Ever since I attended PAX East earlier this year, I’ve been hearing a lot about an indie game called High Times. I thought it was cool because it looked like a mix between visual novel, dating simulator, and cooking simulator. Screenshots also showed a cool art style and some beautiful character designs. I’m not going to do a full review until later, but I was able to try out the first hour, and it was awesome.
You play as a Mood Confectioner. Basically you run your very own donut shop. Customers come in looking for donuts and your job is to make them. They’ll want a specific kind of donut, but you have complete control over each pastry. You can change the shape, frosting, icing, filling, and sprinkles. Each option alters the mood of your customer, just don’t ask how. The donut side of the game is good, but the people are what makes it great.
You’re just having casual conversations with all your customers. You listen to their problems, learn so much about them, and then you become best buds with them. You also get to learn so much about the fictional world despite never leaving your shop. The customers are fully voiced too, and the voice actors all do a great job too. The humor and writing is fantastic too.
High Times is lots of fun and I can’t wait to play it when it comes out next month. The game will release July 23rd, and you can try out the demo now to see if you’ll like it. You can also follow the developer to see updates leading up to release.