Consume Me

Last updated

Consume Me
Consume Me steam header.jpg
Developers Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder [1]
Publisher Hexacutable [1]
Directors Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson
Engine Unity
Platforms Windows, macOS [1]
ReleaseSeptember 25, 2025
Genre Life simulation
Mode Single-player
Jenny Jiao Hsia in 2025 Independent Games Festival 2025 - Consume Me - 15 (cropped).jpg
Jenny Jiao Hsia in 2025

Consume Me is a semi-autobiographical life simulation video game developed by Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson and published by Hexacutable. It centers primarily around the player character's daily schedule, with a particular emphasis on the effects of an eating disorder on their day-to-day life. [2]

Contents

Gameplay

Consume Me has a semi-autobiographical story, revolving around the daily, teenage life of developer Jenny Jiao Hsia. [3] The gameplay consists of a series of minigames that simulate everyday activities, such as eating, exercising and applying makeup. [4] [5] The player needs to manage Jenny's schedule by strategically allocating her limited time throughout the day. In addition, the player must maintain different character attributes, including energy, mood and money, which are affected by the outcomes of the minigames. [6]

Development

Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson co-directed the game. They met as students in the NYU Game Center program and have collaborated on multiple projects, including Beglitched . Consume Me began as Hsia's capstone project for her undergraduate degree. Hsia prototyped the minigames, created the art direction and narrative, and built the non-interactive sequences. Thomson programmed most of the game, designed its systems, and contributed its text and musical scene. They were joined by Ken "coda" Snyder (soundtrack) and Violet W-P (sound design). Jie En Lee created much of the game's art. [7]

Prototypes of two minigames were playable at the Victoria and Albert Museum's Videogames:Design/Play/Disrupt exhibitions in Kensington and Dundee between 2018 and 2019, [8] [9] exhibited alongside objects from Hsia's moodboard and her sketchbook. [10] The game was built with the Unity game engine [7] and released on September 25, 2025 for Windows and macOS. [11]

Reception

Consume Me received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. [12] OpenCritic determined that 83% of critics recommended the game. [13]

Awards

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2025 Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Grand Prize Won [14]
Wings AwardWon
Excellence in DesignNominated
Excellence in NarrativeNominated
Excellence in Visual ArtNominated
Nuovo AwardWon
Golden Joystick Awards Best Indie Game - Self PublishedNominated [15] [16]
The Game Awards 2025 Games for ImpactNominated [17]
2026 15th New York Game Awards Off Broadway Award for Best Indie GamePending [18]
Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a GamePending
22nd British Academy Games Awards Debut Game Longlisted [19]
Game Beyond Entertainment Longlisted

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Consume Me on Steam". Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  2. Liao, Shannon (September 26, 2025). "She Counted Calories as a Teen, Then Created a Game About It". The New York Times . Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  3. Bea, Robin (September 24, 2025). "'Consume Me' Masterfully Portrays Teenage Trauma But Leaves Its Most Important Chapter Out". Inverse. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  4. Colantonio, Giovanni (September 24, 2025). "Coming-of-age horrors cut deep in Consume Me". Polygon. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  5. Carpenter, Nicole (October 4, 2025). "Consume Me is a raw and funny memoir in video game form" . The Verge. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  6. Taylor, Mollie (September 30, 2025). "Consume Me is a devastatingly accurate insight into diet culture and how all-consuming it is trying to attain the perfect lifestyle". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Couture, Joel (March 20, 2025). "The bleak humor and desperate power of Consume Me". Game Developer . Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  8. Williams, Rihannon (September 8, 2018). "Videogames: The V&A exhibition putting game design on an artistic pedestal". The i Paper. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  9. Dornan, Russell (March 6, 2019). "Videogames: what to expect in Dundee". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  10. Valade, Damien (October 26, 2018). "Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt at the V&A, an exhibition not to be missed". Medium. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  11. Tran, Edmond (September 24, 2025). "Consume Me Review". This Week in Videogames. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Consume Me Reviews". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  13. 1 2 "Consume Me Reviews". OpenCritic. Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  14. Patches, Matt (March 19, 2025). "The GDC Awards' 2025 Game of the Year winners are in". Polygon . Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  15. Harris, Iain (October 3, 2025). "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads the Golden Joystick Award 2025 charge for most nominations, nudging out Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2". GamesRadar+ . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  16. Bevan, Rhiannon (November 20, 2025). "All Of The Winners At The Golden Joystick Awards 2025". TheGamer. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  17. Lewis, Claire (December 11, 2025). "Here are all The Game Awards 2025 winners". Polygon . Retrieved December 11, 2025.
  18. McWhertor, Michael (December 15, 2025). "After setting records at The Game Awards, Clair Obscur is up for another GOTY". Polygon. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  19. McGowen, Andrew (December 9, 2025). "'Indiana Jones and the Great Circle,' 'Ghost of Yōtei' and 'Split Fiction' Among Best Game Contenders in 2026 BAFTA Games Awards Longlist". Variety . Retrieved December 10, 2025.

Further reading