Horror cooking game Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is out Dec. 3

Fast-food thrills and chills

[Update: Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is releasing on December 3 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam, priced at $20, while the Nintendo Switch version is aiming for “early 2022.” The release date trailer has some endearingly rough gameplay.]

Give me some of those creepy PS1-era vibes any day of the week, and I’ll be in a good mood. The low-poly horror scene, in particular, has been coming out with some fascinating gems lately. Happy’s Humble Burger Farm has my attention less for the at-first-glance Five Nights at Freddy’s costumed creeps, and more for the light management sim conceit. In this first-person horror adventure game, you’ve got a burger joint to run.

Admittedly, my indie-horror-game radar isn’t as calibrated as it used to be, so this is the first I’m hearing of Happy’s Humble in general — that goes for the original proof-of-concept on itch.io with faux PS1 box art (Happy’s Humble Burger Barn) and the upcoming, expanded, TinyBuild-published game for PC and consoles (Happy’s Humble Burger Farm).

When you aren’t frying up some fast food for customers, putting out fires, and taking out the trash (which is, no joke, the main draw for me), you’ll “stalk the streets and storefronts of New Elysian City, [uncovering] audio logs and research pages to figure out the mystery of the place you call home.” If you mess up too many orders, spooky shit will ensue.

Apart from the main story mode, there’s also an Endless option that’s restaurant-focused.

The charmingly janky trailer and screenshots really sell the whole vibe, to the point where everyone should instantly know where they stand with this game, conceptually.

This nasty poster seals the deal:

Is it the most original concept? No. But it’s new enough, and I like the way it’s coming together. Even though the new game will be more fleshed-out and probably more well-rounded, I feel like I need to dig up the original version — it’s calling my name.