Best Legitimately Funny Video Games

A classic sci-fi RPG that gets overshadowed and forgotten among Ion Storm’s more popular or infamous work, like Deus Ex or Daikatana. What could have just been another drab setting of stereotypical characters was instead infused with offbeat humor. One of the character’s special abilities is to talk people to death and another is a planet shrunk down to human level. Also, the Totally Arbitrary Collectible Objects, or TACOs, scattered across the game world, and an entire sequence riffing on the Battle of Endor where you help a bunch of scared-shitless stormtroopers battle against cannibalistic ewoks. It’s a shame that the game never got the sequel it deserved. For those that don’t remember, Borderlands wasn’t originally infused with the style that we now all know it for. While you can see traces of assets and designs in the original art and trailers, it’s the inclusion of color and laughs that really put the game on the map. It was a bit of a white washing over the original title, but Gearbox really came into its own with Borderlands 2. Goofy dialogue, over-the-top villains, and plenty of explosive slapstick humor make this a fun little retreat for shooter fans. I think I’m beginning to see a trend here, some of the most successful funny games are otherwise serious titles that are given a breath of levity through humor. The Fallout series is no different, a bleak and violent post-apocalyptic setting dotted with quirky characters, mechanics and dialogue. Humor cleverly invades much of the aesthetics as well, with PIP-Boy and other 1950s-era Americana. Nearly every title in the series is a classic and well worth checking out. Beginning life as nothing but a joke, Goat Simulator received a surprising amount of enthusiasm when some early footage was released to YouTube. The developers at Coffee Stain Studio followed the support and released Goat Simulator on what else but April Fools Day. They even fixed only the bugs that broke the game, leaving any other potentially funny glitches. The final result is a goofy romp where you run your goat avatar around the map trying to do as much damage as possible and ultimately looking for humorous ways to bug out the physics engine. It’s good for a few hours of fun, and new modes and mechanics being patched into the game will make it something worth dusting off now and then for a few additional laughs. No list of funny games would be complete without some of Lucasarts’ adventure game heyday. While you could make some strong arguments for Sam & Max, Full Throttle or Day of the Tentacle, it’s the misadventures of Guybrush Threepwood that we remember most fondly. With legendary game designers like Dave Grossman, Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert at the wheel, the Monkey Island series is endlessly entertaining with it’s subversion of other adventure games, typical heroic characters and pirate themes. A rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle or insult sword-fighting are classic gags that every gamer should know. A fair number of the titles we’ve discussed so far have weighted more towards the silly and zany end of humor. Portal is perhaps gaming’s best example of a dark comedy. Most of the game’s humor comes from GLaDOS, voiced by Ellen McLain. Spoilers: GLaDOS is a crazy murderous AI, but it’s her flat and dry messages and directions that really sold and pushed Portal into being more than just a clever puzzler. Ardent fans will quickly spot their favorite lines about cake or Weighted Companion Cubes, but personally I enjoy the antics of the little voices added to the automated turrets. Talking too much about The Stanley Parable starts to run the risk of spoiling too much about the experience of playing the game. To keep things short and sweet, you’re playing as Stanley as he explores his office building all the while your actions are being narrated. The narrator, voiced by Kevan Brighting, is where the humor in the game comes from. I won’t reveal more than than, but simply say that you should really go check out The Stanley Parable. It’s brilliant and one of the best games out last year. During Team Fortress 2‘s long development time, the game moved away from the more realistic graphics of its predecessor and fully embraced a more cartoonish aesthetic throughout. From the character designs to the voice work, everything in Team Fortress 2 is loaded with charm and an obsessive love of hats. Honestly, look no further than the “Meet the Team” videos that Valve put out over the years to see how well the humor of the game holds up. So there you have it, a few of our favorite funny games. Which ones did we miss? Let us know in the comments.