If you’re a gamer like me, then you have a ton of games you’ve been meaning to play, but just can’t find the time to actually sit down and play them. This was the case for Rain, a game I heard about probably during E3, and was immediately drawn to just from the trailer. Long story short, the game takes you into a world where it’s always raining, and the only people in this world are a boy and a girl. The odd thing about the pair is that they’re invisible, only able to be seen once they step out into the rain.

Also in the world are these creatures that seem to be hunting the boy and the girl. Not much is revealed about these creatures, other than they should be avoided at all costs. As you go through the game, the boy and the girl work together to keep themselves safe, find out who they are and why they’re in this strange world.

Without giving too much away, I thoroughly enjoyed this game because it’s so different from the hyped up titles we usually hear about. Gameplay isn’t too complicated, as it’s a simple platformer mixed in with solving puzzles. The concept of avoiding evil creatures adds a whole lot more dread than I was expecting, but other than that, you figure out that the game doesn’t set out to really challenge you but to put you through an experience. This is where the art and music come in.

The art and soundtrack of Rain could be characters themselves, as they add so much to the mood of the game. The entire game takes place in a European style town, and the look and feel of it is beautiful, and oddly comforting. The continuous rain throughout the game is amazing as well, and if you love the sound of rain like I do, then your ears will be dancing with delight. Speaking of, the music that plays throughout is beautiful, most of the time just piano which often matches so well with what is happening on the screen. If you are chased by a creature, the music quickens. If the boy and girl are separated, the sounds help evoke a feeling of sadness and loneliness. All these things wrapped together make Rain such a unique gaming experience.

If you even remotely plan on playing this game then please do not read past this paragraph. I’m about to discuss the ending of the game, and obviously, finding out the ending would ruin a lot of the point of playing through this in the first place. So again, if you decide to leave here, just know that I definitely recommend this game and you should tell me what you think if you do play it. If, however, you’ve already finished the game, please continue.

Alright, so at the end of the game, you find out that the rainy world is essentially a dream world. During the game, you discover that the boy and girl are going through a dream version of the town they actually live in. While on their journey, they discover their actual homes, and find their bodies sleeping in their beds. The girl’s sleeping body is discovered first, and as the dream girl tries to wake herself up, her invisible body begins to materialize. Seeing this happening, she decides to stop waking herself up, because if she does, she’ll leave the boy in the dream world. At the very end of the game, the boy enters the real world first due to an encounter with a creature, and he uses his memory of going through the dream world to rush to the girl’s real house. After a moment of wondering if the girl ever made it out of the dream world herself, the girl appears outside of her house, and the pair get to interact in the real world.

Because very little is revealed about the boy and girl, we don’t know if they knew each other in real life before they met each other in the dream world, or if they just happened to meet each other for the first time while dreaming. But maybe that was intentional and is left to the player’s imagination, which is why this game really struck a chord with me. Rain so beautifully added a visual to a thought I’ve had many times: What if people could meet each other in their dreams? When I dream of people, I sometimes wonder if that dream interaction was all in my head, or if somehow, people meeting in dreams is a mutual connection. If I dream of someone, what if they’re having the same exact dream and we’re making some strange connection while asleep? I know it’s a weird thought, but this video game turned that thought into a beautiful bit of interactive storytelling that I thoroughly enjoyed.

So, to conclude, Rain was such an amazing experience, and I’m glad I decided to go through it.