend 30 minutes alone with your computer. This could maybe be considered a precursor to TGYH’s tone, but they are vastly different games that just control in a similar fashion. But this is not a review for The Good Time Garden, though you should definitely play that too!
TGYH is by Coal Supper’s own admission a 2-3 hour side-scrolling adventure game. More akin to a point-and-click puzzle game of old, this is not your typical hero fantasy adventure. You’re merely visiting as our nameless, gormless and quite frankly rude little yellow travelling salesman. With no indication as to what you’re actually selling you’ll be happily slapping literally everything in sight across the fictitious tiny town of Barnsworth set in the north of England. If you’re not familiar with this British isle, you might come away thinking that this a wholly realistic depiction of daily life up north. Thankfully, Coal Supper have nailed the visuals with a hand-drawn surrealist cartoon menagerie of locals you’ll be helping/slapping through their troubles. These should hopefully help avoid too many delusions of realism while you await your appointment with the otherwise perpetually preoccupied Mayor.
I very much do not want to spoil a single one of the laughs from the moment-to-moment gameplay here as it is quite literally a laugh a minute from start to finish. There isn’t a single story beat that falls flat, as you make your way at your own pace to your next goal, slapping every rubbish bag, slapping every kid eating a sausage in the street and slapping every suspicious looking cabbage insight. There is just so much to uncover you’ll never find a lull on your travels. I have rolled credits on TGYH five times now. This is not a rogue-like by any stretch of the imagination, but I have noticed things I somehow missed on previous loops and I’m still five achievements short of the full set too. It’s not dissimilar to rewatching a movie you’ve seen countless times before but only this time noticing a particular character in the background doing something hilarious.
Thank Goodness You’re Here! also plays perfectly on the Steam Deck, I’d argue it’s the best way to play the game. This way you can enjoy the whole experience in one sitting without sharing, and then urge any onlookers to do the same. At least three of my loops through the town were entirely on the Steam Deck.
If this is a part of a resurgence of the classic adventure game genre in the same way souls-likes have become the genre-to-copy, Coal Supper and Thank Goodness You’re Here! Have set the bar very very high for how to make them hilarious and engaging while keeping them at a perfect length.
A Steam code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes
