High Times is a Coffee Talk-like dating sim

High Times is a visual novel-style dating sim where the donuts you serve influences your customers' moods.

One of my favorite games of all time is VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action. Since experiencing that game for the first time, I’ve been on the lookout for games with similar styles (Coffee Talk is great, too!). That’s why when I learned about High Times, I immediately wanted to try it for myself, and I got to do just that at PAX East last week. 

In High Times, you play as an employee at a donut shop called The Hotbox. In a world where mood-enhancing food is the latest fad, the Hotbox sells mood-enhanced donuts that will change the customer’s emotions depending on what type of donut you serve them. After your boss goes on a surprise vacation, you’ve been left alone to run the shop, meaning talking to every customer that comes in and making the right donut for them from scratch. The game starts in a character creation screen, and I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of customization options that were available. After spending a little too much time making my character and picking a name, I was off to run the shop.

High Times isn’t just a donut shop simulator, it’s also a dating sim. The game slowly introduced me to its cast of zany characters, who each are revealed to be past flings and situationships to the protagonist, and it was up to me to decide how I wanted to interact with them. Each of these characters have distinct personalities and interesting stories to tell, to say the least. There’s the broke and toxic ex that plays guitar, the celebrity I apparently slept with once, an innocent-looking girl who’s actually absurdly into the lewd, just to name a few. I played for about an hour, and remained interested in seeing who would walk through the door each in-game day, especially because the dialogue is fully voiced. My only gripe with dialogue was that some of the character’s lines sounded a little too cartoony and unnatural. That said, High Times is definitely going for a more satirical vibe than something like VA-11 Hall-A or Coffee Talk.

Making the donuts was absolutely the highlight of my demo of High Times. I started off with only vanilla icing and a regular donut shape, but once I started getting more ingredients, I liked the self-expression High Times gave me when choosing what donut to serve. When making a donut I had to physically draw the icing onto the cake with the mouse, allowing me to make the pastry look however I wanted it to. Sometimes I’d actually learn a new donut recipe just by trying random combinations with the donuts I’d make, allowing me to see exactly what moods that specific donut flavor would provide. 

After the shift ends, you can use the in-game phone to check social media, text friends, and buy new ingredients for the shop—though this feature wasn’t really available during my demo of the game.

Some minor dialogue grievances aside, High Times was a nice surprise at PAX East. The game is set to release some time this year, so if the premise sounds interesting to you, keep an eye on it. There’s also a demo available on Steam right now. 

This preview is based on a demo played at PAX East 2026. The final product is subject to change.

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