Ron Gilbert is the fellow behind such gaming classics as Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, and a force lurking under the stage of a great many other games. His signature is humor, and he’s a master at putting the funny into games. Check out this interview with Ron Gilbert as he talks about how to set up a joke in a game, what works and what doesn’t, and how game developers have to make games for themselves instead of their audience. Truth and wisdom, folks. The Gameological Society has the story.
Humor in games is tricky because the developer only controls half the experience. The gamer controls the rest. How do you set up a joke when the gamer might stumble across the punchline in ten seconds, ten minutes, or never?