Grunge Horror: Happy’s Humble Beginnings
How much terror would you be willing to face for a steady minimum wage job? Unfortunately for my fellow retail warriors both past and present, in the real world, terror may come in the shape of angry Karens or borderline-abusive folks in leadership roles. But within the confines of Scythe Dev Team quaint fast food restaurant, what lies behind the counter of Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is far more horrifying.
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is the latest in a subset of horror I’ve recently been categorizing as ‘grunge horror’; PSX inspired horror games with a distorted lens aesthetically, mechanically, and tonally. Grunge horror has garnered cult-status in the PC space; particularly within the itch.io community where creative freedom truly thrives beyond what may be traditionally acceptably to a mainstream audience in presentation and tone. Like myself, many players have rapidly become awe-stricken fans of the subset when discovering collections such as Dread X and PS1 Haunted Demo Discs, both featuring inherently unique and haunting short-form horror experiences. These collections tend to serve as the first fallen domino, leading to a trail of remarkable developer discovery. One of these developers featured in the very first Dread X Collection is Phoenix's Scythe Dev Team. With a focus on out-of-the-box experimental immersion, Scythe pushes the boundaries of what you may find when exploring grunge horror.
While continuing to expand their ‘Scythe Saga Universe’, particularly with their Northbury Grove anthology series, April 2020 saw the birth of a prototype experience. Impressively developed within the span of one month, Happy’s Humble Burger Barn delivered a state-of-the-art Burger Chef Simulation set within an uncomfortable PSX acid trip of panic and dread. Fast forward one year later, and the prototype landed Scythe a partnership with publisher TinyBuild to aid in expanding their vision into their most ambitious game to date; Happy's Humble Burger Farm.
Before getting into Happy’s itself, I do want to briefly delve into what the partnership can mean for the genre as a whole. TinyBuild is a bigger name when it comes to the indie space, with resources to get more eyes on Happy’s Humble Burger Farm (and in turn, Scythe) upon release across all platforms. Happy’s is one of the first notable grunge horror titles tied to a known indie publisher to hit consoles. Puppet Combo’s Murder House (a personal favorite of this year) and Tricore’s Yuoni saw console releases this past year as well, but unfortunately came and went without much surrounding chatter. Headware Games’ Chasin Static will be hitting consoles next year, which already has an advantage on the PlayStation side of things in regards to trophies being published by Ratalaika Games. Horror is already a hard sell to begin with, not to mention games with a niche “dated” aesthetic. A successful launch for TinyBuild and Scythe can mean so much; more investment into grunge horror from indie publishers, bringing more titles to console, higher discoverability rates, and the figurative “gasoline on the spark” to kick off a bright future for what may very well be some of the most wonderfully horrifying and unique arthouse horror indies we’ve ever experienced.
But of course, this all a wild hypothetical dream that can only potentially start with the quality of Happy’s Humble Burger Farm. So the million dollar question is simple; did Scythe stick the landing?
Scythe put me into a trance when first revealing Happy’s gameplay over the summer. This was my first time learning about Happy’s and Scythe as a developer, opening the door for more discoverability into the genre on my end. Excitement was at an all time high, garnering one of my ‘games of the show’ for the E3 season. Ironically enough, it was accompanied by similar grunge horror title Walk from Kazumi Games and 80s VHS demonic fever dream, FAITH: The Unholy Trinity from Airdorf Games and New Blood Interactive. Coming out of E3 season, what I expected was that state-of-the-art Burger Chef Simulation which Barn delivered; one that was a short, creepy experience. But what Scythe delivered is an expansive horrifying narrative wrapped in an unexpected mystery.
A Dark, Dreary Dream
What Scythe completely nails is the aesthetic and tone of the world they have crafted so eloquently. New Elysian City, the home of the beloved fast food chain and appropriately mundane husks in the form of citizens, is beautifully realized in all of its distorted glory serving as a hub of sorts. The dark setting tells a story, one that reaches beyond the scope of a simple Burger Chef Simulation game. The restaurant itself, where you will spend a solid amount of time scurrying around in, feels eerily familiar to a 90s McDonald’s with an delightfully gross Play Place attached and ghoulish dead-eyed paint-chipped representations of Ronald McDonald and friends scattered throughout. But in this world, Happy steps into the Ronald role with her four friends, all equally bone-chilling as they watch you prepare a meal. This is by no means a spoiler, but more of an accommodation to the design of these characters. I hate them in the best way imaginable. Similarly, like Happy and co., strategically placed presentational elements such as optional audio cues or particular assets clue you into a deeper mystery that lies beyond your initial perception before the walls are completely torn down.
Even when the walls are torn down, the world Scythe has imagined only becomes more alive, and with that, it becomes more of a living nightmare than anything else. Scythe is patient in revealing what this game actually is; a horrid journey in efforts to escape a dreadful nightmare. There are new areas to explore, always hidden in plain sight from the get-go. Gaining access after acquiring the correct tools or knowledge always felt exciting. I never knew what I was about to face when entering the next door, and without fail, it was always a horrid spectacle. Obviously, secrets are best left to be uncovered on your own terms. To simply put it, the dread of New Elysian City is an enchanting one.
Order Up
A major part of what makes Happy’s such a delight to play is the aforementioned breaking down of walls and uncovering secrets, but the driving force of that is its core gameplay. The Burger Chef Simulation roots built in Barn remain, serving as the main input of maintaining the restaurant and beyond. The game methodically teaches you the core mechanics without completely overwhelming you; first showing you the basics of burgers while progressively adding more elements. Once you hit the ground running, the game can be best described as first-person horror Overcooked. I know that can spur up anxiety in most people, but rest assured, the gameplay is downright fun. The game can be hectic and deliver frustration, but balances multiple pillars without overwhelming the player. For instance, unlike Overcooked, you are only handling one order at a time unless you choose to open up a drive-in window. Each order has a fair enough timer, which can begin to feel challenging and stressful once events are tossed into the mix. Events may include taking out the trash, killing rats, or unclogging the toilet. Even these events give you just enough time to balance fairness with chaos. To assist you in your chaos, there is the potential to implement upgrades, such as faster cooking rates or longer order/event times. Being a horror game, while balancing the chaos, you of course will encounter creatures of sorts roaming the restaurant and disrupting service a bit. Shifts in the restaurant typically last around five to seven minutes, and rely on a three strike rule depending on failing orders or events. With each strike, these creatures will mess with you; permanently turning off the lights to leave you solely relying on a flashlight is an aggravating favorite of mine. Three strikes, you get to meet Happy. I don’t think I have to explain what that means in a horror game.
What I found most surprising is that the restaurant-aspect of the game truly serves as a tutorial to get the player comfortable with hectic order balancing to then utilize in a much larger-in-scope game. As I tippy-toed around above and will continue to avoid, there is a mystery to New Elysian City that takes place beyond the walls of the restaurant. As you dig into to the mystery and literally face your demons, flipping burgers is a key weapon. As absurd and ridiculous as it is conceptually - it works; quite well, actually. Gameplay in key moments are frantic and tense. Similar to working shifts in the restaurant, cooking can be frustrating in moments of peril, but it’s always purposeful.
Once you get past that “tutorial” stage of those initial shifts, the game does let go of your hand a bit; possibly a bit too harshly. Because I didn’t expect elements beyond the restaurant, I worked multiple shifts beyond what was necessary to no avail, waiting for narrative progression to come to me as it was doing previously. Granted, this ended up working out in my favor. The surplus of cash came in handy real quick when meeting my friend Charlie The Chicken. But in terms of moving the narrative forward, with the game being so secretive, a particular event did not internally trigger as progression for me.
Signposting in terms of displayed objectives can be a bit unreliable at times as well. Without getting into any spoilers, I completed an objective, but the game still had that task displayed as my current objective. On top of this section being the most challenging and purposefully frustrating moments of the game, I ended up reloading the save to go through the encounter multiple times. Still no luck. The game even displayed I was doing something wrong, even though I was absolutely doing it correctly. Assuming it was a bug, I waited for release day and a day one patch. After one more attempt, I turned to a walkthrough. It turns out there was a door in a corner that opened up once completing my task, despite the objective leading me to believe I didn’t actually complete the task.
Despite any hiccups and the frustrations that tagged along, I was never ready to give up on the game. The gameplay and atmosphere pair together so brilliantly where it is utterly alluring. And I’m so grateful for that sensation purely due to the immediate payoff. Scythe tosses unexpected moments towards the back half of the game that truly had me grinning ear to ear as a massive horror fan. For a final time, I cannot stress enough how refreshing it was to see particular elements unfold without prior knowledge, so I must leave it at that for you to experience for yourselves.
Thank You, Come Again
Exploring New Elysian City only equipped with burger flipping skills to aid in navigating its terror becomes a routine you begin to crave. While messy at first, uncovering that initial crack in a wall only encourages you to bust through and see what’s around every corner. You become hungry to see what’s in store next. Between the aesthetic, particular assets, dialog, characters, and beyond, each element has a purpose; whether it’s to provide a hint into reality or straight up horrify you. The brilliant part about Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is that it is structured atop a core gameplay mechanic that is both methodically frustrating with a purpose, but straight up fun. Despite my progression hiccups, my journey through New Elysian City if one that I’ll be reminiscing on for quite some time. Its the type of journey where I’m eager to discuss particularly narrative moments, gameplay elements, presentational aspects, and hidden little gems with all of my future Happy’s Humble Burger Farm co-workers.
Written by Mike Towndrow