I like to throw around the "this game is an experience/work of art" card on this channel. It's not that I'm loose in throwing it out left and right, but because I mean it when I say it.
That said, Afterlight is an experience.
It's a refreshing game. It still presents a bit of a puzzle challenge, but it doesn't challenge you the way most puzzlers do. It's like yoga compared to wind sprints: you end up mentally refreshed instead of mentally wasted.
The graphics are minimalistic to the point it's almost art. The controls are basic, nothing to write home about by any means, but it works for a game like this. What makes this game is the music though. The ethereal piano of hitting the orbs mixed with the relaxing background music perfectly sets the atmosphere.
An escape from reality. That's Afterlight in a nutshell.