Genuinely entertaining games are still rare. So, while I don't mean to dismiss or overlook the structural originality and genre fluidity of this game's blend of traditional point-and-click adventure and modern indie platform puzzler, the The highest compliment I can give is that it simply made me laugh hard from start to finish. The lead duo, the sarcastic alter egos of creator Dan Marshall and co-writer Ben Ward, will probably scorn the phrase "interactive comedy," so let's just say that it's a gag delivery device with a pretty high hit rate.

2008.

Following the 2008 freeware debut "Ben There, Dan That." and the 2009 sequel "Time Gentlemen, Please.", the third in the "Ben and Dan" series opens in the jungles of Peru. While Ben remains dedicated to the art of point-and-click conversations and combinations, Dan decides to reinvent himself as a modern indie platformer hero and takes on the moving and emotional task of retrieving a metaphorical flower that may be able to cure cancer. mission. If you haven't played either of the previous two films, you might be forgiven for thinking you're in for a taste of self-consciously edgy humor and clever, clever postmodernism. However, as the early winks at self-insert narcissism prove, the protagonist is taken care of in this film to be the butt of most of the jokes.

And when I say emotional mission, that's exactly what happens: two weeks later, Ben and Dan arrive in London, where the capital has taken on an apocalyptic aspect. Here they discover a seemingly friendly AI that sends them into a series of experimental constructs to harvest their responses to emotional stimuli in order to better understand humanity.

What follows is an imaginative journey, switching between many characters, each with different skills. Dan can reach his crippled opponent, and Ben can pick up and combine objects to help his bouncy BFF (though, as Dan points out, these days that has to be called crafting).

As a matter of fact, both characters have minor operational issues. Ben suffers from an interface that is somewhat difficult to control, both on the pad and in M&K. This is an incomplete solution to the problem of needing to incorporate Dan's traditional platform settings. Also, while Dan's platform section is ingeniously designed, it is a bit different from Madeline's in Celeste in terms of accuracy and responsiveness. The large number of checkpoints feels almost like a sinecure in that regard.

The game smartly avoids the frustrating pixel hunt common to classic point-and-click, but the platforming creates some extra snags. Giving Ben a piggyback ride on Dan will help him move faster, but if you don't put him down regularly, you may miss important environmental features and objects. You are not always confined to a small space, nor are you always aware of which character you should be controlling. Thankfully, such situations are rare, and dialogue tends to subtly provide hints and clues.

Somehow, this stuff rarely matters. Dan's delight at the platform set pieces is surprisingly contagious, as evidenced by his reaction when he discovers "gravity on the left." Besides, any minor annoyances are quickly forgotten, as witty puns, sarcastic one-liners, and inventive sight gags seldom last more than a minute or two. There are so many jokes that I don't really care to give a few examples, but I'll try to keep them as light as possible, as I'm sure everyone else does as well. Nineteen different wackinesses and punchlines were noted down, and more than a dozen were captured in screen shots for posterity.

Its sense of humor may be too harsh for some, and it may not suit those who like gory descriptions. Others may find the idea of making fun of other games unsettling. But the tone is usually cheeky, affectionate, or both. As well as taking the piss (sometimes literally taking the piss), they actively praise the games they are joking about. They do not succumb to common examples of video game satire, whether it be boring fetch quests or other clichéd mechanics that turn what they complain about into a game in its own right.

At times, it feels like Marshall and Ward are throwing as much as they can against the wall to see what sticks. Frankly, there are brilliant sections that question the respawning process. One chapter, in which the two need to impress a young man's social media feed to get into the club, risks falling into condescending references to young people and their strange jargon. Another of the elaborate and silly jokes is a punchline that is told in fragments at the beginning of the visual novel "Devil's Kiss," which is included with the game. This is divided into three parts, and I started giggling from the very beginning.

It is not only the dialogue that makes me laugh. There are moments of surprise and delight scattered throughout, including an ingenious mechanical twist sparked by a nasty false alarm. And in a scene in which a gun is used to repel a wave of piñata minions, the screen shakes so violently that Vlambeer would be proud of his face. Sure, there are occasional stumbles and off-the-mark gags. But Size Five's biggest and most ballsy adventure to date is the kind of game that will be cited for years to come.