Consume Me Reviews
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 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.
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 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.
Consume Me is fantastic at making the player feel things, like frustration at situations and joy at finishing a to-do list.
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.
Despite its incredible presentation and interesting ideas about narrator reliability varying through story and gameplay, Consume Me’s ending left me wondering what the entire experience was for.
Consume Me successfully tells an important and deeply personal story with tact. Supported by lovely graphics and a generally humorous undertone, the narrative is well told and gives a hopeful outlook on life. Unfortunately some of the cutscenes and minigames get a bit repetitive with time, but Consume Me remains very enjoyable.
Jenny, AP, Jie, Violet, and Ken provide a package so genuinely aligned in message, tone, and style that the experience hits in almost magical ways. Each of its crunchy-satisfying sound effects makes the minigames all the more enjoyable. The '90s vibey chiptune soundtrack from coda amplifies the chaos of our teenage try-hard's life up to 11. And Jenny and Jie's art is the sealing piece that makes the cutesy-chaotic charm of her complicated life so enjoyable to watch unfold. Consume Me is a stunning achievement in transporting the player into another's shoes. And in remembering how impossibly rude we are to ourselves when we're young. It'll make you laugh, cry, and cringe. It'll test your patience and force you to reflect on the same kinds of life choices you make/have made/and will still make. It is the kind of art piece that uses all the trappings of the medium to transcend into something else entirely.
Consume Me reminded me of my own teenage dramas, even though I had radically different experiences than the protagonist, proving that the themes it addresses about growing up, maturing, and feeling pressured about one's appearance are universal. It's packed with fun minigames, has a great sense of humor, and interesting time-management mechanics. Some UI elements can be tricky, and some of the themes it covers aren't handled well, but it definitely deserves the recognition it's earned.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Consume Me is a heartfelt look at personal struggles, finding courage, and finding compassion in a world obsessed with physical appearance. The game is a difficult, hopeful experience worth playing, reminding anyone going through these motions that they are not alone.
Consume Me is one of those games that, if it finds its audience, will end up becoming one of the most special experiences of someone's year. Perhaps far more than just that.
For me, Consume Me was more than just another indie experiment. It was a mirror, one that was sometimes painful to look into but ultimately cathartic. It’s the kind of game that proves how the medium can go beyond simple entertainment, using humor, mechanics, and storytelling to shine light on struggles many people hide. You may not walk away with a happy ending, but you’ll walk away with something far more valuable: recognition, empathy, and maybe even a little understanding of yourself.