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

This game is awful in the best way possible. I never had the feeling that there was enough time in the day to get even the small number of things done on my todo list. It was frankly too realistic. After ten minutes my own energy was drained. I will try again tomorrow if I have the energy. I also had trouble running it on my Steam Deck. It looked to me like the game thought I had an 800x1280 display when it's actually a 1280x800. But it ran perfectly on my Linux laptop.

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 trying to tell you a traditional story. It more exists to convey a sense of helplessness and frustration through gameplay. As such, I didn't much care about there being no real plot to speak of. However, I do think it's odd that there's a meeting in the middle of the week that isn't shown at all or even acknowledged if you skip it. That probably should have been left out. [h3]Graphics[/h3] I want to say I like the graphics. The art seems nice and the colors are lovely. Unfortunately, I can't actually say I like them, because this is in the description on the store page: "This game includes some assets that were initially created using generative AI image tools, with each asset individually modified before inclusion." I have no love for AI in creative spaces barring some very specific exceptions, and this is not one of those exceptions. As such, while the game looks pleasant enough, I'm not offering any kudos here, and I would have not even played the game if I saw that information beforehand. [h3]Sound[/h3] The music is mostly generic. There's a bit of pep in the minigame tracks that strikes me as odd, given how you're often shown to be exhausted. The sound effects are fine, such as having dishes clinking when you eat and tapping at a keyboard while working. I liked the song in one of the endings. It feels barebones to only write this much about the sound, but it's also a barebones category in this game, so here we are. [h3]Gameplay[/h3] Let me give some context for what your character is suffering through. According to cdc.gov, "ME/CFS is a biological illness that affects many body parts. It causes severe fatigue not improved by rest, problems thinking and sleeping, dizziness, pain, and many other symptoms." It has been reported that about 3.3 million US citizens have ME/CFS, and there is an estimation of 90% of cases not being formally diagnosed. That should give an idea of how prevalent this condition is; it's rare enough to not be as well known as other illnesses, but prevalent enough to affect many people. It's Not You, It's M.E tries to portray the difficulties people with ME/CFS suffer from as an interactive experience. This is done by giving your character a certain amount of energy per day. You have to complete as many tasks in your diary as possible. This continues for a week with an overarching goal of at least doing three work sessions. Due to your limited energy and only having so much time each day, you usually cannot finish all of the chores in your diary. During five of these tasks, a minigame might pop up. These games are: popping bubbles (bathing), taking pills (medication), dispelling clouds of fog (resting), putting food on a plate (snacking), and organizing books (reading). There is also a sixth involving playing the piano, though there is no 'win' condition for that one. You simply click on the objects/drag them depending on which game you are playing. How much time you have to complete each game is based on your energy level, with a higher energy level giving you more time (usually thirty seconds maximum). If your energy level is too low, you can't win these minigames due to how little time you have (around five seconds or less). Upon game completion, you can get two different ending screens, and I believe one is only possible if you have enough energy at the end. Other than that, trying to win these minigames or conserving energy doesn't appear to matter. Having gameplay that is geared around impossibility reminds me of two other games I have played. One was Depression Quest, which has... issues of its own, to say the least. That aside, it did portray depression in an interesting fashion by showing what someone with depression would like to do while greying out the option, making it impossible if your character wasn't in the right headspace. The other is actually another game focused on ME/CFS called Robin. That game came out in 2018, did a similar concept within three days as opposed to a week, and was quite good. It took about half an hour for me to do everything I wanted in it. It's also free, so I highly recommend checking that game out to anyone interested. I bring these up because I do think it's an intriguing idea on how to portray ME/CFS. However, I didn't feel as interested in its portrayal in It's Not You, It's M.E. Perhaps it's because the minigames feel a bit too out there for my tastes. Catching pills in the air feels weird to symbolize trying to count what you need, for instance. I didn't get why there were balloons flying around in a lot of the minigames. I also wasn't sure about how the tasks were split up in terms of energy and time spent. The idea of all these seemingly simple tasks taking a long time is solid. People with ME/CFS are going to struggle to get dressed, brush their teeth, do the dishes, and all the other tasks in the game. It's still not likely to take someone with this illness the same amount of time to get dressed as it is to do those dishes, or to take the same amount of time to eat a snack as it is to do a day's worth of work. I don't have ME/CFS so I could be wrong about all this. What I do have is depression, and it affects me in a way that makes it easy to sympathize (perhaps even empathize) with what is portrayed in this game. It does feel like a monumental task to do even the smallest things. Why struggle to get dressed if you're just staying home anyway? Do you really have to brush your teeth today? Is it that important to get a shower? These are thoughts I constantly deal with despite knowing that, logically, they shouldn't take much time at all. I recognize the game's attempts to universally show what these symptoms are like, but if I didn't have depression, I don't know if it would have even partially landed. As it is, the efforts here fell short. If none of this much matters to you, let me also warn you of a bug I ran into. Whenever I tried to do a daily task of resting on the sofa, if I got a minigame, then it wouldn't count as me resting after that. The other minigames counted as completing the tasks. [h3]Conclusion[/h3] As an incredibly short game with AI generated assets and a $1.99 USD price tag, I absolutely cannot recommend It's Not You, It's M.E. Despite appreciating the effort to showcase what ME/CFS is like, it wasn't done well enough to impress me. If AI wasn't in the mix, I might have been curious to see if the dev improved with future games and experience. Even without AI, the game would need a lot of work to be worth its price tag. - A key was provided by the developer to Otome Lovers for review purposes. [quote]Please follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4680120/]Otome Lovers[/url], if you'd like to see more reviews like this one![/quote]

Great short game! I have ME/CFS and felt this was a good representation of it. If anything, I get less done in the week than I was able to in this game, and it still feels overwhelming. Great work and very true to real life!

[h3]Frustratingly Short[/h3] You get a hint of what it's like to just be feeling ill and tired all of the time. The minigames subtly work to convey the mood and helplessness if you let them. Sadly it's too short a game to really push home what it's like to live with M.E. You don't even have to read the game description to know this is a story about low energy. Also called CFS, it's not something I have seen first hand, but if it's anything like my own motivation struggles, which it isn't. Then ME is not something I would even wish on my worst enemy. [h3]The Age of diagnosis[/h3] ME or CFS is very much stigmatised. I don't know how anyone can live with the social impact it has alone, and to work, on top of that is a delicate balance. I have my own opinions on the miss-diagnosis pandemic around seemingly made ups classifications like long covid. But fact is, we have to recognise that by far the number of normally motivated people who are struggling today, is pointing to a growing fire in our general health. My miss-givings are that when you put people with mild symptoms into a diagnosis box in a honest attempt to give them a classification, we steal resources from the most severe cases who need not just help, but often earlier diagnosis. And we then risk creating new diagnosis for these people with milder symptoms or totally unexplained symptoms, all simply to give them a diagnosis, any diagnosis. All medicine needs to be results-led. It's no good someone diagnoses you, if they cannot provide you with any treatment because the resource is stretched because it's getting used up by people who have either a miss-diagnosis. Or even have just a less acute need, or that they respond differently to treatment. We are all unique. Anyway. for a 10 minute game, I've already written a 10 minute review. The fact that such a basic use of mini-games works, is an encouragement. What can you do to help someone with ME? https://meassociation.org.uk/literature/items/what-you-need-to-know-about-me-cfs/

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 recognised a lot of the problems you run into in the game. I found it easy after a few tries as it’s what I go through with Chronic illness each day however it is different for everyone. It might be a little more challenging for those who don’t know and its an interesting one to take on and see if you can manage it. The mini games are quite fun to play; it’s all about trying to tidy up properly, take the right medication, and communicate with your doctor and friend. A short and sweet experience that I urge you to give a go.

It’s Not You, It’s M.E. is a short, but powerful game that captures the lived experience of chronic illness and energy-limiting conditions. As someone with suspected ME/CFS, I deeply relate to struggling to balance daily living tasks and the inevitable post-exertional malaise (PEM) crashes that come from trying to do it all as depicted by the limited starting energy levels on the subsequent days after doing too much. I really appreciate the shorter 10 minute format and darker/softer light levels as it makes it more accessible to play. I recommend it for friends and family who want a bit of perspective on what it is like to live with M.E.

I relate to the game a lot. Each day, limited time, limited energy.

Show this game to your family and friends to help them understand the struggle of deciding wether it is more important to put on pants or not starve. As a person with CFS/ME this game hits really close to home. It just captures so much of the frustration of standing there, at the end of the day, having done virtually nothing while still being exhaused. On top of being painfully accurate this game has a beautiful soundtrack and lovely artwork!

My life as a game. <3 The game is with 15min content really short!

Cute little game shining a light on living with chronic fatigue. Beautiful to hear how it's helped others!