Publisher: Hexecutable
Platform(s): PC (Steam), TBD
Release Date: TBD
Consume Me is one of those games that absolutely isn’t for everyone. Not because it is bad (it is absolutely wonderful). Not because it is difficult to play or to manage (even though it is not at the release stage yet, it controls quite wonderfully). Nor is it because of the graphic style or music (both are charming).
It’s the game’s subject matter. It’s about managing your weight, trying to fall in love, walking your beloved pet dog, studying hard for school and getting distracted along with a thousand other things, — all while trying to not hate yourself along the way, but sometimes failing miserably at it. Oh, and the inevitable, terrifying, weigh-ins on the scale. It’s a hard, heavy look into the day-to-day life of a teenage girl named Jenny.
Consume Me‘s greatest strength, for me, were the gameplay mechanics themselves. When you’re trying to figure out how much food you’re allowed to eat a day, the food appear in Tetris-like shape blocks you are trying to fit over your hunger blocks while also not exceeding your ‘personal goal’ calorie counts. When you’re walking your dog in a minigame, you’re swinging around the leash and moving forwards in joyful arcs down the street and collecting money. And when you’re facing the scale, you have to forcibly move your feet slowly, one by one, onto it to see where you land at when the dial spins around. And that’s just a few of the ones I experienced in my time with Consume Me.
The gameplay mechanics are simply such an integral part of telling Jenny’s story and expressing who she is that it makes me want to see everything in store for her. In my interview (to be published soon!) with developers Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson, they talk about how Consume Me started as a series of minigames, and you can really tell that here with everything ranging from exercising to folding laundry.
Consume Me‘s graphics style is simple, but charming and expressive. The music, no matter really whatever else is happening in the game, is frequently upbeat and joyful. The writing? Often dark. Jenny’s mother – or Jenny herself in her bedroom mirror – is often negative about her body and appearance, and you can’t help but feel bad for her as she is going through these formative years.
I ultimately went through only one week as Jenny in Consume Me, and she had quite a week trying to balance everything in her life during that time. And yes, I did ‘successfully’ (for lack of a better term) hit her desired weight goal for the week. But what a week she had.
Whenever Consume Me is released, if you can handle the subject matter (there is a lengthy warning at the start of the game that you have to read through first), then I think it is a game worth playing. It won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and the Nuovo Award at the 2025 Independent Games Festival after all, and that is for good reason.
Are you excited for Consume Me to be released?
What kind of chores did you have to do while growing up?
Let us know in the comments below!
