Developer: Scythe Dev Team
Publisher: tinyBuild
Platform: PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
Tested on: Switch
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm (Switch) – Review
Everybody knows working that working a minimum wage job can be a real nightmare. Imagine having to work at a fast-food restaurant in an actual horror game, and you’ll just be glad if you can manage to survive your shift. Happy’s Humble Burger Farm was originally released for PC by Scythe Dev Team in December of last year, with it being their debut title as well. They did, however, release an initial version of the project a year earlier under the name Happy’s Humble Burger Barn. The game has gotten reasonably popular and since then it has been ported to consoles. We’ll discuss the Switch version below.
Story
In this game, you play as the newest employee at the titular Happy’s Humble Burger Farm, which is a fast-food restaurant based on a cartoon. This sounds like it should be a jolly thing, but since the restaurant is located in a dystopian locale called New Elysian City where it’s perpetually nighttime, you’ll be dealing with rather strange customers. On top of that, it seems the restaurant’s animatronic mascots will come alive and aren’t afraid to commit murder, especially if you mess up your orders. When you’re not at your job, you can explore the city and its many locations. Through finding documents, tapes, and the cutscenes between days, you gradually uncover not all is as it seems at this burger joint. The truth behind the creepiness might be a lot darker than you can imagine near the start of the game.
Graphics
We might as well be honest about this, visually Happy’s Humble Burger Farm isn’t the most appealing game out there. Even in terms of what indie games usually deliver, the graphics are crude and ugly to look at, the animations are stiff and the lack of detail is off-putting. It should be noted that this was a deliberate choice by the devs, who are clearly trying to invoke old-school PS1 and PS2-era graphics. Whether you find this to be your taste is very subjective. The game does make up for it by having some absolutely terrifying monster designs, which in the end is what a horror game thrives on.
Sound
There’s a lot of music in this game, and most of it is pretty good. Different genres are represented, from house music and dubstep to metal and alternative rock. The game’s soundtrack is extremely varied, which is lovely for keeping things fresh. In fact, instead of having a single soundtrack you can buy from the game’s store page, there are several divided by genre. The game also has some excellent voice acting, so that’s a big plus, though most of the time the characters talk in a sort of creepy gibberish that makes it hard to understand them. Again, this is clearly deliberate.
Gameplay
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is a horror survival game that incorporates the elements of a cooking simulator. This is because you’ll be running a restaurant as a major part of the gameplay. Each day you get to your shift and have to fix up orders for customers. Like any restaurant simulator, this means you’ll have to complete the orders in a timely fashion so they don’t get impatient. Of course, making mistakes can also cost you dearly. At the start, you’ll only be flipping burgers, but as time goes on, tasks such as working the fryer and preparing drinks are added to the mix. Managing your shift will earn you money, which you can spend to upgrade various things around the restaurant such as grills and appliances. You’ll need this since each day gets progressively harder and busier.
As if running a burger place isn’t hard enough, you’ll find yourself significantly hindered by the franchise’s scary mascots. Especially the most famous of them all – Happy the cow – gets angry if you mess up orders. Happy will even get angry enough to want to kill you. During the game, you will progress the story and uncover more lore, which will make the restaurant and your surroundings change over time. Some enemies require stealth to get around them, while for others you’ll need to construct burger bombs to get rid of them. The game even has encounters that function like bosses. Just like you can upgrade appliances, you can also buy items that will restore your health or stamina.
Between shifts, you’re free to explore New Elysian City at your leisure. Be careful of what you find there though, as you might be horrified by your discoveries. You can unlock new places as you go, which is the game’s way of story progression. The horror is very effective, relying less on jump scares but more on a building sense of tension, the slow revealing of the story, and the overall atmosphere the game emits. There’s also an unlockable endless mode, in case you really like the cooking simulator elements of the game. In endless mode, you can do nothing but flip burgers all day long.
Conclusion
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm seems to be a hidden gem in the indie horror genre since it hasn’t earned the widespread attention other games in the genre have. This is a shame, because the terrifying truth of New Elysian City is a treat to uncover while you play, and the game mixes its horror and simulation elements well. The visuals might not be your cup of tea, but look past them and you’ll find a delightful game with an unsettling amount of potential to destroy your childhood. Hopefully, with the console port the game will lure even more players to this macabre fast-food joint.
Happy's Humble Burger Farm (Switch) - Review,
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