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Sky: Children of the Light

The developers of Journey made a worthy follow-up to it on Switch.
Sky: Children of the Light Game Cover
86%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
grinding, monetization
86% User Score Based on 10,673 reviews
Critic Score 85%Based on 8 reviews

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Sky: Children of the Light Game Cover

About

Sky: Children of the Light is a single player and multiplayer open world role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by thatgamecompany and was released on April 10, 2024. It received positive reviews from both critics and players.

Sky is a peaceful and cozy MMO about genuine human connection.

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Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
Sky: Children of the Light screenshot
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86%
Audience ScoreBased on 10,673 reviews
story409 positive mentions
grinding647 negative mentions
  • Sky: Children of the Light features breathtaking, ethereal visuals and stunning art style that create a serene and magical atmosphere.
  • The game offers a profoundly emotional and heartwarming story told through visual and environmental cues, supported by a soothing, evocative soundtrack that enhances immersion.
  • Social interaction and cooperative gameplay aspects foster a welcoming community and meaningful connections, adding to the calming and uplifting experience.
  • Post-main-story content is repetitive and grind-heavy, focusing mostly on collecting cosmetic items which some players find tedious and expensive.
  • The game suffers from technical issues including bugs, glitches, clunky controls, unskippable cutscenes, and performance problems that hinder gameplay flow and immersion.
  • Monetization is aggressively implemented through expensive microtransactions and limited-time events, leading to player frustration and a sense of forced time or money investment.
  • story
    1,395 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Sky: Children of the Light offers a beautiful, emotionally resonant story delivered primarily through visual and environmental storytelling, evoking themes of hope, loss, and rebirth with minimal dialogue. The main storyline is relatively short but impactful, inviting exploration and social interaction, though many find the post-story content repetitive and grind-heavy, focusing mainly on cosmetic collection rather than narrative depth. While praised for its art, music, and heartfelt moments, some players note vague or confusing plot elements and express frustration with pacing, quests, and the shift from immersive storytelling to repetitive gameplay after the main story's completion.

    • “Completing the 'main storyline' is highly recommended, as the final sequence stands as one of the most aesthetically and emotionally impactful moments in modern gaming.”
    • “The game has beautiful graphics, an interesting storyline, unique cosmetics, fun events, and the most welcoming and nice community I have ever seen in a video game.”
    • “Narratively, Sky weaves a simple yet profound story of light versus darkness, with the hope of renewal and the strength found in unity. There's no spoken dialogue, but the storytelling is carried through visual cues, environmental storytelling, and the emotional arcs of the characters.”
    • “Game is very tedious, cosmetics are very expensive and honestly not worth it; every day feels like just doing candle runs and quests, the overall story feels empty and the story of the spirits doesn't add anything; the skip cutscenes setting doesn't work. It feels hollow and empty, like the developer just wants to milk their players.”
    • “All the missions are the same fetch quests with unskippable cutscenes that repeat, and if not that, then annoying quests that give no clue where to go. The daily-only quest system makes it feel like a job just to keep up.”
    • “The story and how to advance it is convoluted; some quests require extensive travel and are tedious. Controls are clunky, camera often gets stuck or moves unpredictably during story moments, with bugs and glitches ruining immersion during serious sections.”
  • graphics
    1,035 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of "Sky: Children of the Light" are widely praised for their stunning, ethereal art style that resembles a moving painting, featuring vibrant colors, smooth animations, and serene, calming atmospheres. The visuals greatly enhance the emotional storytelling and immersive exploration, making the game a visually captivating experience across platforms, especially on PC where graphical fidelity is improved. However, some users note limited graphics settings, occasional bugs, and simple, stylized visuals that, while beautiful, may feel sparse or repetitive to certain players.

    • “The graphics are just jaw dropping, the vibes are immaculate, it's the perfect mix of challenging puzzles and levels, and equal reward.”
    • “Sky: children of the light is a beautifully crafted journey that effortlessly blends breathtaking visuals, an ethereal soundtrack, and a gentle, immersive gameplay experience.”
    • “✅ breathtaking visuals: the game’s art style and lighting are simply gorgeous, offering a serene and magical atmosphere.”
    • “I also suggest adding higher graphical settings for those who can handle it, like how Journey had deformable sand when you walked; the game could really use a lot more than just cosmetic and ornamental updates.”
    • “It won't run well on lower-end devices – my laptop struggles with loading, severe stuttering, and even overheating (even though my laptop can typically run big-name games easily on the highest graphics settings).”
    • “The graphics are just so pretty, such a relaxing game, 9/10, but with a lot of grinding and many micro-transactions; the pretty visuals aren't worth the endless grind or the push toward spending obscene amounts on basic items.”
  • gameplay
    914 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Sky: Children of the Light offers a visually stunning, relaxing exploration experience centered on flying, social interaction, and collectible progression. However, the gameplay is often described as simplistic, repetitive, and grind-heavy, with frequent bugs, clunky controls, and intrusive unskippable cutscenes that hinder flow. While the social mechanics and aesthetic are praised, the core gameplay loop lacks depth and challenge, making long-term engagement difficult for many players.

    • “Sky is one of the most gorgeous games I have ever played or seen. Gameplay is just incredible with a focus on flying, discovering spirits, and gradually gaining freedom through exploration. The flight mechanic offers a liberating sense of freedom, making both mechanical skill and emotional reward central to the experience.”
    • “The gameplay loop is based on exploration, social interaction, and collectible progression through spirits and candles. It combines easy-to-understand mechanics with a deeply comforting and consistently engaging experience that encourages cooperation and teamwork among players.”
    • “Gameplay and mechanics are simple but satisfyingly immersive, featuring intuitive platforming, puzzle-solving, and light exploration. The cooperative mechanics allow meaningful interaction through building friendships, unlocking emotes, and helping others, which enhances the calming and heartwarming atmosphere.”
    • “There is little direction at the beginning on how the game mechanics actually work, and the game does little to explain the leveling system. This also hinders your ability to ask for help from established players because you can't chat with them until you level up a skill tree with them, which requires an in-game currency.”
    • “The flight mechanics are extremely janky and finicky, often sending you in the opposite direction you intend to go. The camera auto-locking also interferes with manual flight-pathing, making control frustrating.”
    • “The gameplay loop is repetitive and grind-heavy, consisting mainly of collecting currency to buy cosmetics. After finishing the main story, the gameplay consists of repeating small tasks and daily quests, which can feel tedious and lack meaningful progression.”
  • music
    845 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in "Sky: Children of the Light" is universally praised for its soothing, atmospheric, and emotive qualities, significantly enhancing the game's relaxing and immersive experience. Composed by talented artists like Vincent Diamante and featuring orchestral, ambient, and gentle melodies, the soundtrack beautifully complements the stunning visuals and silent storytelling, often evoking strong emotional responses from players. Additionally, the game's integration of playable musical instruments fosters social interaction and creativity, making music a central and cherished aspect of the gameplay.

    • “Sky is a masterpiece of a game, I wish I could pay to get this game; this game has the best music I have heard and that's saying something, this game is my safe space.”
    • “The game’s stunning visuals and soothing soundtrack create an immersive experience that’s both calming and captivating.”
    • “The soundtrack, composed by Vincent Diamante, is an integral part of the experience, enhancing the emotional impact of the game.”
    • “Beautify art style and top-level background music; however, the in-game music is kind of boring and the character movement is stickily hard to control. This is the only reason I don't give a negative review since the game is free to play.”
    • “They were right when they said the music was half the game, the other half is un-skippable cutscenes.”
    • “There are many players who pay a lot of attention to playing very complex notes, but the sound just breaks up for other players who are listening to you; they just stop hearing some notes at high speed, they just disappear, and it often happens that other players have a pause in the music when you do not. I understand this is partly dependent on the internet, but you can find a way to reduce this problem to make listening to music more comfortable.”
  • grinding
    673 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect in the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious, repetitive, and time-consuming, primarily revolving around collecting candles (in-game currency) to purchase costly cosmetics. While grinding is technically optional and mostly cosmetic-driven, the heavy grind combined with frequent limited-time events and expensive microtransactions leads to player burnout and a sense of forced time investment or spending real money. Socializing and exploration offer respite, but post-story content largely boils down to a grind-heavy fashion simulator that may not appeal to casual or non-grindy players.

    • “A chill, relaxing game to play to see the world; it's not tedious at all. It requires little common sense to actually play the game, and it's honestly something good to play if you want a break from competitive games or games that stress you out in general.”
    • “A bit grindy sometimes, but not overwhelming.”
    • “Flight is weird sometimes but not tedious to get used to.”
    • “The amount of grinding for seasonal cosmetics is crazy now.”
    • “You spend literal days grinding for candles to buy one cosmetic during a two-week long event (one cosmetic can cost anywhere between 60-100+ candles), only for another event to be released shortly after, where you have to grind all over again.”
    • “While that game company will say that they don't encourage grinding long hours for candles, without doing so, you won't be able to afford the cosmetics and items in the post game.”
  • emotional
    527 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Sky: Children of the Light is widely praised as a profoundly emotional and heartwarming experience, blending serene exploration with touching storytelling and a uniquely wholesome social interaction system. Players often describe it as calming, healing, and capable of evoking tears through its beautiful visuals, evocative music, and meaningful connections formed in-game. However, some critiques note that the game's grind and monetization can undercut the emotional atmosphere, turning moments of warmth into repetitive or stressful chores.

    • “Sky: Children of the Light is one of the most beautiful and emotional games ever made.”
    • “The story-line itself has made me cry on multiple occasions, and has gifted me very cherished memories with friends and other players.”
    • “The game’s art, atmosphere, and sense of connection are truly remarkable — it’s a calming and emotional experience that’s unlike anything else.”
  • monetization
    383 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Monetization in the game is widely criticized for its aggressive, predatory microtransactions, with cosmetic items often priced exorbitantly ($20-$40 or more), fostering heavy grind and fear of missing out (FOMO). While all purchases are cosmetic and not required to progress, the constant push for expensive in-app purchases, limited-time events, and a demanding daily grind detracts from the experience and alienates free and casual players alike. Despite the game's free-to-play model and beautiful design, the monetization heavily overshadows gameplay and community engagement, leading many to view it as a cash grab.

    • “Despite this demanding monetization structure, the game's performance is excellent and highly optimized.”
    • “While some of the in-game purchases are insanely pricey, you can get a lot of good stuff for free.”
    • “You don't have to spend a penny to get the core game experience and there is no content locked behind microtransactions except cosmetics.”
    • “The prices of in-app purchases are extremely high, especially for players living in non-dollarized countries.”
    • “They justify this with donations to charity on occasion, but even at half the price remaining all items are still ten times the cost they should be; add to this the fact you can't preview items in the store before you buy them, that some items only last 30 minutes and it doesn't specify which (even these are extremely expensive), and it does not even give you names for these items so that you can be sure you're buying something you saw elsewhere. In-game purchases are practically a scam, and an extremely expensive one. You'll drop thousands in this game if you're a collector, and if you do, still be disappointed to find you can't recolor the recolorable items you've bought.”
    • “It's a cash grab, one item of clothing (not an outfit) will set you back $29.99, the cheapest clothing item (a tiny hairclip or earrings) is still going to set you back $7.99.”
  • atmosphere
    234 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Sky: Children of the Light is universally praised for its enchanting, serene atmosphere, characterized by beautiful visuals, soothing music, and a calming, cozy world that fosters exploration and social connection. Players often highlight its relaxing and emotionally resonant ambiance, which creates a peaceful escape with a warm, inviting community. Although gameplay and technical issues receive mixed feedback, the game's atmosphere remains its standout, deeply immersive strength.

    • “The game’s art, atmosphere, and sense of connection are truly remarkable — it’s a calming and emotional experience that’s unlike anything else.”
    • “The atmosphere is so elegantly crafted with the appropriate background music, sound effects, and stunning visuals to top it off.”
    • “The absolutely gorgeous graphics, the simple but charming art style, the atmospheric music, and the gameplay that focuses on making friends and guiding one another make Sky an unforgettable, awe-inspiring experience for every first-time player.”
    • “It's a grind-a-thon apparently aimed at children (which honestly makes that worse) with a lot of FOMO tactics despite its cheery, pseudo-poetic atmosphere.”
    • “The MMO is what, in my opinion, ruins the atmosphere; this is the classic game that you want to play alone or with friends in a co-op, also being an MMO doesn't make that much sense for the lore.”
    • “Despite its beauty and relaxing atmosphere, the ongoing technical issues and aggressive monetization make it hard to fully recommend this game at this time.”
  • stability
    210 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is widely regarded as visually stunning and enjoyable but suffers from persistent stability issues, including frequent bugs, glitches, crashes, and performance problems that disrupt gameplay and progression. Despite ongoing updates, many players report that bugs remain unfixed for long periods, with some glitches severely impacting key features and causing frustration. Overall, while some find the buggy nature adds charm or unique experiences, others feel that the game's instability, coupled with grindy mechanics and monetization, significantly detracts from its appeal.

    • “The game runs great on phone even with a poor connection, so you can do dailies on your phone if you're on break and can continue on computer using the same account.”
    • “Graphics are stunning but not demanding, the game runs great on mobile and Switch.”
    • “The minimum GPU requirements are Nvidia GeForce GTX 1030 or AMD Radeon RX 560, but just so everyone knows, the game runs great even on integrated graphics on minimum settings!”
    • “The game is also incredibly buggy and has many issues that should have been fixed long ago, considering the game is now six years old; massive chunks of collision and assets were missing from a level, a whole fifth of the game was often uncompletable without exploits early on, and the final area has at least two holes where you can easily fall off the map into the void.”
    • “Game breaking bugs constantly; I don't think I have played a game this buggy before.”
    • “Game is buggy and glitching every other day, and the developers refuse to listen to beta players and the player base about glitches.”
  • humor
    62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely appreciated for its charming, lighthearted, and often silly nature, enhanced by funny animations, emotes, and social interactions with friends. While some bugs and glitches occur, many players find these moments amusing rather than frustrating, contributing to the overall cozy and joyful atmosphere. The game's humor also shines through its community interactions, spontaneous in-game antics, and quirky, whimsical events that foster laughter and memorable experiences.

    • “Has beautiful art and sound with cute and funny animations.”
    • “The glitches are there, but it happens during serious moments in the story, or out of nowhere, that it is just outright so humorous to me, but other than that, game is stable at least to me.”
    • “This game is so fun just to sit around and watch other people interact with the world and leave notes behind which are usually funny and lighthearted or immensely saddening and usually a poetic response to its surroundings.”
  • optimization
    60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Player feedback on optimization is mixed: while many praise the game for smooth performance even on low-end or older hardware, some experience severe stuttering, overheating, and bugs especially on PC versions or specific areas like the cinema. Server issues and network-related lag also detract from overall stability, indicating optimization varies significantly across devices and game segments.

    • “If anyone's into cozy games, this is the one for you. The story is good, the game is well optimized, and overall a very interesting game.”
    • “Originally I thought I would have needed a strong computer to play this, but no…it runs smoothly on my potato laptop and I'm glad!”
    • “Playing below minimum specs on a large 2k screen @165fps (120 at the lowest), it is astonishingly well optimized for the beautiful scenery it portrays, with minimal bugs, providing a near perfect experience.”
    • “It won't run well on lower-end devices - my laptop really struggles at certain points with loading, severe stuttering, and even overheating (bearing in mind my laptop can typically run big name games easily on the highest graphics settings).”
    • “Unoptimized, buggy, needs at least above average components to not fry your computer.”
    • “Honestly I don't know how it is possible to mess up so badly in the cinema area for performance. I have a 9800x3d, an RTX 5090, and 64GB of RAM, and this game in the cinema area is a complete mess, having massive almost 30 second long hanging sessions making watching anything in the cinema a complete nightmare. Fix it please, it's so painful.”
  • replayability
    44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Replayability in the game is generally praised for its relaxing atmosphere, seasonal events, extensive cosmetics, and social features that encourage repeated play, though some find the grind for cosmetics and repetitive daily tasks tiresome. Many players enjoy multiple playthroughs due to the story, exploration, and evolving content, while others feel the core gameplay becomes limited after the main story is completed. Overall, replayability is enhanced by ongoing updates, events, and community interactions, making it rewarding for those engaged in its lifestyle and social aspects.

    • “Your first run through of the game might be a little confusing but hang in there, the replayability of this game is top-tier.”
    • “Very story driven every spirit you interact with has a story to tell, the environments are beyond stunning the music is ecstasy, for a game that has only so few environments you would think it would get old pretty quick but the replayability is amazing, tons of customizations and locations to explore in hidden crevasses you never think to look and you meet a new person every time you hop on.”
    • “The replayability is also incredible, I have beat the game 7 times now (on separate devices) and it never gets old.”
    • “All the replayability dies very fast, as the game is very small. In the 7 months I have been playing, no considerable changes have been made to the game other than the addition of the dye system.”
    • “Really, really good but after you finish it once, the game becomes incredibly grindy and outside of events there isn't much replay value.”
    • “Replayability is lackluster with lots of grinding needed for overly expensive cosmetics.”
  • character development
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is praised primarily for its stunning and unique character designs, which greatly enhance the visual and emotional appeal. However, some players find certain cosmetic items and designs unusable or frustrating to obtain due to time-consuming gameplay elements. Overall, the strong artistic style and character visuals motivate player engagement despite some gameplay drawbacks.

    • “I absolutely love the character designs, visuals, lore, and cosmetics; these are what motivated me to play when I first started.”
    • “Sky:cotl at its core is a beautiful game with amazing character design, impressive environments, and an overall unique concept.”
    • “Otherwise, the game is absolutely beautiful; the animation and character design are so unique and cute.”
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85%Critics’ scoreBased on 9 critic reviews
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65h Median play time
338h Average play time
5h Main story
33h Completionist
7-425h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 60 analyzed playthroughs
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Sky: Children of the Light Players Can Share In-Game Creations Free Daily In Upcoming Update

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Frequently Asked Questions

Sky: Children of the Light is a open world role playing game with fantasy theme.

Sky: Children of the Light is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

The main story can be completed in around 5 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 33 hours to finish. On average players spend around 338 hours playing Sky: Children of the Light.

Sky: Children of the Light was released on April 10, 2024.

Sky: Children of the Light was developed by thatgamecompany.

Sky: Children of the Light has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Sky: Children of the Light is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Palia, Book of Travels, Garden Paws, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Islands of Insight and others.