It's Not You, It's M.E

A version of this review with screenshots is on the [url=https://otomelovers.com/2026/03/11/its-not-you-its-m-e-review-by-celtic7guardian/]Otome Lovers website.[/url] [h3]Introduction[/h3] How much value should be placed on capturing an experience in an unusual way? It's Not You, It's M.E thinks that it's worth $1.99 USD. This game lasts about 10-20 minutes (it took me 18 to finish a playthrough) and does its best to convey what it's like to have ME/CFS in that short period of time. This is an interesting idea, but it unfortunately fails. Here is why. [h3]Story[/h3] There is enough story to set the stage for the game's premise and nothing else. You play as someone with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Your character starts off by messaging someone they know to say they're too tired to go out. They later receive a message from their doctor saying that their blood tests came back with nothing problematic showing. After informing someone from where they work that they will have to stay home for the week, your character tries to get through said week as best as they can. That's it. The plot is basically non-existent. To be fair, this game isn't tryi…

It’s Not You, It’s M.E is the best representation of what ME is in a nutshell. You are a character who struggles with ME and must balance a job, friends, medication, cooking and everything important in day-to-day life. You’ll soon learn that it becomes almost impossible to balance everything in one day and keep enough energy to do the next day’s tasks as well as today’s. As you go, you’ll start learning new patterns to be able to cover the most important stuff and reserve other tasks for other days. This is how I feel with my ME, it’s a balance of finding the important tasks and balancing them with the side ones. Like a video game with a questing system, the main ones are important, but side quests can be left and done later when you have the time however with ME/CFS it’s whether you can complete any of the tasks at all. Closed Forum did a perfect job at representing the illness in such an incredible way. For those who want to learn more about the condition, It’s Not You It’s ME is the perfect representation. The game is a small one, you can complete it in under an hour but even In the small amount of time, you’ll learn what it is like to balance a life with a chronic illness. I r…

[b]It’s Not You, It’s M.E[b] is a short, single-session game about living with chronic health conditions. It was created by solo-developer Matt Allen of Closed Forum with support from Disability and Deaf Arts Fest and Fact Gallery, and received funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England. The game takes place over the course of a single week and is based on the experiences of the developer living with long COVID and M.E./CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome). It is a short game, taking around 10-15 minutes to play, but it uses the time well, effectively illustrating the challenges of living with chronic fatigue in a compassionate and down-to-earth way. It explores the difficulties of daily life, making hard work of routine activities that a lot of people would not think twice about having to do, and provides the player with a poignant and perhaps educational experience. Despite the themes, the gameplay is fairly casual and nicely paced, and the audio and visual elements fit the mechanics and narrative well. Overall, it is an enjoyable, informative, and somewhat emotional game that I am more than happy to recommend. [b]WANT TO KNOW MORE?[/b] My full review of this game…

This is a charming little game. It depicts an accurate representation of how it can be to live with an illness like long covid or M.E. Throughout the gameplay there's cute little mini games that show just how hard it is to conserve your energy throughout the week just to do basic things to look after yourself. The art design is very cute and whimsical which I love. I understand the use of AI for the assets to start with when your a single person with a condition like M.E trying to create a video game to conserve energy and keep costs low. I know some people will find this off putting, but if you play the game you will understand some of the reasons why working like this can be helpful to manage a condition like this. Overall the game is great in showing a small glimpse in what it can be like to live with M.E, and with its short play time, cute aesthetic and great music its definitely worth your time.

Very accurate representation of moderate M.E.

Glad I could support a fellow ME suffer-er by purchasing this game. I found myself a bit jelly of the character in the game because I have been bedbound for over a year and can barely make it to the bathroom 10 steps away from my bed. I was like, laundry? dishes? what?!?! Besides the fact I am much more severe than what the player is, it really does show how little one can actually do with ME. And more people need to know about Myalgic Encephalomyeltitis. Thanks for making this