Melatonin
Review

Melatonin (2022) is a rhythm game where you press buttons in time with surreal pastel scenes. You play by deciphering the animations and sound cues to know when to press buttons. It stands out as a rhythm game that manages to keep you in time without any intimidating overlays or interfaces.

Each of the scenes is a riff on how dreams and reality are much closer to each other than we usually admit. Your challenge is to follow the rhythm one level and chapter at a time.

As you progress you unlock more things to do: chapters, challenge modes, mashups, and a level editor. But this is also welcoming to those new to rhythm games with a practice mode and lots of assist options to help you if you’re feeling lost.

The result is a game that aims to explore the relationship between the dreams we have when we’re asleep and the experiences we go through when we’re awake. More interesting, though, is how you learn about the characters waking life by seeing only their dreams.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Melatonin 17 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 3 weeks ago.