This will be the most surprising thing you hear today: this is not a Five Night at Freddy’s clone. I know, I know, but you just gotta believe it. Don’t let the packaging, loading screen, the mascot-based villains, or logo and intro vibes fool you. There’s an advertising game to be played in our post-Freddy Fazbear world, after all. Instead, prepare for something much more appetizing and strange. Dripping with its own lore, style, and writing, it’s something to be savored, gristle and all. 

With Happy’s Humble Burger Farm, you play the role of a nighttime line cook. In first-person, you’ll grill, clean, and take orders when you’re not trying to just survive the grind. As you get in deeper and deeper, you’ll wear many hats (aprons?). It’s a wacky amalgamation of a lot of genres, constructed with a lot of love and flavors. Despite not always working as intended, what it tries to be is worth footing the bill for. 

The core gameplay loop is fun, as the scope does take you into some far-reaching, wild places. Burger building and food cooking mechanics are simple and include innovative-to-annoying gimmicks. From new ways to upskill to dealing with everything from rats to trash, it’s a pretty addictive and charming loop for what it is. Mileage will vary regarding how fast the fun wanes, but it is compelling enough.

As a chef at a greasy burger restaurant, you’ll spend your nights constructing only the finest types of cuisine. From fries and shakes to chicken sandwiches and (of course) burgers, the staples are all represented here. There are also some random inclusions like fish nuggets which, hey, more power to you if that’s your thing. There’s an overarching roughness to it all, yet this just helps accentuate its unique flavor profile.

When you’re not doing this or dealing with angry customers whose orders you’ve botched, you’ll be exploring the bizarre landscape around you. From an abandoned hotel to a store that buys anything and everything (even stuff you steal from it), there’s a lot to dig into. Rest assured that there are always new mechanics to work you over in a world that will chew you over. The most interesting opportunities are best left unspoiled. You will be spoiling a lot of burgers, though.

You’ll make money, waste money, and not know how to do things just like in real life. There are pills to take, caffeine to drink, and work shifts to skip. Seasons change and the directions change with them. There’s an art museum where you won’t understand a thing, as well as a cemetery that’s bigger than anything else around. It’s such an oppressive dark world to live in and love exploring. 

The feeling of playing is best compared to unearthing a long-lost PSX game. One you read about in a magazine as a kid while you were sick one day, and wondered up until this point if you didn’t just dream it up. It’s inviting, charming, and is really anything it needs to be, including intentionally ugly and off-putting. You’ll find desolate kitchens, deplorable living quarters, rats in the kitchen, trash, pollution, and people from another realm.

The artistry is nowhere better shown or realized than the worker manual you receive. This thing is art. It is also worth risking sounding pretentious to give it its well-deserved praise. The character drawings, doodles, tidbits of advice, and more come together as the new standard for in-game menus. They showcase how beautifully lore can be packed in and presented.  

Of course, things in the fast-food game can’t be luxurious all the time. Gameplay being the lesser part of a game can be tough to swallow. Yet, if anything, it’s indicative of near-everything to love about this game. It is rough around the edges but survives on its passion. 

While I’ve got no big beef with the primary burger-building portion of the game, the boss battles are the one thing I’d send back. Even when technically doable, they’re never subjectively fun. One, in particular, pushed back enough that it had me drop off the game for weeks on end. When this game tunnels you into something unenjoyable and unavoidable, that’s when it may fail you. 

Warts, moldy buns, burnt fries and all, it’s well-deserving of a cult status, just by proxy of being what it is. It is something many will play, a smaller percentage will finish and even fewer will love. Yet everyone will (or at least should) feel something. In this way, it’s in an echelon above every game that is played but never remembered. It is above every game that was never capable of anything more than a, “yeah, that was fine.” 

This is a world primed for a franchise. Though maybe one that knows where its strengths are, or can flesh out more of the weaknesses into strengths. Because while not without fault, it’s a standout experience in terms of sheer memorability and scope. This game not only needs to be recognized but rewarded. Whether you see it full price or on sale, order up.

A PS4 review copy of Happy’s Humble Burger Farm was provided by tinyBuild for this review.

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Happy’s Humble Burger Farm

19.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Excellent world building
• Amazing Aesthetic
• Fun gameplay.
• Tries everything and anything.

Cons

• Terrible Boss Battles
• The moments against singular, strong, noteworthy enemies are bland