Okay, I'm soapboxing again, but I plan to back it up in spades this time...
Recently, my fellow designer at ICGD, Michael Leeke, had us play a rather funny game that is a Star Trek parody called Red Shirt Down.
All of the players send away teams to planets in hopes of surviving long enough to return to starbase. Players play both against each other (by liberally spreading red shirts amongst opposing crew members), and against the game (by doing their best to make it farther along the board faster than other players). For those wondering, on the 'original Star Trek', the guy in the red shirt generally died during the episode.
I found the game a bit simple for my tastes, although the rest of the gang liked it.. and so I made a ruleset of my own...
Which they (our test group) did not like so well.. It was a 3-dimensional decision-making matrix where the away teams had to retrieve certain artifacts and build a machine in order to satisfy a Star Fleet order. Players could steal artifacts, attack opposing ships, and had to fight various obstacles on the planets explored (just like Mike's version)... but again they liked Mike's better, so Red Shirt will see production in his version.
...They did enjoy my game, although they all wanted a few revisions...
...and so I changed it to the exploration of the remnants of an ancient alien outpost at the edge of our universe... and left the mechanics basically untouched. Players explore the underground alien installation while stealing from each other, fighting planetside problems, etc.
Here's where the marketing comes into play... how would I make this a game that someone MIGHT want to take home as compared to the other 150 titles shelved next to it? ...and could that be built right into the rules?
The answer to that is always 'yes' in my book, because if its 'no' we won't bother to produce the game.
...and so a good title was vital.
It is currently titled, "Exploring the Depths of Uranus".
...How many of you, having seen that title, want to know what the game is about?
...while ducking, I remain...
XXOOCC
We do plan on making game play at least moderately funny, with members of your explorer team contracting various hilarious maladies should they fail, or not entirely succeed, in a given exploratory mission. (Things like, "You have acquired an evil twin, a small furry creature now follows you around - all of which will impact your abilities on your next mission).
You can sabotage other players exploratory missions through various means... most of which are more embarassing than crude.
...and both the artifacts and the machines that you can assemble from them are silly.
So yes, it will be funny, although there will be no "butt-humor" in the actual game.