Hexcraft: Harlequin Fair is a game that, for most, will probably feel entirely unapproachable, with its total disregard for linearity, lack of player guidance, and esoteric objectives. These are all by design and those willing to delve deeper into Oleander Garden's lonely, isolated vision of Toronto will be rewarded with a game as complex as it is short and sweet.
Harlequin Fair consists of traveling to different areas of Toronto, discovering hidden dungeons and esoteric items, and figuring out where to use them. That sounds all good until you realize you're not the only person gunning for these items. The NPCs you'll find throughout the game have their own agencies and objectives, including the items you need. Oftentimes, you'll have to interact with NPCs to discover where certain other NPCs have traveled to, or any rumors they've heard. This is your only hint as to their whereabouts and discovering how to progress. Uncovering this veritable puzzle box you've found yourself in is often confusing and requires a lot of player experimentation and guesswork, not only in terms of its mechanics but also in terms of exploration and NPC interaction. This can make Harlequin Fair often confusing and frustrating, but there's nothing more satisfying than unraveling one of its many mysteries. It's all surprisingly complex and nuanced, and while there's only a handful of hub worlds, you'll certainly be searching for a long time, trying to make meaning of everything. Finding new spells, weapons, and combat abilities to increase your power means that you can get riskier as the game goes on, and going from meekly creeping around Toronto to being able to disintegrate other characters into red mist is immensely enjoyable. One of the most memorable moments was when I was exploring a dungeon and an NPC who wanted one of my items got the drop on me. I didn't expect it at all and it opened my eyes to just how autonomous the neutral characters truly are.
There are only three real complaints I have, being the combat, lack of quality-of-life features, and to a lesser degree, NPC interaction. Combat is certainly not the main draw of Harlequin Fair and by all means it's perfectly competent, but most of the time it feels like a "numbers go up" kind of experience which, while not inherently a bad thing does mean that enemy encounters frankly rely less on your skillset and more on whatever you're wearing. Guns have bad feedback, the shotgun is practically a useless weapon (I found better weapons far before I ever found the shotgun), and enemies don't have much AI other than charging at you. It's fine as is but I would have appreciated something more engaging. As for quality of life, it could use some polish. Saving kicks the player back to the main menu, there are no adjustable options other than key rebinding, and swapping spells on the fly takes too long to be viable in an active combat scenario. Finally, for all the emphasis the game puts on characters, the ways you can actually interact with them one-on-one are sort of limited to asking them a few questions. I'm not asking to glean anything from them, considering the dialog is often as esoteric as the game itself, but rather I wish I could learn more of their eccentricities. All of these are ultimately minor issues, but they were notable to me.
Harlequin Fair's presentation is also notable. The version of Toronto you explore is dingy, brown, and oddly medieval. The game has a low-fi aesthetic with low polygon counts, sprite-based characters, and a soundscape that largely focuses on natural ambiance with minimal music. Random stores will have grainy number stations playing over the radio, environments have downright bizarre decorations at points and the audio design is often hauntingly effective. The game feels lonely and isolating despite featuring towns populated by people. It's consistently unnerving and during my first play session, I was fairly spooked, though that did subside once I discovered how simplistically the enemies behave. Vivian is a player-insert silent protagonist and therefore you can choose whether she mostly guns down zombies and evil warlocks or turns a shopkeeper into a gory mess with a well-timed spell just to steal 50 bucks from a cash register. Playing her as a weird goblin hermit adds to this sense of isolation, and when few of the other characters are right in the head, it makes the world of Harlequin Fair a downright bizarre one, and perhaps the game's second-best asset.
Hexcraft: Harlequin Fair is an absolutely bizarre find that I would never have discovered had it not been recommended to me. Its unique approach to non-linear gameplay is going to alienate if not enrage some, but I found it engrossing in a way I've never seen before. Is it perfect? No, combat could feel better and the game is a bit rough around the edges, but nothing quite feels like Harlequin Fair. If you have the stomach to figure out its unique design and engross yourself in its uncomfortable world, you'll be rewarded with a great game. We need more developers willing to take risks like this.
Harlequin Fair consists of traveling to different areas of Toronto, discovering hidden dungeons and esoteric items, and figuring out where to use them. That sounds all good until you realize you're not the only person gunning for these items. The NPCs you'll find throughout the game have their own agencies and objectives, including the items you need. Oftentimes, you'll have to interact with NPCs to discover where certain other NPCs have traveled to, or any rumors they've heard. This is your only hint as to their whereabouts and discovering how to progress. Uncovering this veritable puzzle box you've found yourself in is often confusing and requires a lot of player experimentation and guesswork, not only in terms of its mechanics but also in terms of exploration and NPC interaction. This can make Harlequin Fair often confusing and frustrating, but there's nothing more satisfying than unraveling one of its many mysteries. It's all surprisingly complex and nuanced, and while there's only a handful of hub worlds, you'll certainly be searching for a long time, trying to make meaning of everything. Finding new spells, weapons, and combat abilities to increase your power means that you can get riskier as the game goes on, and going from meekly creeping around Toronto to being able to disintegrate other characters into red mist is immensely enjoyable. One of the most memorable moments was when I was exploring a dungeon and an NPC who wanted one of my items got the drop on me. I didn't expect it at all and it opened my eyes to just how autonomous the neutral characters truly are.
There are only three real complaints I have, being the combat, lack of quality-of-life features, and to a lesser degree, NPC interaction. Combat is certainly not the main draw of Harlequin Fair and by all means it's perfectly competent, but most of the time it feels like a "numbers go up" kind of experience which, while not inherently a bad thing does mean that enemy encounters frankly rely less on your skillset and more on whatever you're wearing. Guns have bad feedback, the shotgun is practically a useless weapon (I found better weapons far before I ever found the shotgun), and enemies don't have much AI other than charging at you. It's fine as is but I would have appreciated something more engaging. As for quality of life, it could use some polish. Saving kicks the player back to the main menu, there are no adjustable options other than key rebinding, and swapping spells on the fly takes too long to be viable in an active combat scenario. Finally, for all the emphasis the game puts on characters, the ways you can actually interact with them one-on-one are sort of limited to asking them a few questions. I'm not asking to glean anything from them, considering the dialog is often as esoteric as the game itself, but rather I wish I could learn more of their eccentricities. All of these are ultimately minor issues, but they were notable to me.
Harlequin Fair's presentation is also notable. The version of Toronto you explore is dingy, brown, and oddly medieval. The game has a low-fi aesthetic with low polygon counts, sprite-based characters, and a soundscape that largely focuses on natural ambiance with minimal music. Random stores will have grainy number stations playing over the radio, environments have downright bizarre decorations at points and the audio design is often hauntingly effective. The game feels lonely and isolating despite featuring towns populated by people. It's consistently unnerving and during my first play session, I was fairly spooked, though that did subside once I discovered how simplistically the enemies behave. Vivian is a player-insert silent protagonist and therefore you can choose whether she mostly guns down zombies and evil warlocks or turns a shopkeeper into a gory mess with a well-timed spell just to steal 50 bucks from a cash register. Playing her as a weird goblin hermit adds to this sense of isolation, and when few of the other characters are right in the head, it makes the world of Harlequin Fair a downright bizarre one, and perhaps the game's second-best asset.
Hexcraft: Harlequin Fair is an absolutely bizarre find that I would never have discovered had it not been recommended to me. Its unique approach to non-linear gameplay is going to alienate if not enrage some, but I found it engrossing in a way I've never seen before. Is it perfect? No, combat could feel better and the game is a bit rough around the edges, but nothing quite feels like Harlequin Fair. If you have the stomach to figure out its unique design and engross yourself in its uncomfortable world, you'll be rewarded with a great game. We need more developers willing to take risks like this.