Phil Theobald’s Favorite Bits from His 2nd Favorite Game of 2024

Okay, take a look. mine My favorite game of 2024 is astronomy robot. When Sony first announced a new Astro Bot game earlier this year, I preemptively declared it my game of the year. This is not without precedent – ​​have you played it? rescue mission? or Astro’s Playroom? Both could easily be considered games of their respective years, and one of them was some sort of extended controller demo.

And, hey, I wasn’t wrong. Astro Bot turns out to be pretty much everything I love about video games, and I’m delighted. Still, now everyone is talking about how awesome Astro Bot is. Thing took Keighley and everything home. This is awesome. Well deserved. as. it. should. yes. But what am I doing here now? Just to add to the pile of “you guys, Astro Bot is good” or talk about something else? Maybe my second favorite game of the year? How could a game easily be my number one if it didn’t have the glaring drawback of being released in the same calendar year as the new Astro Bot game?

So, yeah… Thank God you are here!

The developer calls himself a “comedy slapformer” coal dinner and publisher panic Have you ever – as a nameless, silent, diminutive, lemon-headed salesman – wandered around a small northern town? England Barnsworth attempts to solve the various problems of its bizarre (and strangely charming) residents. It’s beautifully drawn, extremely silly, creepy at times and 1000% my kind of thing.

It’s also short (you can finish it in about two hours or so) and cheap (20 bones full price, I got it down to about 13). Both are great advantages in my opinion. If you haven’t played it yet, I wholeheartedly recommend you go play it if you like fun games. Hurry, though, because I’m about to start talking about my five favorite parts of my second favorite game of the year (but I’ll try not to spoil it).

“I love you”

This scene, which you encounter early on, was my “oh, I know what this would be like…yeah, I would love this” moment. While exploring the park in the town square, you find a lawnmower parked in an overgrown patch of grass. Interacting with the machine triggers a sequence in which your salesman mows grass in the background while a pair of flowers shyly (and somewhat absentmindedly) repeat “I love you” to each other. You know exactly where a scene is going as you slowly move back and forth on the screen, but when the inevitable happens, the drawn-out punchlines make it all the more hilarious.

Florence + Colin (and Kerry)

As you explore Barnsworth, you’ll quickly get to know the town’s residents through personal encounters, overheard gossip, random graffiti, and more. Two of the residents are Florence and Colin, a pair of anxious and awkward teenagers who are infatuated with each other. The two seem to be employed by just about every business in town, and I encountered them at nearly every corner of the adventure, and I found myself oddly invested in their budding romance. I wasn’t the only one to see Big Ron (Big Ron’s Big Pie) ecstatic about their “young love,” either, as the two began fawning over his shop. Unfortunately, Florence’s evil sister Kerry seems intent on getting between them. Thankfully, Florence won’t have it (“You’re a real bitch, Kerry!”). Flo and Colin are really cute and I hope they are happy together.

competition

Speaking of Big Ron, there’s a war going on in Barnsworth. Which pie do you prefer? Big Ron’s big pie or Little Tom’s little pie? This choice divides the family, breaks down relationships, and seems to be pushing a young baker to the breaking point (although I’m not entirely convinced Big Ron realizes the competition). One of my biggest laughs from this game was the quick cut after Big Ron’s biggest victory. Like Florence and Colin’s courtship, thank goodness you’re here! When you piece together the little bits and pieces of information about the residents of Barnsworth through a plot like this, you can see how this strange town operates.

A lady who loves cabbage

Attention to background detail not only helps understand the many interrelated relationships within Barnsworth, but there are plenty of jokes lurking all around. Don’t be lazy either! Barnsworth isn’t very big, and you’ll end up revisiting these areas multiple times over the course of the game. Things usually change each time you re-enter a previously explored area of ​​town. Sometimes for plot reasons, sometimes for jokes, sometimes both. An easily overlooked joke takes place in the garden of Herbert, the local groundskeeper and purveyor of fine canned vegetables. On one of your visits to Herbert’s fields, you might notice a woman becoming overly enthusiastic about a cabbage growing there. A curious man stood nearby watching the lewd scene. There’s no real reason to care about these two. They have no dialogue and do not participate in the main narrative. They are just background material. However, a subsequent visit to the garden reveals more of their story, as we see the man paint his head green and bury it up to his neck in crops. Will his strategy pay off? The game lasts two hours, go and see it yourself. Sheesh.

Matt Berry

Play as Matt Berry in your comedy game (Garth Malenge’s Dark Places, What We Do in the Shadows, and lots of other fun stuff). Basically play in easy mode, But what do you want me to do? Say no to more Matt Berry? Matt plays the aforementioned Herbert, and if you’re familiar with his unique voice and unique line-reading tendencies, you’ll know that every conversation you have with the Gardener is going to be a treat. Not without reason, but my favorite line of his is his unusually enthusiastic one-word exclamation after Bobby in town alerts him to a report of a crime nearby. You’re bound to find one for yourself (there are plenty of good lines to choose from).

Cripps, thank God you’re here! Very interesting. I want to play…let me see here…for the fourth time? Yes, it might be. I bet I missed some jokes.

(Plus, you can play Astro Bot. That’s awesome!)