“Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?” – Graham Chapman, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Overview
Thank Goodness You’re Here is a brand new game from Coal Supper, creators of The Good Time Garden. Describing itself as a ‘slapformer’ the game sees players explore the Northern English town of Barnsworth, seeing the sights, and taking on a variety of odd jobs for the locals.
Developer: Coal Supper
Released: 1st August 2024
Price: £15.99
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Switch, PS4/5
Available on: Steam, Epic, eShop, PlayStation
Engine: Unity
Note: This Game and subsequently, this review may contain content that is not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work. The game contains some nudity, sexual content, general mature content and humour.

Narrative
Thank Goodness You’re Here behind with the little yellow protagonist, a travelling salesman, who arrives in the northern UK town of Barnsworth. He visits the town hall with a view to meeting the mayor who is, unfortunately, unavailable. As he waits he explores the town and gets sidetracked by helping the local townsfolk with a variety of tasks ranging from brilliantly banal to utterly bizarre!
The whole surreal experience is laced with silliness, innuendo, and adult humour, this is particularly prominent in the dialogue but also in the gameplay and the delightfully detailed scenery. It would also appear that everything, from fish and chips to a bootleg watch, to several tins of Camby’s Breakfast Blend costs ’10 bob’.

Gameplay
The game describes itself as a ‘slapformer’, probably due to the fact that slapping things is one of the few actions the player can perform, alongside walking and jumping. There are a few light platforming sections, but these are neither challenging nor punishing and simply provide some extra variety along with basic environmental puzzles.
The majority of the game is spent exploring and completing odd jobs for the townsfolk, these tasks include milking a cow, fetching a ham, finding a spanner, and freeing someone from a drain to name a few! Progress is fairly linear with one task leading to the next, taking the player on a circular and repeating journey around the relatively small game world, with new areas unlocking along the way.
As the protagonist ventures around Barnsworth, they are mostly helpful but can cause a good amount of mischief as well by smashing plant pots, tearing open bin bags and slapping the odd pigeon! This adds to the fun and further emphasises the absurdity of the experience as a whole.

Styling
Thank Goodness You’re Here boasts a bold, colourful, cartoon-like, 2D art style. It uses vibrant block colours and strong linework, often matching the image, adding a softness, rather than always using stark black outlines. The jolly visuals perfectly match the tone of the game and the silliness of the narrative and NPCs.
The music is varied and features a range of jaunty, upbeat, retro tracks that utilise brass and woodwind amongst other sounds to evoke the feel of northern UK areas in the ’60s and ’70s. The soundtrack includes a few more energetic and frantic numbers but maintains a mostly casual feel overall.
The sound effects are gloriously silly, really emphasising the ridiculousness of certain scenarios and bringing this unique game world to life! Similarly, the voice acting is fantastic, with believable northern accents and vernacular and some great performances from recognisable names such as Matt Berry.

Summary
Thank Goodness You’re Here is a brilliant game that offers fun cartoon visuals, a nostalgic and evocative soundtrack, top-tier voice acting, well-written dialogue, and non-stop laughs. It has little to no difficulty and maintains a laid-back, casual feel throughout, prioritising humour and narrative above challenge, which is in no way to its detriment.
It was fun to see a couple of easter eggs, and nostalgic nods to the developers’ first game The Good Time Garden. This new title maintains the same level of surreal nature and rude comedy but has a much broader scope in terms of narrative, characters, and playable environment. Coal Supper are establishing themselves as absurd auteurs and their titles are instantly recognisable as their own.
I thoroughly enjoyed this game and can see it appealing to a wide range of players. It took around 3.5 hours to complete, is highly amusing and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a few hours’ worth of interactive comedy.
Looking for more games with a bit of silliness? You might like these reviews:
Lil’ Guardsman – Papers, Please meets Whimsy and Humour! – Rain on Your Parade – An Adorable Mischief and Mayhem Simulator – Toilet Chronicles: Part 1 – A Bizarre Bathroom Adventure!