10 Best Games With Dark Humor - Investment Policy

From my perspective as a humor enthusiast, humor isn’t always something that can be perfectly explained or predicted, much like the findings of actual scientists regarding what causes laughter in humans. However, one thing we can agree on is that humor comes in a wide variety of forms, some refined and sophisticated, while others might not quite meet the same standards.

Humor with a dark, crude, or inappropriate edge has existed since the beginning of laughter itself. What might typically seem repugnant can become incredibly funny when framed within an appropriate context.

Just like other forms of entertainment, video games can sometimes incorporate humor that might be unfamiliar to some, using elements such as gross-out humor, suggestive content, and even causing harm (virtually speaking) to characters, regardless of their deservedness. While there are numerous games that push these boundaries, the following are our top picks for such humor-infused titles.

10. Conker’s Bad Fur Day

Where Gettin’ Sloshed Gets You

During the late 90s and early 2000s, cartoony platformers featuring mascots were quite different from mature, violent games like Mortal Kombat. These games had a cute and family-friendly feel, ideal for children. However, Conker, despite being a cartoon character, was neither cute nor wholesome. This is evident in his first solo appearance on the N64, titled Conker’s Bad Fur Day, which presented a more adult and unconventional theme compared to other mascot platformers of that era.

The game titled Conker’s Bad Fur Day initiates with our main character, a squirrel, getting extremely intoxicated, and things quickly spiral out of control. In the initial few hours alone, you engage in actions such as blasting wasps with a machine gun turret, stuffing a mouse until it bursts in a gruesome display of gore, and urinating on a horde of flaming imps that are ablaze.

The war part becomes quite intense, resembling the movie Saving Private Ryan. An unforgettable scene occurs when Conker attempts to rescue a soldier trapped in an electric chair, but accidentally triggers the wrong switch, causing the soldier’s eyes to explode out of their sockets. Despite the violent nature of the situation, it remains amusing due to the cartoonish squirrel characters involved.

9. South Park: The Stick Of Truth

Classically Crass

In terms of off-color and impolite humor, nothing compares to South Park. Since 1997, this animated series made from paper cutouts has consistently challenged the norms of television decency with its raw, vulgar tone. Unsurprisingly, this same attitude is reflected in their most ambitious game, South Park: The Stick of Truth.

As a newcomer, you find yourself settling into the title town, where the local children are deeply engrossed in an extraordinary role-playing game of imagination and fantasy.

Initially, it may seem harmless, but before long, you find yourself caught up in a variety of activities unsuitable for M-rated media, such as confrontations with drug traffickers and encounters with mischievous gnomes beneath your parents’ swing set.

Or:

At first glance, it appears to be innocent, but before you know it, you’re involved in a series of events that would earn an M-rating on TV, including taking down drug dealers and tussling with garden gnomes under the swing set of your parents.

In simpler terms, one character in this game is a reanimated Nazi zombie that was once an aborted fetus, and it shouts lines spoken by Adolf Hitler. Upon defeating it, you can earn an accomplishment called “Crossing the Line” by farting on its remains.

8. Postal 2

We All Have Those Days

The term “going postal,” which describes an angry or violent person, originated from a string of tragic events in the 1980s and 1990s where upset postal workers took the lives of their colleagues and innocent bystanders. In reality, it’s far from amusing, but if your intention is to create the most controversial game imaginable, it fits perfectly.

The fundamental objective of the Postal series games, notably recognized by Postal 2, is that everyday tasks escalate into an orgy of mindless brutality and inhumanity. While there are theoretically tranquil resolutions for many issues, the game hints at, though not too subtly, the option to grab a shotgun and let loose instead.

In this thrilling gaming experience, I’ve found myself in some unusual scenarios: like accidentally undoing my pants and ‘relieving’ myself on various objects, facing zombies with Tourette-like outbursts, and taking down law enforcement while teaming up with the iconic Gary Coleman. Yes, you heard it right! Gary Coleman himself contributed his voice and likeness to this game. What a wild ride!

7. The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth

Dead Babies And Poop

People who are curious about the historical aspects of humor likely recognize the term “dead baby joke.” These jokes, despite their seemingly inappropriate subject matter, have a unique allure because they challenge societal norms. This type of humor is quite prevalent in the game The Binding of Isaac, as well as its enhanced version, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.

The concept of The Binding of Isaac, which involves a young child in his diapers running away from his murderous mother in a basement infested with demons, is so outlandishly absurd that it becomes amusing instead. After accepting this unusual premise, the repeated occurrence of distressing events happening to Isaac whenever a new power-up is discovered mostly maintains the same tone.

Apart from being a game, it’s heavily soiled with waste, not inherently ominous by itself, but becomes symbolic once you recall that Isaac was residing in filth before the game’s narrative began.

6. Borderlands 2

It’s A Whole Planet Of Jerks

In the initial Borderlands game, it’s clear that Pandora isn’t a friendly world. Its plants and animals are inherently dangerous to any life form, and most human inhabitants are crazed bandits. However, Borderlands 2 marked a shift in tone for the series, making these harsh realities more comedic.

A significant element in this situation is the arrival of your arch-rival, Handsome Jack, who takes pleasure in his penchant for violence and disdain for Vault Hunters. Throughout the storyline, he’ll taunt you with insults, mockingly play a violin after eliminating Mordecai’s pet, or assign tasks that seem to involve walking off a cliff and ending your own life.

Apart from Jack, various other factions in the game are wellsprings of amusing antisocial behavior. For instance, there’s an entire side mission where a random bandit will plead fervently to the heavens, asking you to shoot him point-blank in the face and offering a reward for complying. His peculiar name is Face McShooty.

5. Dead Rising 2

Duct Tape Makes Everything Better

Modern stories often unfold against the backdrop of zombie outbreaks, stirring deep emotions within us as we grapple with our loved ones transforming into monstrous beings. While this idea may seem absurd and even amusing initially, it presents an opportunity for violent actions without the usual moral constraints.

In the first Dead Rising game, there were numerous chances for zombie-filled fun, but Dead Rising 2 marked a shift where the series embraced a more humorous tone. The creation of combo weapons, where everyday items are transformed into deadly tools using duct tape, turned navigating through hordes of zombies from a matter of survival to a question of how amusing you can make it for yourself.

It’s quite entertaining, really, because the mistreatment of the undead plays a significant role in the storyline. The main character, Chuck Greene, participates in a game show where he has to kill zombies in an extravagant manner. Despite his own personal reservations, he doesn’t flinch when it comes to wearing a moose head and charging through a staggering horde of the undead.

4. Destroy All Humans!

You Know Where The Probe’s Going

Many sci-fi movies featuring aliens invading Earth became popular during the Cold War era, often serving as subtle propaganda. Once you recognize this, some of them can appear quite ridiculous. However, the over-the-top approach taken by Destroy All Humans makes its conclusion all the more entertaining.

The main character in the game, named Cryptosporidium-137, displays a chilling ability to carry out horrific acts, as portrayed in those alarmist movies. He abducts and maims cattle, incinerates unassuming individuals with his Disintegrator Ray, wreaks havoc on towns using his flying saucer, and engages in numerous other heinous activities. Adding to the absurdity is his Jack Nicholson-like voice, which brings a peculiar sense of humor to the character.

This issue is exacerbated by the overly caricatured depiction of humans. They’re essentially stereotypes of Cold War-era Americans: overtly patriotic and not very intelligent. Some of the humor has grown increasingly crude with time, which is why the remake of the initial game includes a content warning at the beginning.

3. Monster Prom

Be Your Worst Self

High school serves as a platform for self-discovery and exploration, shaping the individual you’ll develop into as an adult. It can sometimes be a scene of playful torment and indulgence, even within a typical high school environment. However, things take an outrageous and inappropriate turn in Monster Prom, where your school is inhabited by monster creatures.

In this game, you’re tasked with choosing appropriate social actions to win over a schoolmate as your prom date. However, there’s a twist – these decision-making moments often occur in absurd or risky scenarios.

You could persuade your soccer-loving buddy to acquire a vehicle for his team, not just any vehicle, but a truck, to bulldoze through opponents on the field,
you might even try to deceive an adversary into leaping so high on a trampoline that they get drawn into a jet engine, and
you could potentially influence your friend to found a school club with unconventional practices.

Beyond the physical aggression, you’ll find a variety of questionable behaviors here, ranging from excessive substance abuse to unconventional sexual activities. Rest assured, all students are above the legal drinking age, but remember, such activities might not always align with societal norms or expectations.

2. Cult Of The Lamb

Make Friends And Influence People

It’s terrifying to think about being held captive within a cult, enduring harsh living conditions and peculiar rituals. This fear intensifies for individuals who have personally experienced such ordeals. On a contrasting note, managing a cult with genuine, tangible supernatural support seems enticing. After all, you’re not the one suffering in tattered clothes and consuming waste, as the power lies elsewhere.

In Cult of the Lamb, it’s your responsibility to nurture and care for your followers as effectively as possible. However, there might be moments when peculiar or unsettling situations arise. For example, your cult members may occasionally present you with unusual demands, varying from reasonable items like resources, to seemingly absurd requests such as asking you to serve them a bowl of feces.

A constant supply of followers ensures that there’s always someone new to convert, so if you wish, you can perform any despicable act you see fit towards them. Fancy locking one up for being impolite? By all means. Feel like offering one as a sacrifice to an Eldritch monster’s tangled tentacles? Why not give it a try. Or perhaps you’d prefer to make two of them fight each other in a gladiatorial contest? After all, what else is there to entertain yourself with?

1. Another Crab’s Treasure

Life Full Of Plastic

The significant amount of plastic debris found in our oceans poses a serious threat to numerous marine ecosystems and their inhabitants. This issue serves as an alarming demonstration of the destructive impact humans have on aquatic life, a theme that is humorously depicted and critically portrayed in “Another Crab’s Treasure.

In this game, the entire seabed is littered with debris that people have grown accustomed to, even taking pride in it. Yet, despite the evident harm and sickness caused by the plastic, you often observe crabs boasting about their latest trinkets and how they’ve amassed more junk than others.

One amusing visual joke in the game could be when our hero, Kril, manages to send all his companions to the base of a trench in pursuit of treasure. Upon finding the treasure, a chest overflowing with millions, it turns out to be worthless due to paper being the most fragile and useless form of waste.

2025-04-10 17:41