I played this game from start to end in 2 days. I have a lot to say about it, but I'll keep the highlights bullet pointed.

• A very cute and endearing art style
  
• The gameplay loop is genuinely fun
  
• The strategy of time management in healthy (and unhealthy) ways was quite interesting with real consequences for relying on unhealthy tools.

• Some of the minigames can be quite tedious, especially when some of the physics break.
  
• The sudden turn towards Christian propaganda at the end really took away from the story.

I'd like to preface this with the fact that I AM religious. I do not hate religion. I do not even particularly hate Christianity. With that said, spoilers ahead. Mentions of: Eating disorders, Sexual trauma (not detailed)

When I saw this game, I was incredibly excited to play a game about managing your early life and all of it's stresses when you are also struggling with an eating disorder. I developed a binge eating disorder (this game focuses on a different kind of eating disorder; something closer to anorexia) when I was young. I was a fat kid in the peak of heroin Chic in the west coast. I was bullied relentlessly for being bigger than my thin counterparts. That, paired with sexual trauma, I developed an unhealthy addiction to food. I craved food constantly and then hated myself after eating because I was only making myself fatter. But it brought me solace at the same time. If I was fat, no one would want to touch me. I have only recently started to heal that relationship with food for my own health, but it is still a struggle. All of this to say that I deeply resonated with the main character and her struggles with food at the beginning.

I noticed as the game went on, we still needed to balance the MC's diet, eating less and less bites (calories) each chapter, but it didn't really have that many negative real world affects. When it comes to disordered eating, it affects every part of your body, especially with anorexia. Hair loss, muscle loss, bone density loss, weaker immune systems. The only thing the game ever really addressed was the stress of balancing a diet. If you eat too much, you need to work out later etc. And characters do mention that the MC is skinny, but it's never taken negatively. (You're skinny and your life is perfect). By the third chapter, balancing MC's diet is barely in my mind when there were so many other things to focus on.

And then we get to the college chapter. College is incredibly stressful, having graduated in a fairly demanding field myself while also managing my eating disorder (better than I was at home thanks to some free college therapy) but my struggles and my progress were because I wanted to do and be better. So I was completely blindsided when the MC's college TA offered to bring her to church because that's how she managed her own life stresses! And I rolled my eyes thinking oh yeah. This is gonna play out well. To my surprise (horror), Jesus just. cured her. There is a game mechanic called a mental block that you have to reach a certain prereq to clear (get energy to 100%, eat chips, etc) OR you can pray about it and Jesus just clears that mental block for you. It got to the point of parody at how ridiculous of a notion it was that through prayer, all would be healed.

And then it all just comes together at the end. The MC's boyfriend breaks up with them and the to do list (your tasks to progress through the game) clear and is replaced with the text "You have been saved. You are now free of Sin." I felt sick. That an eating disorder could be 'cured' in such a blase manner by just going to Jesus. It felt like a spit in the face to all of my own struggles with an eating disorder. I am where I am now because of dedication, therapy, and unpacking all of the hurt and pain that brought me to this point. And our MC was able to just get over it with the power of Christ. I don't know what else to call that but propaganda.

I understand that this is a semi-autobiographic of the game author's life and I respect the dedication for putting 10 years worth of work into this game, but the real, horrible consequences of disordered eating can not just be healed with Jesus Christ. I'm sure that there was more to the author's journey not depicted, but as the game stands now, that's what it says. For that reason, I do not think this is game worth buying if you're looking for any meaningful depiction of how horribly debilitating disordered eating is. I love to support indie developers, but I feel worse after playing this game than I did before. Not because I was sensitive to the content, but because I know how harmful "Just pray and Jesus will make it better" can truly be.

Save your money.

This was an interesting game as my enjoyment of the gameplay and the narrative ended up shifting through the game. Personally, I believe that Chapters 1-4 showcased my personal favorite portion of Consume Me. The gameplay consisting of the major dieting mechanic while adding additional tasks for Jenny complete as she feels pressured to stay on top of her chores, academics, relationships, and more. The narrative at this point is still strong as you struggle to attain this fictional "perfect life" through unhealthy habits such as "bite counting" for your diet in order to stay slim like your mother's friend. The presentation of this game was a joy as you work on making your Jenny accomplish as much as she can whether that means staying up til 2am to study, workout, or ready a trashy romance novel.

The last 2 chapters, I have nitpicks for different reasons. Chapter 5 felt kind of tedious in the addition of mental block effects. However, this is where I most related to Jenny. I will try to avoid spoilers, but in college Jenny reconnecting with a high school friend who invites her to attend a church session. I had a similar experience when I was in college and, while Jenny and I ended up having different reactions immediately after attending said session, this was something that I related to and I'm sure others who went to school have had similar stories.

Chapter 6 sheds the gameplay almost completely (and tosses in a cheeky comment about doing such). This is a quick, blink-and-you'll-miss-it portion over the 10 years succeeding Chapter 5 showcasing where her life went and how she ended up where she is today. I respect the hell out of this sort of autobiographical game and highly recommend picking this up and giving Consume Me a play through!

I was enjoying this game until i got to all the jesus stuff. warning: this game ends up being christian propaganda. REALLY caught me off guard.