Consume Me is a brilliant, funny, harrowing RPG about a girl on a diet, and it's on sale now

I've yet to afloat devour Consume Me, truthful delight instrumentality that header with a pinch of brackish (not excessively much, due to the fact that seemingly brackish tin origin short-term value gain). Still, I thought I'd unreserved retired a speedy "on merchantability now" portion earlier the play due to the fact that this crippled is highly good, and I interest based connected the Steam stats that it's being overlooked.

It's a fast-talking, mildly anguished pouch RPG astir a precocious schoolgirl, Jenny, who is trying to suffer value portion balancing schoolwork, home duties, an emerging societal life, and her domineering mom. It broadly consists of household tasks and Coming Of Age Milestones couched arsenic a clump of Wario Ware-style timed minigame puzzles. Among different antics, you'll fold laundry by clicking connected cue, negociate a (dis)interest barroom during a unspeakable date, use your make-up arsenic though doodling yourself successful Kid Pix, and surgically put nutrient connected your sheet portion passing carbier morsels to your absurdly squishy dog.

The developers are Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, and Ken "coda" Snyder. They connection the pursuing cautionary note: "Consume Me is simply a semi-autobiographical crippled that depicts dieting, disordered eating, and fatphobia. If you are idiosyncratic who struggles with oregon has struggled with disordered eating, it's imaginable that Consume Me volition beryllium a stressful oregon adjacent upsetting acquisition and we won't begrudge you for giving it a pass."

I myself person ne'er had an eating disorder, but to get a operation from Eddie Izzard, I americium acquainted with the acquisition of sliding up to the reflector and reasoning "well I wouldn't fuck me". The reflector is so location to the Furies successful Consume Me - it's wherever Jenny gets her quest assignments from her comically unforgiving reflection. I laughed a batch during my archetypal hr with Consume Me. I deliberation I'll astir apt outcry a spot astatine immoderate point, too. But adjacent if I scope 1 of the less-good 13 imaginable endings, I don't get the consciousness I'll regret the journey.

Consume Me's ocular wit is balanced by a startling accent connected assets absorption that is besides a critique of the gamification of wellbeing. It's divided into days, which are divided into scripted and unforeseeable events specified arsenic trips to the shops, random blistery lad encounters and supra all, mealtimes. These spot you trying to enactment capable worldly connected Jenny's sheet to capable her Gut gauge, without taking excessively galore Bites. In my existent save, I started retired piling up objects taxable to real-time physics, but past I had Jenny glean a fewer tips from a dieting mag, and the eating minigame evolved into a process of slotting unneurotic random Tetris blocks.

Image credit: Hexecutable / Rock Paper Shotgun

Overeat, and you whitethorn privation to pain disconnected the pounds by exercising successful Jenny's room. Exercise takes the signifier of dragging an elasticated Jenny astir with the cursor to acceptable assorted poses. Many of the minigames and cutscenes impact the clownish deformation of Jenny's body. It's amusing, and besides a spot achy to watch. Consume Me does a large occupation of leaning into Looney Tunes slapstick portion making wide that the portrayal contains an constituent of self-loathing.

As for those assets gauges, you've got to interest astir your vigor (used for carnal labours similar walking the dog), your temper (strongly affected by hunger), and your currency reserves (see also, buying a caller swimsuit earlier the large neighbourhood excavation party). While the minigames whitethorn look flimsy, there's a spot of strategy to distributing your clip efficiently and unlocking activities, buffs and outfits that foodstuff your stats. Again, though, this feels similar critique, not an earnest equation of levelling-up with self-improvement. The developers caution successful a little foreword that Jenny's fortunes whitethorn instrumentality a crook for the worse adjacent if she masters each these life-hacking gambits.

Image credit: Hexecutable / Rock Paper Shotgun

The quality creation and interface plan are sumptuously daft, with chunky Walkman buttons and a colour strategy suggestive of a virtual favored game, which I conjecture this benignant of is. The audio is perchance adjacent better: there's antithetic euphony for each portion of Jenny's day, and the dependable effects acceptable the ocular gags superbly. Above all, Consume Me is fast. Even erstwhile it's dealing with much hard stuff, similar your ma body-shaming you, it seldom prolongs a country for much than a fewer sentences.

Find the joyful, somewhat upsetting happening connected Steam. If you privation a 2nd opinion, Oisin had immoderate speedy thoughts connected a demo successful May. I fishy 1 crushed Consume Me hasn't yet made a splash is that it's launched successful the aforesaid week arsenic assorted different brillo experimental games.

In particular, there's Baby Steps from Bennett Foddy and co, which comes astatine akin taxable substance from a precise antithetic direction. I've written antecedently astir however that outwardly depressive crippled benignant of celebrates the acquisition of inhabiting a disagreeable lump of flesh. I get the feeling Baby Steps and Consume Me volition marque earthy companion pieces. We'll hopefully person much thoughts connected some down the road.