How do I reliably put humor into a game?

Question

This is a tricky question, because people wonder if Humor is Good, or if it makes a game less serious, or if there is any particular humor suited to text adventures. But I'm curious what other people think.

The cop-out is don't force it, but don't avoid it. But I'm wondering about more detailed approaches.

Answer 1

I think asking if humor is good in a text adventure is like asking if suspense is or death or kittens or apples. It all depends on what you want to do, what your story is.

If you're making a funny game, use humor. If you're making a serious game, you can inject humor if you like - it is part of the human condition, and even people who are sad or stressed can find irony and humor in what's happening. It's up to you to decide what is appropriate based on what you're trying to do, what you want your work to be.

And asking how to put humor into a game is like asking how to put it in a story or a film or a song. You... craft it in. (I know that's vague, but what else can it be? As with anything, you try it and see if it works and make it better if it doesn't.)

Answer 2

Humor should flow naturally if it's there. That's a facile thing to say, but I also think the first try at humor may not.

If you feel a joke should work, but you're not sure, it's valid to kick it over the wall to your testers and ask them what it needs to make it better. Especially if a joke is potentially risky--you want your testers to find it before the crowd does. Even comedians try new jokes out before a smaller audience before sharing with larger ones.

You also want to avoid jokes that've been done before, and I always find I need to re-read jokes to see if they're still funny the next day. I've found jokes that misfired because they were a bit too snarky, or even when they prompted a user to a verb which gave an annoying default response.

A good joke specific to text adventures may be one that hints another way to do things, if a good one works, or even if you are completely on the wrong track. Or it might give a different warning the second/Xth time someone tries something (remember the "something stinks around here and it's not just your puzzle-solving ability" from H2G2?)

You don't have to get big laughs, only consistent and satisfying ones.