Back in March at Pax East I had the opportunity to play High Times an upcoming donut dating sim. It didn’t take a mood enhancing donut to make me immediately fall in love with the concept, the style, and the game play. So when the opportunity to get hands on with more content for the game came around I was absolutely in. This preview would take us deeper into the timeline of the game, providing us a look of more donut creation methods and introducing us to who may become a fan favorite character.
Diving right in
We find ourselves at a bus stop taking in the beautiful sunset when a femme fatale finds her way to us and begins chatting. The mysterious tourist wants to know what haunts us these days. Apparently all of our regrets stem from failed relationships or chances we didn’t take. The most recent ex who set the workplace on fire, a one night stand we wish we kept in touch with, the college ex, and the best friend who is just a friend to name a few. There are six specific options and for those who have played the demo, perhaps you recognize the outlines.
Before you know it you’re back at work ready to serve donuts to your customers. They’ll come in and chat a little bit before ordering a specific donut. In this preview we had all of our recipes unlocked for us. It was amazing to see the variety of donuts that players will be able to serve. Unfortunately for my stomach, they all look delicious and I’m unable to eat these pixels.
Thankfully, the game is also aware that players won’t recall everything about the donuts so you can filter out your recipes based on your needs. Do you need to evoke a certain mood and your customer doesn’t care about the flavor? Or is the flavor more important to them? Sort through and see what will make them happy to get a nice additional tip. If you provide them an incorrect donut they will (usually) nicely tell you it wasn’t quite what they were hoping for. Don’t worry, they seem like they’ll come back again later.
During the work shift you’ll see a few customers, so don’t be too panicked if you ruin one request. Unless of course you were trying to get on their good side. At the end of the shift you’ll also have an opportunity to review notifications on your phone. Check what some of your friendly customers are doing on Facenook, respond to text messages, or review your recipes. It seems like the phones will have quite a bit more for players to see upon the full release including Tender. A play on Tinder perhaps?
Breaking the Wall
The gameplay loop repeats each day until the end of the preview. I have to give the developers a lot of credit here. I’ve said on GSC’s Girl Pod before that I love when games break the fourth wall. That is exactly what High Times does to usher you nicely into the end of this preview. It’s worth noting as any game that is willing to poke fun at itself is a win in my book. It also highlights the attention to detail that developers are providing for those experiencing these builds. When they take the time to do this for demos, one has to wonder how much they put into their full game. If the cleverness of the puns is any indication, I’m ready for more.
Voice Acting
One of the bits that keeps me consistently impressed with High Times is the voice acting. While the game does have a few big names that you expect great work from, everyone truly brings their characters to life. The cast comes with a wide range of experience yet they all deliver. Whether it is Eileen Montgomery as Riri who really makes you believe she’s possibly a princess with an obsession for chickens or Kayli Mills as streamer Zoey everyone brings a wonderful flair to their roles.
When it comes to dating sims that have voice acting good casting can really help you fall for a character. Whether its because the character is meant to have the sultry voice or be a bit rough around the edges, when a game has voice acting, it has to match the vibe of the character. There hasn’t been a single character that we’ve met that feels like their voice doesn’t match. Great job by the casting team to make sure the characters feel as real as their words, actions, and struggles.
Music
The intro song is infectious. For those who enjoy some classic pop punk music, more on the pop side, you may find yourself head nodding along. This intro song truly sets the stage for what we are about to explore. Even when you begin to customize your main character, the music remains upbeat and just a bit positive sounding. Quite interesting for a game that has introduced us to the idea that we regret certain aspects of our past relationships. Then again, we may not be able to eat the mood enhancing donuts from the game, but we sure can enjoy the mood enhancing music.
Overall
High Times is shaping up to be a delicious donut dating sim that I can’t wait to get my hands on. I knew this would be the case when I played the demo at Pax East, but this has solidified my need for this one. If you want to hear more before it releases, check out our bite sized interview from Pax East. If you want some more, subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified of our upcoming interview with Carlos, one of the developers on High Times.
High Times releases July 23, 2026 on Steam, Itch, Epic Game Store, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Thank you to Yangyang Mobile for this preview code of High Times.
