What is High Times?
High Times is a cooking/dating sim visual novel from YangYang Mobile with a premise as loaded as its donuts. You run The Hotbox, a donut shop in the city of San Mazo, but you aren’t serving ordinary donuts. These donuts are laced with drugs “mood enhancers” that let you literally serve someone a better day. The bigger wrinkle? For reasons the exclusive demo leaves unexplained, all of your past exes have moved to San Mazo and now frequent your shop. You will face each of these ghosts from your past, and finally have a shot at rekindling what you lost, getting closure, or possibly making it worse.
This is a game about mending broken relationships one deep-fried, substance-laced pastry at a time. I went hands-on with the exclusive demo, and I’m already itching for the full release.
Developer/Publisher: YangYang Mobile
Platform: PC (Steam, Itch.io, Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5
MSRP: TBD
Release Date: July 23, 2026
Previewed On: PC (Steam)
Presentation & Soundtrack — An Aesthetic You Can Taste
Animated character sprites bring the cast to life, and the art style is fantastic, carrying a comic book flair that gives every scene a bit of pop. The character designs are a highlight, with each personality standing out in their own distinct way visually. Crafting your donut is a treat in its own right. The layout of your kitchen, the animation as your dough hits the deep fryer, the sheer variety of toppings, and that satisfying final moment when a donut comes together are all a visual vibe that YangYang Mobile absolutely nails.
If I have one nitpick, I wish the character creator offered a few more afro-centric hair options outside of dreads and more outfits, as the two available options are both not to my liking, but it’s far from a deal breaker.
The soundtrack is just as catchy, with poppy, rocky tunes that enrich the background and set the mood while you listen to the fully voiced dialogue of everyone who comes through the shop. That voice work carries some famous names too, with a cast that includes Nola Klop, LilyPichu, and Johnny Yong Bosch. Every character is fully voiced except the main character, and it goes a long way toward making San Mazo feel alive.
Narrative — Ghosts of Your Past
The demo opens with the MC meeting a mysterious woman at a bus stop. She asks about their past—whether they carry any regrets, and whether one specific person comes to mind, someone they’d want to rekindle things with or finally get closure from. Then she cryptically hints that they just might get that chance, and takes her leave.
From there, the demo seemingly fast-forwards deep into the game. By the time I regained control, I’d already been reintroduced to the six love interests, five being exes pulled from different chapters of the MC’s life. They range from a childhood friend to a very recent breakup that ended with arson.
It’s also clear early on that High Times is a very LGBT-friendly game. Your character has dated both men and women across those past relationships, which makes the protagonist canonically bisexual at the very least, with plenty of room for that identity to run even deeper.
The Cast — Not a Normal Soul in San Mazo (Except Connor)
The characters in High Times are all distinct and eccentric, most of the time in a great way. In fact, I’m convinced there isn’t a single normal person in the entire city—except Connor, but we’ll get to him.
MJ is a certified punk rocker and the most recent ex. She’s loud, has a short temper, and is prone to picking fights and starting fires. She also plays with her band at the shop. Lucy is the childhood friend who never outgrew the things she loved as a kid. With rainbow-colored hair, a single colored contact, and an “Itadakimasu” before every donut, she embodies a weeb in its purest form. Emmette is the overachieving cheerleader who dated the MC in high school. She works hard, rarely rests, and comes attached to a twin sister named Emma who is stuck to her like glue. The MC is seemingly the one who wronged her, causing the relationship to collapse.
Stacy is the fierce Latina party girl, a one-night stand who shared a passionate evening with the MC and then vanished, leaving behind lingering regret. Harry is a reserved, comparatively normal fellow mood confectioner from your college days. He’s uptight and quick to criticize your confections, but always comes back for more (major tsundere energy). And then there’s Connor, your best friend since childhood and the only romanceable character you haven’t dated. He’s the vanilla anchor in a city of oddballs.
Plenty of other characters and customers round out the cast, and somehow they’re all just as bursting with personality.
Dialogue — Funny, Flirty, and Completely Unhinged
The writing in this demo is hilarious in a completely out-there kind of way. With nearly everyone operating on their own eccentric wavelength, the interactions between the cast and the cool, calm, collected protagonist are consistently funny.
You’ll also make dialogue choices during certain conversations that shift your relationship with whoever you’re talking to, so how you respond genuinely matters. Those decisions carry real weight across the full game, too, with certain characters branching toward two or three possible endings depending on your choices.
High Times doesn’t shy away from getting a little promiscuous with its sexual themes either, though don’t expect any full frontal. It threads mature content and comedy without tipping into gratuitous territory.
Honestly, the well-written, wildly unique characters and premise are half the reason I’m excited to play the full release.
Gameplay (Donut Therapy) — Puff, Puff Pass-try
The other half is the donut crafting, which is as addictive as it is satisfying. If you’ve played something like Coffee Talk or VA-11 Hall-A, you’ll immediately understand the rhythm here.
The donuts you sell can affect a customer’s mood. If someone walks in feeling sad, you can whip up a pastry that turns that frown upside down. If they need to lock in on work, you can craft a treat that sets their brain to peak.
Customers come in and open up about their problems, and sometimes they’ll tell you exactly what they want. Other times, you’ll have to read between the lines of the conversation and figure out the perfect donut yourself. It’s a loop that turns cooking into a puzzle and active listening exercise. However, there is an option to have the customer clearly state what they want if you’re not feeling the puzzle-y nature.
Gameplay (The Kitchen) — 60 Recipes and Growing
In the kitchen, you’ll craft all kinds of donuts with over 60 base recipes. In the demo, I had access to all of them right from the start, though in the full game you’ll unlock them as you progress through the story. The recipe app itself is thoroughly organized, letting you sort and filter by mood, flavor, topping, taste, and donut type to find exactly what you need. The donut names are very creative and sometimes hilarious, such as Royal Blood, Red Meat, and Post-nut Clarity. Although sometimes the customer will want something that’s not on your menu.
Customization runs deep, with four different donut shapes and nine mood-enhancing flavors ranging from Vanilla to Red Velvet to Matcha, each tied to a different effect like Cheer, Inspiration, or Courage. Add in nine types of toppings that bring their own flavors and textures, plus options for filling and icing, and you’ve got a lot of room to experiment.
You can freely ice, top, fill, and draw on your donut to your heart’s content—but don’t go overboard. The more toppings you pile on, the more money drains from your account, so spoiling your favorite customer with a loaded creation isn’t always the smart play.
Failing to make the right donut has consequences too. Get it wrong, and your customer leaves early and unsatisfied, cutting the conversation and compensation short. For romanceable characters, that means no progress on your relationship as well. Between the crafting and your dialogue choices, landing the right donut and the right words is the key to ending up with your fave.
Final Thoughts — Worth the Sugar Rush
Between the standout cast, the sharp and unhinged writing, and a donut-crafting loop that had me hooked, this demo left me hungry for more. There are small rough edges, like the limited character creator options, but nothing that dampened the experience. If YangYang Mobile can sustain this energy across the full game with meaningful choices and satisfying endings, San Mazo could be one of the most memorable settings of the year. High Times is out July 23, 2026 across PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
Special thanks to YangYang Mobile for providing a key to this exclusive demo.
