Real Nighttime was the last of Game Theory's albums to be recorded by the band's Davis, California-based line-up, a quartet fronted by Scott Miller on guitar and lead vocals.

"[5] Mitch Easter later wrote that Game Theory defied the dogmatic "guitar aesthetic" of that era, and it was therefore "an initially disconcerting and ultimately delightful breath of fresh air to arrive at the Game Theory session for Real Nighttime to find an electronic drum kit, somebody's ancient modular synth, and other taboo devices being cheerfully employed by the band, seemingly with no awareness or concern that these were, er, questionable items in the prevailing fashion.

"[13] Notwithstanding lyrics by Scott Miller that AllMusic's Stewart Mason labeled as "typically opaque," reviewers have understood the song "24" to clearly be about a "traditional post-collegiate identity crisis.

[14] On the original album release, "24" faded out to a "puckish" acoustic guitar quote from "Stairway to Heaven," a grace note that was omitted on the Tinker to Evers to Chance compilation.

[14] According to Appelstein, the post-collegiate theme continued with allusions to finding one's own direction and leaving the nest in "Curse of the Frontier Land" ("A year ago we called this a good time").

[12] The phrase "she'll be a verb when you’re a noun," according to Burt, reflects Miller's "anguished concentration on language and its rules,"[13] an apparent search by an analytical and systematic mind for a way to understand incomprehensible social relationships.

The third bonus track, a cover version of Todd Rundgren's "Couldn't I Just Tell You," was recorded in 1985 by the San Francisco-based line-up of Game Theory for the album The Big Shot Chronicles.

[3] The original recording line-up commenced a national tour for Real Nighttime in October 1984, but before the album's 1985 release, the group went through a wholesale change in personnel, with only Miller remaining.

"[21] Spin listed Real Nighttime in January 1990 as one of its "80 Excellent Records of the 80s," alongside Coley's description of the album as an "overwhelming swirl of post-Big Star heroin pop.

"[15] Deming continued, "Always tuneful, and by turns rollicking and heart-breaking, Real Nighttime was the album that announced Game Theory as one of the major talents to emerge from California's Paisley Underground scene.

"[15] Trouser Press called the music "tougher and more unpredictable" than related bands such as Let's Active and The Three O'Clock, citing "jagged guitar lines, ominous percussion and noisy sound effects... creating an odd but often productive tension" that undercut pop conventions.

"[11] The book cited Miller's "brilliant tunesmithing," and identified Real Nighttime as the album in which the group proved themselves capable of fully realizing the "sense of ambition and high concept" suggested in their earlier work.

"[25] Jersey Beat concluded that in Real Nighttime, "[a]ll the elements were in place for something special to occur – a master songwriter at the height of his powers, a stellar supporting cast and a like minded producer in Mitch Easter to capture it all for posterity.

"[27] Examples included the "nearly invisible Simmons drum pads used throughout," as well as "Nan Becker's wacked-out synth licks" in the song "Curse of the Frontier Land," which the reviewer found to "enhance, rather than distract from, its jangly power pop crunch.