High Times is a remarkable hybrid of a game. It charmingly lets us run a café by mixing in cooking mini-games and asking us to find love. It takes those ideas and combines them into something surprisingly cohesive. It’s not simply about serving food as quickly as possible. Here, we’re expected to listen. Every customer who walks through the doors of our business brings their own emotional baggage. Our job isn’t just to fill their stomachs—it’s to figure out what kind of donut might help them get through it.
Just like all gamers, we went into High Times with plenty of emotional baggage. We soon realized that High Times was just like a mood-altering donut. A few hours later, we realized the devs had made the ultimate mood-altering donut and it’s their game.
The heart of the game is its dialogue, and that’s where High Times shines brightest.
The acting is top of the line. Every actor gives their character a unique personality that immediately stands out. At first glance, some of them lean into familiar stereotypes. The laid-back stoner is exactly the kind of person you’d expect to hear saying, “Whoa, dude.” But that’s only the first impression. Spend a little time talking to everyone, and those stereotypes slowly peel away to reveal characters with their own fears, ambitions, insecurities, and complicated emotions.
It makes chatting with customers surprisingly engaging. Rather than clicking through dialogue as quickly as possible, we found ourselves carefully reading every response before making a decision. The writers clearly didn’t settle for several versions of the same answer. Instead, each option often approaches the chat from a completely different angle. Some are thoughtful, some sarcastic, and others are downright hilarious. More than once, we struggled to pick a response simply because several sounded equally interesting, and we genuinely wanted to see how the character would react.
Even when the consequences are fairly small and limited to the current dialog, it still feels rewarding to nudge discussions in different directions. Over time, helping people work through their problems slowly improves your relationship with them. Fill their affection meter, and your connection naturally begins to grow into something more personal.
The romance feels like a natural extension of these conversations instead of something that’s forced onto the player. With six romance options and multiple endings tied to both your dialogue choices and the donuts you serve, there’s enough variety to encourage another playthrough if you’re curious about seeing different outcomes.
Once a conversation reaches its natural conclusion, it’s time to head into the kitchen and put your advice into practice.
“Sometimes it’s our cravings that keep us sane.”
Making donuts usually boils down to a series of simple mini-games. You’ll prepare the dough, shape it, fry it, and finish everything off with different glazes and toppings. None of these activities are particularly difficult, but they don’t need to be. They serve as a relaxing break between longer conversations while giving you just enough to do to feel involved.
The interesting part comes from choosing the ingredients.
Every ingredient influences the emotional effect of the finished donut. Depending on what someone needs, you can bake something that boosts confidence, sparks creativity, improves focus, or simply brightens their mood. Since customers don’t always know what’s best for them, figuring out the right emotional recipe becomes part of solving their problems. It’s a clever idea that ties the cooking directly into the storytelling instead of making it feel like two separate systems stitched together.
As your business grows, so do your options. New recipes, equipment, decorations, and ingredients gradually unlock, allowing you to expand the shop while giving yourself more ways to help future customers. We found this system to be an incredibly satisfying progression mechanic that constantly gives you another small goal to work toward without overwhelming the cozy pace.
Outside of work, the game slows down even further. At the end of each day, we can unwind by browsing social media, reading posts, and leaving likes behind. They’re short little moments, but much like the dialogue, they’re filled with humor and personality that make the world feel lived in rather than existing solely around the player.
Visually, High Times embraces a colorful comic book presentation filled with expressive character portraits and animated illustrations that do a great job selling each emotional moment. The main character can also be customized with different hairstyles, outfits, and appearances, making it easier to feel like this version of the story belongs to you. The game doesn’t lock you into a gender. You’re simply a person running a donut shop, and every romance option is available regardless of how you customize your character.
Most of the time, we’re treated to mellow lo-fi tracks with occasional rock and city pop influences mixed in. Combined with the bright visuals and laid-back atmosphere, the music creates a warm, welcoming space that makes it easy to lose track of time. The entire game radiates positive energy without becoming overly sweet or unrealistic. Somehow, it makes the idea of a donut shop replacing coffee as everyone’s emotional support feel completely believable.
There are so many games that walk a similar road, but they don’t succeed. High Times succeeds mostly because it knows how to keep people invested. You don’t always need violence or world-ending stakes for that. Sometimes all it takes is a comfortable place, more than a few memorable conversations, and, of course, the right donut at the right time. For a while, we found a home in High Times, and in that home, we found conversations worth coming back for.
If our review left you curious about how High Times came together, we also had the chance to sit down with the development team. They shared the ideas behind the game’s unusual blend of cooking, conversations, and romance, along with the challenges of bringing it all to life. You can read the full interview below.
- Developer: Yangyang Mobile
- Publisher: Yangyang Mobile
- Platforms: PC (Steam)
- Release Date: July 23, 2026
- Genre: Visual Novel / Dating Sim/ Cozu/ Cooking
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