Consume Me

Jenny Jiao Hsia's dazzling, semi-autobiographical tale of teenage life finds wit and warmth in its WarioWare weirdness, even as it deals with difficult themes.

Consume Me is teeming with creativity and personality, and for that, it's earned a special place in my heart.

A teenage slice-of-life tale, an energy-management challenge and a satire of diet culture – this indie award-winner is a flavoursome treat

Consume Me is a pure delight to indulge in with a style that makes the mundane life of a teenager look exciting and like something straight out of a manga, but with messaging that hits home and touches on very real topics that harm a lot of teenage girls.

Consume Me is funny, it’s emotional, and it got me thinking about some of the things people in my life went through to get to where they are today. If the purpose of art is to provoke thought and introspection, Consume Me accomplishes that goal. Just don’t go in expecting a fun roller coaster ride.

Translating an actual life into a video game is not an easy task, but Jenny Jiaso Hsia and her colleagues have managed it beautifully here. Through a collection of fun and short minigames, we get to dive into the soul of young Jenny and discover that our experiences might be more universal than we had thought. Carrying the pressures of your parents along with your own is not easy, and it’s just delightful to see how she has handled it all.

There is a lot to love in Consume Me; ironically, the game’s main issue is that it doesn’t have enough bite. Even still, the narrative is deeply relatable, the art style engrossing, and the minigames are more than enough fun to keep you entertained throughout the entire runtime.

Consume Me is a game about eating disorders, family trauma, and religion, but its repetitive and monotonous mini-games make it frustrating to play. While the personal story is bold and vulnerable, the late-game religious shift feels jarring and underdeveloped. Ultimately, the game’s narrative and sensitive topics are overshadowed by tedious gameplay and an unsatisfying conclusion.

Consume Me is fantastic at making the player feel things, like frustration at situations and joy at finishing a to-do list.

Consume Me offers an inventive take on narrative design in gaming. In how it blends mechanics and story, it uses the power of the medium to create something that's uniquely engaging and empathetic, and leaves a lasting impact that helps to cement it as one of the year's best indies.