It’s officially Friday the 13th, a truly cursed day for anyone who believes in that sort of thing. What better way to slightly unsettle myself than by taking my lunch break to dive into what can only be described as a playable Animal Crossing creepypasta?
Harvest Festival 64 is the result of the 72–hour Ludum Dare game jam, made by German hobbyist developer Warrrkus with music by fellow solo game developer Modus Interactive.
With just the word “harvest” as the prompt, Warrrkus decided to create a 10-minute Animal Crossing-inspired game with a twist. Everything may start out resonating the adorable aesthetic of Nintendo’s first foray into the cosy sim, but don’t be too fooled. Things take a dark turn into some real creepypasta-level stuff. It’s a great way to spend a quick part of your lunch break or add a bit of spookiness to your morning while your coffee’s brewing.
Harvest Festival 64 does a wonderful job of capturing the vibes of the older Animal Crossing games—without all the grid-based BS—with water and grass textures that capture the look perfectly. Perhaps the only thing that isn’t wildly on-point is the fact that you’re unexplainably the only human in a world filled with anthropomorphic talking animals. Even the music has that lovely Animal Crossing twang with gentle accordions and relaxed vibes… for most of the game, anyway.
You can check out Harvest Festival 64 for free on itch.io, or alternatively chip in some money for the download.