Thank Goodness You’re Here! is a video game that has left players crying with laughter due to its various eccentric characters and regional slang. The inspiration for the game came from the beautiful county of Yorkshire, where the creators of the game, James Carbutt and Will Todd, hail from. The entire project was developed by Coal Supper, the duo’s development team, and takes players through a series of bizarre tasks throughout the fictional northern town of Barnsworth.
The game is intentionally weird and has been described as the “most northern game ever,” featuring elements such as a blackboard advertisement outside a local pub announcing “drinks” and a script filled with regional slang using authentic Yorkshire accents. Will and James provide voices for many of the characters in the game, and they say the unique script came about naturally as they were developing the project.
Many publishers were skeptical when the duo pitched the idea to them, possibly because it deviated from traditional game design, but the publisher behind other major hits such as Untitled Goose Game, Panic!, eventually signed a deal with the development team. Subtitles for people from Yorkshire and translations for those accustomed to standard English have also been incorporated into the game to cater to an international audience.
The utilization of authentic accents and dialects in games is a rarity, as most video games tend to feature clean American or posh British accents to ensure global appeal. However, Still Wakes the Deep and Thank Goodness You’re Here! are two high-profile games that feature strong regional UK accents created to heighten the sense of place and add authenticity to the games’ narratives. John McCormack, the creative lead at Still Wakes the Deep, is optimistic that other developers will take inspiration from these games and make use of distinct voices and dialects to tell specific, authentic stories
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