As anyone who’s ever bombed at an open mic has learnt, getting comedy right is a pretty difficult challenge. But it’s even harder to evince a chuckle when your audience is too busy reading the brief for their next mission. And even the best jokes will drop like a stone if all manners of CGI hell is breaking loose in the foreground.

Writing a really funny video game can be a Herculean task, but occasionally someone gets the mix of comedic story-telling, farcical world-building and absurdist game-play just right. Here’s a few of the best. Get those controllers out because it’s go-time.

The Stanley Parable 

The Stanley Parable is for any gamer who likes to bend the game rules reflexively, just to see if—and how—they break. Originally released as a free mod for shooter Half-Life 2, the game follows Stanley, an office drone who works in a beige office building typing commands into a computer all day everyday (and that’s not the only way it reminds us of The Office.)

Except one day, all of his colleagues disappear and the player is left to wander the empty building, in the sole company of a very British narrator. It’s hard to say too much more about the narrative without some serious spoilers, but The Stanley Parable is an absurdly funny, self-referential, and often existentialist story about the illusion of choice and the terrors of boredom, told through clever subversion of multiple-choice game mechanics and RPG tropes. Thanks to exceptionally clever writing and a spirited performance by the narrator—who mocks and aids you in equal measure—this innovative game is also incredibly entertaining, despite its discomfiting and sometimes Kafkaesque bits.

Goat Simulator 

If you think about it, the point of all games is to simulate an experience. Boxing simulates a real fight without the risks of no-rules combat, chess simulates real time politics and war, and video games, well, they simulate almost everything. You can be driving cars at breakneck speeds, or pretend you’re the immortal ruler of a historical civilisation. Or if you want to get really weird with it—there’s Goat Simulator.

Don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t a game where you get to live as a goat (we’d play that game too). Because this is no ordinary goat. It’s a goat-from-hell that’s having one of those days and just wants to wreck some stuff. It clip-clops around a small Swedish towns, ruining barbecues, licking passing trucks with an absurdly long tongue and blowing up gas stations to get the Michael Bey achievement. That, and some insane aerial stunts, is all the gameplay and story you get, but it’s all you need when it involves some amazing slapstick game-physics and hilarious scripted surprises. Even the bugs—and the game is buggy by design—mostly make the game an even funnier experience. It’s a formula that works so well that there are now two sequels, but we recommend starting with the OG.

The Binding of Isaac

This one gets dark. Loosely inspired by the Hebrew Bible story of Abraham offering his son Isaac to God, this rogue-like indie tells the story of a young boy’s escape from his religion-crazed mother into a fantasy basement, where he fends off eldritch horrors and his own personal feelings in randomly generated maps, aided by tears and a dizzying array of power-giving items that also disfigure his appearance.

The Adult Swim aesthetic and sheer variety of enemies, as well as some devastatingly funny scenarios, keeps things from getting too grim even as the game tackles intense themes like childhood abuse, religious fundamentalism and, well, poop. The original 2011 game still holds up, but we recommend getting the 2014 remake (and the follow-up DLCs) to get the fully fleshed-out story and experience.

Hitman

Okay, yes. If you’ve only ever seen people play the game or the very bad live-action movie adaptation, you are going to be like, “What are they on about? Hitman, a comedy?” But hear us out. Sure, it’s a game about going around assassinating people, but it’s also filled with deadpan jokes at your victims’ expense, disguise-based physical comedy, and plenty of darkly funny ways to kill a target.

The game really leans into the comedy and runs with it in the World of Assassination trilogy. It’s not like everyone’s telling jokes or doing bits, but the silliness and absurdity are built into the game-play. For added hilarity, check out all the clown-speedruns, as players find the quickest and funniest ways to close out a contract.

South Park: The Stick of Truth 

South Park is definitely a cultural touchstone when it comes to TV comedy. The show’s no-holds-barred, balls-to-the-wall brand of humour has been critically acclaimed—and sometimes railed against—but rarely ignored. If you’re a fan of the fantastically foul world of Eric Cartman, Kyle Marsh, Kyle Broflovski and Kenny McCormick, this game is your chance to be part of the gang and go on an adventure. 

The Stick of Truth is a 12-hour-long interactive South Park episode with old-school turn-based combat. The laughs naturally come from the writing as we wipe out the varying enemies in the game, ranging from ManBearPig, goth kids, Scott Tenorman, the FBI, Jesus and a Giant Nazi Zombie Fetus. Yeah. Let that sink in. There’s a sequel to the game and we hear it’s just as funny although we haven’t checked it out ourselves!

Saints Row IV 

One of the earliest Grand Theft Auto clones, the Saints Row series quickly adapted and introduced over-the-top game-play, popular culture homage, parody, and self-referential humour to make its standing in the gaming community. In the first three games, our customisable protagonist is part of a turf war, becomes the gang’s leader and gets a taste of the fame game as a pop culture icon. So naturally, by the fourth instalment, we’re gunning for President of the United States (no this is not based on Ye’s life).

By this time, the game’s developers had perfected the blend of slapstick humour, satire and purple-dildo-wielding presidents fighting against an alien invasion, making for probably the funniest game of the series. All of this is being narrated by who? Author of Pride & Prejudice Jane Austen. How did she end up in this ultra-violent video game? You have to play to find out. 

Portal 1 & 2 

The premise for 2007’s Portal is fresh as ever today. In the game, the player is locked in a battle of wits against a vengeful AI named GLaDOS, voiced to perfection by Ellen McLain. Valve’s highly acclaimed first-person puzzler plops us in Aperture Science Enrichment Center aided with only a portal gun. The aim is simple—wade through 19 lethal rooms using that one machine and your understanding of physics (don’t you wish you paid attention in high school now?) with the promise of a cake at the end of it all. 

The humour lies in GLaDOS’ passive-aggressive quips and poor understanding of human emotions. McLain’s performance mimics the robot monotone to perfection but lets some exasperation, arrogance and amusement seep into her lines, adding to the player’s own frustration. The game’s sequel adds another comedic catalyst into the equation with Stephen Merchant as the inept robot assistant Wheatley riffing with his technological cousin.