Actual Sunlight Critic Reviews

For a game that I think this is this essential, and this important, there's only one score I can really give it.

While the game is short, Actual Sunlight will hold your attention from “Press Start.” The serious subject matter certainly will turn some away from the game – and they will be missing out – but if you do decide to pick it up, you will find that it is worthy of your time and will make you reflect a lot on what you’ve played, more so than other games.

Actual Sunlight is an insightful look at how some people deal with depression, and the struggles of everyday life.

Actual Sunlight is one of the strongest text-driven video games I’ve played.

Quotation forthcoming.

Actual Sunlight's ability to stir discomfort is its greatest achievement. It depicts the difficulties of trying to beat depression alone, and while that makes for some pretty heavy material, it's successful in what it sets out to do.

Actual Sunlight's unique interactive story offers a grim look at the way depression weighs on those who suffer with it.

At $5, Actual Sunlight is affordable, but it takes only about an hour and a half to explore and see everything the game has to offer.

If you're willing to immerse yourself in some very dark, uncomfortable places – the hopeless and suffocating thoughts of a lonely man riddled with depression – then this fascinating, bonecrushing portrait of a man on the edge may very well be an experience for you. Be warned – Actual Sunlight is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Then again, as Actual Sunlight reminds players very early on, "This game is not a game: it's a portrait." To some extent, that feels like an easy out for the game, a way for it to suggest that its broader statement is more important than how that statement is conveyed, thereby rendering it immune to criticism. But at the same time…okay, sure, I'll buy that.