Comedy is one of the toughest things to get right. A lot of what makes humor connect is delivery and timing, whether it be an energetic setup to a deadpan punchline or an awkward silence left to linger in a movie scene. Games have plenty of throwaway jokes, which do shine in games like Uncharted, but they rarely lean into the humor the way I wish they would. Games where the humor is a defining feature, like Portal or The Stanley Parable, are too few and far between.



So I sat down this week with Kotaku staff writer Joshua Rivera to discuss why we think games struggle to get that hilarious flavor right. We also discuss some indie games that are taking giant steps in the right direction.