Yet a few games have emerged recently in which comedy is the primary focus or, at very least, the primary tone. And others contain humour that the designers never intended. So, can they actually make us laugh?

If the power of a joke is in its telling, small wonder video games have a reputation for being unfunny. Humour is difficult to design into games. It’s too easy for the player to mess up the timing of it all, to be looking the wrong way when the punch line is delivered or to switch off the game just before a carefully plotted gag. Moreover, video games tend to be obsessed with triumph and victory, with overcoming the odds and averting tragedy – a typically unhelpful destination for any comedy vehicle.