Laugh Out Loud

What do you call a game where there is no game? A disappointment? Or, perhaps, it's actually our expectations that need adjusting? Either way, AMA's Laugh Out Loud is full of surprises - the main one being that there really isn't a game, nor any hint of a challenge, to speak of. If I were a crueller person, I could also make an issue about how there's (arguably) no laughs included either, but then comedy relies heavily on personal taste - probably more so than any other art form out there.

There's no arguing the fact that Laugh Out Loud is a bizarre package, however, essentially providing the kind of jokes that are ten-a-penny (figuratively speaking) on free websites across the internet, and then attempting to charge you for it. If AMA had put these jokes to use in some way, then it might be acceptable, but the fact that it does nothing more than filter them into genres and add the odd animation to their presentation to liven them up is irksome. Is that worth paying for?

There's a great opportunity here to use Laugh Out Loud's material to teach folk about a comedian's routine; timing, order, playing to your audience. Perhaps in my own naivety, that's what I assumed Laugh Out Loud would comprise - the game placing you up in a stand-up situation and charging you with sorting the wheat from the chaff to try and gain the respect and admiration of your audience. But the developers are having none of it.

Things do start on a good note, with the game introducing the cast of comedians that litter proceedings. Each comes with his or her own unique style, influence and background, leading you to believe that this band of jesters just might send shoot off in interesting tangents with their individual material in the main game. Of course, as we now know, the 'main game' essentially doesn't exist, and sadly the game's characters are used as nothing more than visual stimuli for when the jokes are sprawled across the screen.

And there are jokes aplenty. Split into eleven categories (from Relationships, to Sports, to the incredibly honest Really Really Bad Jokes), the wisecracks are viewable as such, or can be accessed randomly. Laugh Out Loud also lets you rate the jokes, add them to a list of favourites and even send them to friends via SMS, but - quite ironically - actually laughing at them will be a very rare event indeed.

This is a title that has options aplenty, but nothing to apply them to - it's almost as if the developers have accommodated fully for a game that they've then forgotten to include. The one tepid interactive moment comes in the form of a 'splats away' mini-game, which sees you dropping pieces of fruit from a balcony onto unsuspecting persons below. It sits pretty randomly next to the jokes and the game's one other mode, which supplies you with numerous 'pranks' you can play on friends - if you call tying cans onto the back of their car or pouring gelatin into their toilet bowls worth your time.

Even with these added elements, it's hard to imagine anyone spending more than two minutes on this before regretting their purchase - I'm still at a loss as to just what Laugh Out Loud is, or what it can possibly be used for. At its best it's a well categorised collection of fairly substandard and tame jokes, while at its worst it's a load of poor gaffs that shouldn't trouble your wallet. That said, if you do end up parting with your cash and picking this up, then the joke is firmly on you.