It’s Not You, It’s M.E – A Week-Long Depiction of Fatigue

“If I say, ‘I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,’ I’m likely to be discredited as a witness to my own condition.” – Toni Bernhard

Overview

It’s Not You, It’s M.E 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).

Narrative

The narrative is delivered mostly via gameplay and the inner thoughts of the protagonist, but also through messages exchanged with other characters, such as their friend, doctor, and boss, which further emphasise the daily struggles, and on occasion, the stigma and misconceptions which surround chronic illness. It’s Not You, It’s M.E depicts a week in the life of somebody living with chronic health issues, specifically fatigue-related conditions. It illustrates how even simple tasks such as preparing food, taking care of personal hygiene, and remembering medication can be exhausting and how what most would consider normal daily life soon becomes overwhelming.

Gameplay

It’s Not You, It’s M.E utilises simple point-and-click gameplay to take players through a full week. Each day, the protagonist’s diary will have a short list of things to do, such as eating, taking medication, working, doing laundry, washing up, and bathing. An energy meter, which is often not full at the start of the day, will deplete with every action taken. It is a challenge, if not impossible, to do everything on the list, and extras such as resting, reading, or playing the piano are rare luxuries. The player will have to make daily choices about which activities to prioritise and which to sacrifice before going to bed at 9 pm sharp. It is a deliberately frustrating game of time and energy resources management that highlights the difficulties faced by the protagonist due to their health problems.

There are also a number of minigames related to different activities, including medication, bathing, and reading. These involve various objects appearing and moving on the screen, with the player having to click enough of the correct ones within a time limit while avoiding incorrect ones, which will further deplete energy resources.

Styling

It’s Not You. It’s M.E features a surprisingly colourful art style that uses a vibrant pastel colour palette and a soft, watercolour-like aesthetic. The main character and the UI both use much bolder lines that make them stand out. The visuals suit the game quite well and are not overly dark or gloomy, which would have felt a tad cliché against the themes and narrative. The music mostly features piano and keyboard, and while it does include a slightly more melancholy track, it has an upbeat feel overall and a slow to moderate tempo.

Summary

It’s Not You, It’s M.E 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.

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