Silliness vs Seriousness, How much is too much? Options

[Shaddow]

So, I'm writing a game that is rather silly in dialogue and overall plot, but I still plan to make it a full game with seriousness happening. I like to think that I have a good balance to it, but that leads to my question.

How far can you go in silliness in a game before it becomes a silly game and loses all credit?

[KD648]

For me, the secret to the balance between seriousness and sillyness lies in characters. The plot can be completely serious, but that doesn't mean the characters have to be completely morbid all the time. To quote one of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott, the key to writing is understanding that just about everyone in the universe is up to their neck in it. "It" being personal fears, angst, and grief. Essentially, all of life's shit. And yet there's hope in the fact that we're all fighting to be happy in spite of it. That crazy woman down the street with the flamingo-hat is struggling just as much as everyone else, but she still wears that hat because, somehow, it makes her feel a little better. Characters can still be sarcastic, goofy, and hopeful in the face of upsetting circumstances. In fact, that just makes them better characters because they're all closer to human beings. I can't remember a moment in my life where I wasn't at least a little bit depressed, or had some hope. Even in the happiest moments of my life, nothing was ever perfect. I guess my final suggestion is to make the overall circumstances serious, and to make sure that your characters are constantly fighting to enjoy themselves anyway.