I don’t know about you, but when I look at the Steam store page, I see a lot of horror simulators based around doing normally mundane day jobs. Working in a gas station, cleaning up haunted homes, and running a grocery store are just a few examples. Some of these games are good, and some of them…let’s just say leave a lot to be desired.
After seeing many of these games pop up on my recommended page, the one that stood out the most to me was the Happy’s Humble Burger series. Maybe because I have over a decade of experience in fast food management, or maybe it’s because I find something deeply uncomfortable about animal horror executed through cute and cuddly mascots.
Whatever the reason they initially caught my eye, I ended up looking into them more and realized that they were essentially the pioneer of this style of game. You’re just an average person working a burger joint that isn’t quite right.
I ended up buying both full games in the series, Happy’s Humble Burger Farm (2021) and Happy’s Humble Burger Cult (2026), as well as playing their original FREE proof-of-concept game Happy’s Humble Burger Barn (2020) to see how they managed to spark a new genre of horror games.
Here are my thoughts!
This review is not sponsored and Frank purchased the games reviewed here (except Barn, which is free), but this review does contain affiliate links to Fanatical. If you’d like to play the Happy Humble’s Burger games, please use our links to help support HorrorFam.com at no additional cost to you!
Happy’s Humble Burger Barn
Technically the first game in the series, Happy’s Humble Burger Barn was released for free as a proof-of-concept/tech demo back in April 2020. Since you’re reading my post about the franchise, I think it’s safe to say that it was a hit!
I was extremely impressed with Happy’s Humble Burger Barn for what it is. From a gameplay perspective, it’s very simple: You help customers, cook food, do a couple of odd jobs around the store, and start noticing that things aren’t quite right in this burger joint. Eventually, it becomes crystal clear that things are VERY wrong here.
Where Barn excels is the storytelling and setup for the universe. The entire final sequence is so intriguing and deeply unsettling that I instantly booted up Happy’s Humble Burger Farm. Without spoiling TOO MUCH, it has some parallels with games like BioShock as well as Prey (2017), which are two of my favorite video games of all time.
It was a lot of fun to see what kind of things carried over from this game to Farm and even Cult. For example, the mixtape you can find on the drive-thru board becomes a full-fledged lore collectible in later games!
I was also amused at what the French fries and salmon nuggets looked like in Happy’s Humble Burger Barn compared to the later entries in the series:
I’m not going to be hard on Barn because it IS a proof of concept, but if you decide to try it for yourself, you should know it’s pretty janky and could lead to some motion sickness if that’s a problem for you.
There were also a few times when I wasn’t quite sure if what I was seeing was meant to be slightly disturbing or if it was a bit of glitchy jank. In a way, I liked that because it added to the charm. Here’s a pretty good example that had me chuckling uncomfortably because I had no idea what would happen next:
Overall, I would say if you want to fully experience everything this universe has to offer, Happy’s Humble Burger Barn is worth a play. But if you’re interested in jumping into something a little more complete and polished, you’ll want to check out the next game.
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm
The second (but technically first full-fledged game in the series) is Happy’s Humble Burger Farm. I spent around 10 hours playing and managed to 100% the game on Steam.
If I had to describe this entry in one sentence, it would be, “Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is a polished Happy’s Humble Burger Barn on a much, much broader scale.” But since you’re here to read my thoughts about the game, here’s the longer version.
Instead of just working in the restaurant, you’re living in a small, and very strange, town called New Elysian City. You also have an apartment where you can catch up on your Happy’s Humble lore, meet Toe (your strange co-worker and neighbor), buy from vending machines, and much more. It’s a nice touch for people who didn’t get a chance to play Barn.
The town itself has plenty of interesting places to see as well. You can stop by the Jazzy Java Joint to grab a cup of coffee. Maybe you’ll want to visit the local museum, which has a bit of a strange fascination with the Barnyard Buds. The point is, there’s a ton to do and see, which is something I really appreciated. Happy’s Humble Burger Farm expanded the lore and world in a way that makes perfect sense, given… what’s going on. (NO SPOILERS!!)
Much like Happy’s Humble Burger Barn, in Farm you’ll be working at a Happy’s restaurant, serving customers, cooking food, resetting rat traps, and avoiding the dabbing pig that keeps getting closer every time you look away, among other things.
One of my absolute favorite characters in this game is your boss. He calls quite a bit throughout the playthrough and has just the perfect mix of sounding both sinister and apathetic. He’s voiced by Kaleb Alfadda, who did a lot more than voice work for the game. Don’t get me wrong; the other character voices are great, but Kaleb as The Boss absolutely sets the tone from the second you start your first day.
As you’re working, you quickly learn that things are a little off, to say the least. At first you might THINK you saw something skittering in the corner. Before long, there’s no question because that thing you thought you saw is sprinting around the kitchen while you’re trying to prepare burgers and fries for your customers.
But it’s best not to get distracted! You’re only allowed three infractions a day. These include things like not getting an order out on time, getting an order incorrect, or missing one of the timed events that pop up during your shift.
Each time you get an infraction, things get a little more disturbing. Once you’ve messed up three times in one day, well…here’s a teaser that had me feeling very unsettled the first time it happened.
Uh oh.
So yeah, at this point, you have to outsmart/do battle with an entity that I’m going to keep under wraps for people who want to play and experience it themselves.
I really enjoyed watching things fall apart every time I accidentally added tomato to that “no tomato” chicken sandwich, or when I didn’t get around to plunging the toilet in a timely fashion. The neat part about this is that things are a little different each time, since there seemed to be a pool of weird things that could happen instead of a static list. It made each experience fun and unique because I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen next.
Beyond the restaurant gameplay loop, I was surprised at how much other stuff there was to do in the game. When I first started, I thought maybe the town was mostly for the environment, and boy was I wrong. Almost every named location in town comes up in the story one way or another. There were boss fights that surprised me, lore drops I was not expecting, and missions that felt genuinely engaging and well thought out.
The only criticism I have about the experience is that the last two boss fights felt a little tedious simply because they seemed to be memory-based, which you learn from failing quite a few times as opposed to something you can get right the first time.But that’s honestly small in the grand scheme of things.
Happy’s Humble Burger Farm is an awesome, unique experience that has been emulated in different places/situations by other teams since it was released. If you’re into psychological horror and any kind of “simulator” games, I’m positive you’ll enjoy Happy’s Humble Burger Farm as much as I did.
Happy’s Humble Burger Cult
Happy’s Humble Burger Cult is the most recent game in the Happy’s Humble series, and it’s my favorite of the bunch. Cult has the same base formula as the previous games; you’re working at an increasingly unhinged restaurant. You’re tasked with cooking food, serving customers, and doing odd jobs around the restaurant at the end of your shift.
But there’s also something totally unique about all of this compared to Barn and Farm. Happy’s Humble Burger Cult is a 1-4 player co-op roguelike restaurant sim!
BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER: There WILL be some mild spoilers ahead for the previous games because it’s very difficult to explain what’s going on without addressing the core plot point of this series. I’ll try my best to be vague, so I don’t ruin any of the lore for you, but be aware!
Happy’s Humble Burger Cult doesn’t try at ALL to hide the disturbing nature of the universe. It puts it on display from the moment you open the game.
So, you’re actually inside a simulation run by a sinister corporation. Though it’s obvious that their original structure fell apart and became increasingly corrupted over time due to…several different factors.
You (and your friends) are tasked with growing your “crew” level by successfully completing shifts at various restaurants. Each Happy’s Humble franchisee has chosen a different theme for their restaurant, so it keeps things fresh and slightly disorienting (two traits that are a huge plus in a horror game!). I also loved that each restaurant has its own music, composed by Scythe Dev co-founder Jon of the Shred. There are jingle-like songs, from a multitude of genres, that add a little extra flavor to the environments. The orchestral horror background music makes you feel sufficiently on edge while some of the burger-focused tunes are just hilariously catchy. I’ve had the country-themed “Burger Grill Man” and the hip-hop jam “Slingin’ Patties” alternating in my head for days, but I’m not complaining!
Getting started with Happy’s Humble Burger Cult is easy; all you need to do is choose a restaurant and jump into this welcoming pit.
Once you’re inside, you and your crew will need to choose one of two modifiers. Sometimes the modifier is helpful, like order times being doubled; other times it hinders you by adding negative wrinkles like ineffective maps or losing money for wrong orders. There are over 35 different modifier options that can be mixed and matched for a unique playthrough every time.
The modifiers you choose will persist throughout your run. After you finish your shift, which involves meeting an order quota and completing end-of-day tasks like resetting rat traps and putting out fires, you’ll head back to the hub world again. Here, you’ll gear up and can use your hard-earned money to buy outfit pieces, level up your crew, bet on horse races, and much more before you jump back in for the next round.
Now it’s time to jump into your next shift, where you’ll then pick a different modifier to stack on what you already have, alongside increased difficulty for each consecutive shift.
Once you fail to complete a shift, which usually involves a complete collapse of the simulation and being terrorized by the entities living inside it, you’ll return to the hub and need to start from the first shift again, resetting your modifiers and unspent (or unbanked) earnings.
If you’ve ever played a roguelike game like Dead Cells or Neon Abyss, you’re probably familiar with this gameplay loop.
Now that you know a little more about the game and how it works, I want to share all of the reasons I got absolutely hooked on Happy’s Humble Burger Cult.
It’s worth mentioning that I am a huge roguelike fan, so the fact that this entire game is structured around that gameplay model surprised me and instantly made me very excited to play. The sense of progression works well, as every time your crew levels up, you’ll unlock new items and restaurants, which always spices things up. There are also a ton of great options here for character customization. I played with a friend, and it was a lot of fun to see how different our characters looked as we progressed.
Outside of hub world progression, there’s nothing like the thrill of getting the perfect synergy of modifiers that lead to a stretch of amazing shifts, or a hilarious breakdown.
There were quite a few times when my friend and I would be looking at the modifier options and say, “Uhhh, I don’t think we’re making it out of this one.” When we managed to overcome it, it felt good. When we couldn’t, we still had a great time and plenty of laughs.
The co-op nature of the game means there’s more to do compared to previous games. You’ll need to decide who’s going to take orders, whether to accept mobile orders, who will get drinks, who’s in charge of watching the meat cook, and who’s ready to handle any weirdness that comes up during the shift. (Did I mention Toe is back?! He’s a favorite of mine and, even though he’s not the best co-worker, he’s good to have around if you’re playing a solo run; at the very least to have a familiar face to go through fast food Hell with, much like working a difficult shift at a real fast food place!)
Another thing I love about Happy’s Humble Burger Cult is how many restaurants there are to choose from and how each one translates to a totally different experience. As you progress through the game, you’ll get the option to work in 10 different restaurants that all have a unique theme. As such, the environments are different, and the burgers offered at each restaurant are also all unique.
For example, if you’re working at the Festival, you might be tasked with making an EDMMMM. But if you happen to get the Backrooms easter egg map, you might get a chance to make what I find to be the funniest burger in the game:
Happy’s Humble Burger Cult also adds voice commands to the game. The effects range from funny and harmless to a downright death wish. For example, saying “Let us all wobble” gives everyone the “buzzed” status effect, while “Come and get us” will result in an immediate chase. The voice recognition goes beyond commands, as there are also run modifiers that are linked to the words you say, including a swear jar, which I found hilarious.
I was also impressed with just how much there is to do in the hub world. You can play air hockey, blackjack, pool, slot machines, experiment in a test kitchen, and much more. All of these little diversions made for a great downtime to relax and spend our money after a particularly challenging run.
From a horror perspective, Happy’s Humble Burger Cult doesn’t disappoint. Each shift starts normally enough, and it isn’t long before little things start feeling…off. Then, as the timer starts ticking down, things get progressively weirder until you’re eventually being hunted while simultaneously trying to close up the store for the day. It’s thrilling! There are a ton of strange events that add a little unique flavor to each session. With this in mind, I never stop feeling unsettled when I hear the shift siren go off and know that my time to wrap up end-of-day tasks and get the heck out of there is running dangerously short.
Because I know, if I’m not careful, something like this is going to be breathing down my neck:
At the time of this writing, Happy’s Humble Burger Cult just released a massive free update called “Trials by Fryer.” This adds two new restaurants, a PVP multiplayer mode (think Hell’s Kitchen in actual hell), an overhauled cosmetic system, and much more.
All of this adds to an already highly replayable, addicting game. Since I’ve played with a friend and by myself, I can confidently say that both experiences work exceptionally well. Obviously, you’ll have more laughs with friends, but playing alone is still a fun, tense, and satisfying experience.
I’m Happy with Happy’s Humble Burger Games
Overall, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything from the Happy’s Humble Burger series, including the free proof-of-concept game, which speaks volumes about how fun they are to play!
If you’re thinking about getting into these games yourself, I HIGHLY recommend getting Happy’s Humble Burger Cult if you have friends who want to play too. However, if you’re a single-player gamer, I would start with Happy’s Humble Burger Farm so you can fully take in the story before you dive into the (virtually) endless world of Cult.
Have you played any of the Happy’s Humble Burger games? If so, what was YOUR favorite “UH OH” moment with The Barnyard Buds?
*This review was written by Frank Spear. Read more about him in his author bio below!*
Images for this review were provided by Frank Spear and are screenshots from his actual gameplay. Lauren Spear made the featured image by grabbing the logos for each game from their title screens and then put them over a stock photo of ground beef that she made slightly more red/horrifying.
