Confetti’s Cozy Corner: Consume Me – an important game with content warnings
Video games are an artistic medium people can use to tell stories, protest regimes, and heal their own trauma. I had the honor of playing Consume Me by Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson a bit early with my community, and it was a touching experience. Please note this game and this review comes with various content warnings including disordered eating, bullying, and fatphobia.
From its introduction at the Day of the Devs Showcase, Consume Me was a game that centered on a character who was dealing with an intense home life that was heavily influencing her self-image. During the showcase, Jenny Jiao Hsia shared that Consume Me is based on her experiences growing up, and while the game is deeply personal, it’s possible that her experiences are not a solitary one, and others can play through the story.Â
When beginning Consume Me, there is much care and effort put into protecting the mental health of the audience with the use of detailed content warnings. While games can be used to bring awareness to important issues, like in this case, disordered eating, bullying, and fatphobia, most people play games to have fun and not to be sent to their therapist’s office. Games with compelling stories can be about tough topics, and when that happens, it is the developer’s responsibility to inform their audience what they will experience.
Recently, I played a horror game that did not have appropriate content warnings, and it did actually force me to call my therapist due to the triggering nature of the content in the game. Unlike that experience, Consume Me has detailed content warnings, and gamers are given the nature of the content within the game, explanations, and resources that exemplify the developers’ care about the well-being of their audience.
You play as Jenny, a young girl going through the awkward stages of adolescence while dealing with family pressure, societal expectations, and trying to fit in. Jenny is hilarious, creative, and whimsical, and despite all she goes through, she always has an undertow of her vibrant personality, no matter the challenges she faces. Jenny faces pressures about her weight and looks from her mother, magazines, and friends.
The dialogue can be jarring at times, especially considering these are words that have been said to the creator of Consume Me growing up. Unfortunately, there is a lot of emphasis on thinness in the world, and a lot of fatphobia in our society, where people, especially young girls, feel the pressure to fit into an impossible ‘beauty’ standard. Jenny is under a lot of pressure to lose weight from her mother, being compared to her friends, and the constant bombardment of advertisements pushing thinness and weight loss. Her entire schedule revolves around the goal of losing weight by eating less and exercising more. Within the game, real-world units of measuring weight are not used, nor are calories.Â
The game mechanics and mini games are fun and unique. Consume Me falls under the strategic, life sim, and visual novel genres, and there are mechanics that remind me of elements from Persona 5 Royal, Dead by Daylight, Inbento, and Wobbly Life. You follow Jenny’s planner and do activities throughout the day, such as food shopping with her mom, laundry, studying, and more. There are skills you need to improve, which are: Diet, Athleticism, Academics, and Chores. All of these skills can make Jenny’s life ‘easier’ as she works towards her goal of losing weight; however, the closer she gets to that goal, the more frustrating events occur.
The minigames include solving various puzzles and skill checks that are not too difficult. Jenny can receive bonus XP from wearing different outfits depending on the task. For example, if she wears a cleaning outfit while cleaning, she may receive a boost towards the chores category or receive more allowance from her mom. It is up to you to balance Jenny’s day and pick which task she needs to do; it is important to choose wisely.
Consume Me does a great job balancing humor and poignant events that are meant to leave an impact on the audience. It felt very similar to John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, a novel about teenagers entering young adulthood who have survived cancer, that deals with an obviously heavy situation but balances a lot of humor between the major plot points.
This balance in Consume Me is masterfully done, and by the end of the game, it left me feeling a mix of emotions. I have experienced disordered eating in my life, bullying from my family and peers about my weight, and to this day, I deal with body dysmorphia. It is not a fun space to exist in my brain. Consume Me helped me see that I am not alone in my feelings, and that was comforting.Â
Consume Me masterfully tells a coming-of-age story that is personal and relatable to many. Even if you play it and cannot relate to the elements showcased throughout the game, what is apparent from the beginning is a deeply personal story, and a lot of love went into its creation.
Jenny’s story is masterfully expressed throughout the game, and I value her level of vulnerability in creating this game and allowing us to play through and relate to her experiences. This game feels like a comforting hug, letting audiences know those who have struggled with disordered eating, body dysmorphia, and bullying are not alone.
I give Consume Me a 10 out of 10 and encourage those who can to play through Jenny’s story to do so. Consume Me is available today on Steam.
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