PAX East 2026 – High Times: Crafting Donuts & Moods

I have a soft spot for the fascinating intersection of food/drink service and visual novel (thanks, Since Coffee Talk and VA-11 HALL-A). After spending half an hour with High Times at PAX East, I continue to enjoy this particular setting/gameplay blend. A donut shop sim mixed with a dating sim may have a very different vibe than a coffee shop or cyberpunk bar, but its great atmosphere, compelling cast, and fun, evolving gameplay shot High Times way higher on my wish list.

The next game from Yangyang Mobile, a team from the Philippines that is no stranger to visual novels, High Times makes a strong impression right away with its bright, crisp comic book-style visuals. The devs do list Scott Pilgrim as one of their influences, after all! I appreciate how deep the comic book inspiration runs, with comic panel cutscenes, bold, angular text boxes, and halftone patterns across the interface. But a nice glaze and rainbow sprinkles only do so much if the underlying donut isn’t delicious, so let’s move past this forced metaphor and get into what playing High Times is like!

The demo started off with a letter from our boss at The Hotbox (and yes, the shop name gives you an idea of some of the humor you can expect in High Times) telling us he’s out of town and that, to fund his trip, he sold most of our ingredients! Rude, but this does work well from a gameplay perspective, allowing you to gradually unlock new flavors, toppings, and whatever else the game will toss at you. But the flavors themselves are only part of the equation — you aren’t just selling regular donuts at The Hotbox, but mood-altering donuts.

That’s right, in the reality of High Times, safe, legal, mood-altering food is perfectly on the level, so it’s your job as a mood confectioner (honestly, what a great job title) to find the right combination of flavors and toppings to help your patrons’ moods. (That the devs hit 420% of their funding goal on Kickstarter is really just the icing on the… well, you know.) Meeting new people, old friends, and several of your exes, and making dialogue choices will help you determine their mood and what will help. Do they need something to help with patience, sincerity, frustration, etc.? There’s a donut for that! Early on, donut-making is pretty straightforward: roll the dough, stamp out the shape, and pop it in the boiler — just don’t let it burn! Then you add glaze and toppings as needed. No doubt more advanced recipes will add more to the mix down the line.

As fun as making these colorful donuts is, though, High Times is all about the characters and relationships. It is a cooking and dating sim, after all. I met several characters in my half hour with the game and enjoyed the variety, even in that brief time. While I slightly questioned my first customer, an over-the-top laid-back “duuuuude” type, I loved the other characters. They’re all well-designed, expressive, and fully voice acted by talented folk. Some of the characters were new to my protagonist, but I also met MJ — one of “your” many exes that will frequent The Hotbox — and their pre-established relationship made for great dialogue, loaded with humor and emotion. I look forward to meeting the rest of the cast in due time! Personally, I will be pondering which romance option to pursue, but each dateable character will have three routes based on your choices: A romantic “good” route, a platonic “good” route, or a “bad” one. It’s great to see all of these options for different players’ preferences.

Presumably, the version of the game I played is the same or similar to the public demo on Steam, so I definitely recommend checking it out if you want to explore this colorful world of vibrant characters and expressive dialogue. Oh, and donuts. Lots of donuts. In fact, it may be best to get a snack before you play, lest you get hungry and make an impulsive DoorDash delivery order based on everyone swooning over your donut skills.

At the moment, High Times is scheduled to release sometime in Q2 2026, so if all goes according to plan, The Hotbox will be open for business within the next couple of months. The plan is to bring the game to Windows, macOS, Switch, and mobile devices.