With Durham’s reputation as former Chancellor Bill Bryson’s “perfect little city”, I wanted to explore the representation of another slice of northern life in gaming.

‘Thank Goodness You’re Here!’ is a charming Adventure Comedy Game by Coal Supper set in the peculiar town of Barnsworth. You play as a travelling salesman who takes the treacherous journey up North from “big Smokey”.

The Game Studio Coal supper was founded by Will Todd and James Carbutt, based in Barnsley, Yorkshire. When talking to the BBC, they mention how much of the comedy and character came from their Yorkshire accents.

In an interview with ‘The Gamer’, shortly after the Game’s announcement at Gamescom 2023, Carbutt discusses the importance of the accents and annunciation of their Voice actors to appeal to an international audience, whilst still retaining their charm.

The game is incredibly British, with the creators taking inspiration from Vic and Bob, The Mighty Boosh and Basil Brush. Whilst somewhat unsettling aspects of the experience mimic their first project ‘The Good Time Garden’. Todd talks about originally designing an experience with the tone of shows like ‘Don’t Hug me I’m Scared’, leaning into the dark comedy subgenre that pairs adult themes with “childish” animation styles in order to further unsettle.

The game was developed like a sketch show, according to their interview with Game Republic – a Game Development network that supports the industry in Yorkshire and the north. The two creators would begin from a joke playing off of their voices and then create gameplay based on the setup and punchline. This was very apparent during my experience with the game, it’s full of comedic set pieces and slow-burn payoffs to character interactions that take place throughout the story. 

One of my favourite slow-burn jokes is the overarching bit that takes place in the main square. It starts innocently with the protagonist helping a man open the shutter of his shop, only to reveal that he’s selling the bricks from the wall behind it. As you continue to interact with this vendor you watch as he auctions off all of the homeowner’s items until there is nothing left. Your final interaction with this story is your character slapping the tin of beans from the hands of the now destitute victim; hence the achievement “Spill the Beans; kick a man when he’s down”.

‘Thank Goodness you’re here’ has been described as a comedy ‘slapformer’. Slapping things is the main way that your character interacts with the world, which adds to its often very visual humour reminiscent of the old British TV that it’s opening references.

Matt Berry voices a Gardener in the game, which was an exciting addition for me as a huge fan of ‘The IT Crowd’ and ‘What we do in the Shadows.’ In fact I felt even more of a connection to the game as ‘The IT Crowd’ was one of the things that fueled my love of computer science and brought me to the North of England for University, in a parallel to the main character here. As someone who takes on a lot of digital mentorship roles I find myself using Chris O’Dowd’s “Have you tried turning it on and off again” on almost a weekly basis.

It’s great to continue to see high quality game development coming out of the North East, but what is most striking about ‘Thank Goodness You’re Here!’ is how uniquely authentic Todd and Carbutt have kept the themes, references and tone. The success of the game in the global market speaks to how successfully they were able to capture the essence of their humour in a way that resonated universally.

I’d highly recommend checking out ‘Thank Goodness You’re Here!’ on Steam, or wherever you play your games. It’s a wonderful example of a great standalone experience that delivers engaging gameplay, fun story and brilliant humour within an achievable time frame for a busy student.