How people fit or exclude exes in their life varies from person to person, but you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone whose brain doesn’t short circuit when they run into one unexpectedly — especially if the last chat didn’t end on good or satisfactory terms. So imagine what it’s like running into four (and a half?) of them in one week, each with enough personality and grudges to fill a drama club.

That’s part of the premise behind Philippines-based studio Yangyang Mobile’s High Times. “Inspired by Scott Pilgrim, VA-11 Hall-A, Papa’s Donuteria and Good Pizza Great Pizza,” as the team puts it, High Times is a visual novel where your character, a mood confectioner, runs a donut shop called the Hotbox that gets its customers right with some “mood-changing donuts.” The game isn’t subtle about what it’s alluding to — and certainly drives the parallel home with how funny a customer’s face looks once they down a donut — but it never comes right out and calls these donuts edibles. 

And to be fair, these aren’t your parents’ mood enhancers: this visual novel is part cooking sim, where you’re following recipes and unlocking ingredients to conjure specific moods, not just reach a nebulous cloud nine. Want to put some pep in a broken heart’s step? A Vanilla Cheer will put a smile on their face. Need to help a closed-off customer open up more? Serve them up a White Berry which makes them divulge their true feelings. The demo only showed off donuts which cause three moods — Cheer, Sincerity, and Focus — but it’s clear more moods and combinations of donut types, toppings, and glazes are down the line. The cooking minigame was pleasant, if not somewhat simple at first, but I can see it getting more complex once the recipe list grows and the requests get more complicated.

These desserts will be especially handy for the onslaught of exes that will “Omg, is that you?!” you in High Times. The customizable protagonist certainly can’t be accused of having a type: from the rock musician MJ who “forgot” their share of rent and is looking to move back in, to the college cheerleader Emmette you dated during their high school occult phase, to the childhood friend Lucy who can’t stop talking about furry porn, to Mr. Perfect Harry from your university days at the FoodTech Club, you really are dealing with a Scott Pilgrim’s worth of exes as you run the Hotbox. There were also others like best friend and dirty pun opportunist Connor who fill out this colorful cast of adults. The full game promises 20+ customers, all of which will be voice-acted in English, and choice-dependent endings. The voice acting in this demo was pretty solid, featuring the likes of LilyPichu and Johnny Yong Bosch, and further helped distinguish each character as their own person.

What stood out to me most about the High Times demo is its unapologetic sincerity and loose humor, as it mixed funny interactions with some uncomfortably real and awkward conversations. It lets you sing the cringy anime theme song you and Lucy came up with when you were younger, right before she tells you you’re still in her Grudge Note for making her cry. It allows you to throw a donut at Connor’s face — with a comic book-esque animation, to boot — while he reads you like his favorite book and asks if you’re handling your new responsibilities well. It makes you feel the anticipation of waiting for Emmette to recognize you, all while she chats with her twin and gives you her long coffee order (she would later realize it’s not that kind of establishment), followed by the revelation that she’s still a little bitter about how things ended. Rightfully, I might argue, considering how you ghosted her.

High Times wants to have mature conversations about relationships across a lifetime and reckoning with the past when it’s at your counter — how the game balances that with its wackier elements over time will be one of its more interesting challenges. But concerning the demo, I walked away not only wanting to learn more about the exes, friends, and patrons introduced, but also the city San Mazo this is all taking place in. The latter is mostly due to how much the Facenook app’s posts made me laugh. This is a game made by folks who are clearly online, as the timeline runs the familiar gamut of memes, news posts, event advertisements, and individual musings, paired with comment sections that include the usual jokesters, conspiracists, haters, and more. It also has the nice bonus of fleshing out the cast more since you can see their unhinged posts too. Additionally, the tablet used to access Facenook will let you chat with your exes and friends, check recipes, restock donut ingredients, and review the status of your relationships in similarly legally-distinct apps. 

I’m already sensing who will be my favorites, as well as one or two that I’m already trying not to be too down bad for, but the jury is still out considering there’s more customers to meet who will be in need of a donut. High Times is currently set to come out in January 2026, and I’m interested in texting Stacy and Mr. Perfect more seeing what the full game has in store for my mood confectioner.