Guide to HoYo Fest 2021 theme cafe in Singapore

The much anticipated HoYo FEST Theme Café has opened its doors in Singapore, offering theme merchandise and F&B from the company’s top three games.

Locating the place might be tricky, as the entrance is located at the exterior of Esplanade Mall, which is near the drop-off point. But once you are near the shop, things become easily recognisable, as a wall of game characters from Honkai Impact 3rd welcomes you to the themed cafe.

For the Singapore Edition of the HoYo FEST event, one does not simply walk into the Aniplus Cafe to buy HoYo FEST merchandise and food. Fans actually have to purchase themed food items from their menu, and then head over to the merchandise counter with the receipt to qualify to purchase the HoYo FEST exclusive merchandise, if they are still in stock. 

Here’s the bad news – due to overwhelming demand, limited supply of merchandise and Covid-19 restrictions, you would need to pre-book a slot to dine in, or a slot to collect your pre-purchased food for takeaway at the cafe’s website.

Only after you purchased a themed food item and received your receipt are you allowed to purchase the Hoyofest exclusive merchandise at the cafe. Do note that each person can buy only 5 exclusive items, and the purchase of items of the same design is not allowed. You can check out the exclusive merchandise here. 

To avoid disappointment in obtaining merchandise (because no one really goes there for the food), which still gets sold out pretty fast despite the limitations, it is recommended that guests pre-book a slot as early in the day as possible.

This is because the HoYo FEST team restocks the merchandise daily, just as the store opens. The earliest time slot for dine-in would be 12.30pm, while the earliest time slot to pick up your takeaway is 1.30pm. Spending a certain amount will also entitle you to certain free gifts.

Do note that HoYo FEST features three different games, and the free gifts you receive will be of the featured game based on the date you visit the cafe:

• Honkai Impact 3rd: Nov 5 ~ Nov 16
• Tears of Themis: Nov 19 ~ Nov 30
• Genshin Impact: Dec 3 ~ Dec 14

Featured items

Of the items available at the HoYo FEST. The top pick would be the HoYo FEST acrylic standee, featuring characters from all three games from miHoYo.

Another favourite would be this postcard celebrating Honkai Impact 3rd’s 4th anniversary with the Marina Bay Sands and KL towers in the background. This item can be received as a free gift when you purchase food items hitting a certain amount from the menu.

There were also displays of upcoming merchandise from Tears of Themis and Genshin Impact, hinting at what is coming up next during the next few weeks.

F&B menu items

HoYo FEST kicked off with Honkai Impact 3rd-themed food, and the menu items are as follows:

The food might seem a little pricey and vaguely in theme, but as noted, no one is here for the food. Think of it as an entrance fee that entitles you to purchase the much-coveted merchandise.

Closing thoughts

It was quite a dampener that this event does not allow walk-ins, even for takeaways, and there is a restriction of two people per table.

Also, the merchandise is gated by the food purchase, and are very limited to purchase, which tends to run out by the end of the day. But for fans who want to get their hands on the exclusive limited edition game merchandise not available elsewhere, there’s no other option.

As the event spans a few weeks, there is a chance that when restrictions are lifted, the cafe can open up and be a great place for gaming khakis to hang out to enjoy themed food. Otherwise, we can just hope that this event returns again next year, hopefully with a bigger venue.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.