Imagine a world where, instead of coffee or alcohol, the hot new controlled substance is the mood-altering chemical compounds in various donut ingredients. Now imagine this world is full of cute anime people constantly drifting through your donut shop to chat, flirt, and have their emotions temporarily altered by frosting, sprinkles, and dough. That’s the world of High Times, an upcoming visual novel dating game from Filipino studio Yangyang Mobile that’s due out this May. Based on a preview at PAX East and a hands-on demo, the game presents a stylish new twist on the dating sim genre, blending Scott Pilgrim-esque aesthetics, fully-voiced character interactions, and a premise that intriguingly balances charm with a darker undercurrent of emotional manipulation.
The Premise of a Mood Confectioner
In High Times, you play as a fully customizable Mood Confectioner working at The Hotbox, a donut shop licensed to sell mood-enhancing donuts. Chatter from early customers indicates this is a relatively new phenomenon in this near-future world, leading to a mix of skeptics and donut-curious folks wandering through. More importantly, your public-facing job gives you a chance to reconnect with your various charming exes. The game establishes your character as canonically bisexual, allowing for flirting with essentially every character that enters—except the really depressed guy needing cheering up.
Characters and Rekindled Connections
During the preview, interactions were demonstrated with a cast of fully-voiced characters styled in a vibrant, Scott Pilgrim-inspired league of exes. As a character named “Khorri” with neon blue hair, players reconnect with exes like the wild punk rocker MJ Hayes (voiced by Nola Klop), the caffeine-obsessed cheerleading sensation Emmette Meine (Ciarán Strange), and Mood Confectioner rival Harry Yen (Johnny Yong Bosch). The dialogue options are a key feature, offering an interesting mix of trolling or negging if flirting is your goal, building intimacy through clever, often humorous exchanges.
The Mechanics of Donut Therapy
As a Mood Confectioner, you’re not just selling donuts; you’re serving as an amateur therapist. Donut flavors have distinct psychological effects: blueberry makes people more sincere, chocolate increases focus, and white berry opens them up about their true feelings. You can use these strategically in romance, but you’re also meant to talk to patrons about their problems, offering advice and mood enhancements accordingly. Sometimes, this means giving them something they didn’t ask for, because you know it will be good for them. This introduces a compelling ethical tension into the gameplay.
Starting From Scratch and Mastering Craft
You begin High Times with a devastating nerf: the business owner went AWOL on a honeymoon and sold all the expensive ingredients, leaving you to manage with just plain vanilla. As you chat with patrons and earn money, you gradually unlock more ingredients. Making the donuts initially feels like a brainless ASMR treat—rolling dough, cutting shapes, frying, and adding toppings. However, it’s deceptively challenging. Holding down the button to frost layers more topping but drains your bank account, teaching players that being a bit sloppy is more advantageous than perfectionism. This economic layer adds depth to the simple crafting activity.
The World’s Cheeky Rebrands
One of the standout writing choices in High Times is its full-court press of cheeky rebrands for familiar websites and platforms. Characters reference Starducks coffee, buy ingredients from Hamazon, check Facenook notifications, and follow influencer Stacy Ortiz on Pentagram. When a character mentions their favorite movie is Rock School starring Black Jack, it completes a world-building technique that feels consistent and humorous, making this strange setting more realistic in its own satirical way.
The Core Tension: Flirting versus Manipulation
High Times works best when it leans into the central tension of its premise: you’re not just flirting with customers; you’re manipulating how they feel. Even in this lighthearted, pastel-colored world full of jokes, there’s something uncanny about deciding whether someone should be more honest, focused, or vulnerable—and baking that into a donut. It’s messy, a little unethical, and surprisingly compelling. This tension elevates the game beyond a typical horny dating sim, suggesting a genuinely thoughtful experience that investigates how we try (and fail) to fix each other.
Visual Panache and Playful Tone
The game’s presentation, as seen at PAX East, is colorful and splashy, matching its Scott Pilgrim-inspired aesthetics. The donuts themselves are very pretty to look at, adding to the visual appeal. The tone is consistently playful, with writing that allows for silly lies and engaging banter, as demonstrated when Emmette doesn’t remember you and you can claim to be a wanted criminal or a porn star. This blend of style and humor ensures the experience is engaging from a purely entertainment standpoint.
If the full release of High Times can maintain the balance between its inherent charm, horniness, and the deeper ethical questions its premise naturally raises, it promises to be more than just another easygoing dating sim. It could be a standout title that uses its unique donut-shop romance framework to deliver both laughs and a subtle critique of emotional dynamics, all wrapped in a stylish, fully-voiced package that’s best not played on an empty stomach.
