There’s nothing I love more than playing a game that allows me to completely switch off. Mundane tasks that require minimal brain power are my best escape (aside from a good book) and it’s even better when I’m able to gain a deep sense of accomplishment from completing them.
Under the radar
Under the Radar is our way of highlighting the big games you might have missed. With a regular mix of news and features, we’ll cover great experiences that we think haven’t found the audience they deserve. Read the full series here.
I have played countless hours of The Sims 4 And Valley of Stars over the years, or more recently Star Sand Island. These titles deserve their impressive ratings and strong sales for delivering exactly what comfortable gamers like me want: a place to relax and check boxes. But I’m always looking for more. Little did I know that an evening scroll on TikTok was about to spark my next cozy obsession that almost flew under the radar.
As if by magic, videos would appear on my newsfeed of a library littered with thousands of books, all out of place. Players contemplate the chaotic collection with a visual aesthetic close to Harry Potter saying things like, “You’re seriously telling me I have to put all these things where they’re supposed to go” and “Oh my God, there’s a second floor.” And that’s when I got really intrigued.
Librarian: Put away the arcane library! is exactly as the name suggests, a game in which you become the librarian and must put everything away.
Sort the shelves calmly
It’s a big, big mess. Huge. There are books scattered everywhere, stacked on the tables, messy in the corners like a huge puzzle you need to solve. The task is really simple, even though it requires sorting more than 3,000 books. But, with a warm atmosphere and plenty of free time, I was more than ready to dive in.
What Put away the arcane library! wants you to do is put all the books on the right shelves, in the right order, before you can leave. There are a few cards on the walls explaining which category of book belongs on which shelf and to get started you just need to get started.
Don’t get me wrong, I was a little worried that the mess would disrupt any promise of comfort. It’s not quite the same as tending to your crops or gathering resources, but it’s the kind of task that appeals to me – and I hope comfort players will agree.
It reminds me of silly little tasks I always loved doing, like sorting coins or writing addresses on a tower of envelopes, but no one has ever thrown all those random coins or envelopes into a room and asked me to put them away. Fortunately, my concerns were quickly put aside when the game began, giving me the chance to play a game designed specifically for this purpose. comfortable mode without time constraints, just relaxed sorting.
Every time you place a book on the shelf in the right place, it glows gold and I almost felt like I was sparkling with satisfaction. The dopamine rush in games like these is hard to beat, especially when it’s so simply acquired.
But if you put a book in the wrong place, there’s no glittering reward, only desperation to know where it goes. But no problem, I told myself, there are always more books to sort.
List Killer
Now, it is worth mentioning here that sorting books is not something you should undertake alone. No, you can also exploit a little magic. As you begin to properly fill the shelves, you level up and unlock points that can be spent on different magical abilities.
Whether it’s lighting the appropriate shelf for the top book you’re holding or placing the book on said shelf without you having to lift a finger, it’s up to you whether you want to tackle the problem. Put away the arcane library! without using any magic. But if you want to protect your peace, I highly recommend you do so.
It is also up to you whether you have spent your points on all abilities. I didn’t do it. While Sort automatically sorts the books you own in numerical order, I liked taking my time, digging through my books like a real librarian. But I relied heavily on the other abilities to make sure I didn’t go crazy.
I even ended up using the TikTok videos that got me here in the first place to teach myself the hidden keys that turned me into a much more effective librarian: carrying more books, moving faster, and even jumping.
I have worked in a library, I have also worked in a bookstore, but I can say with certainty that the calm and magic of Put away the arcane library! makes it a much more comfortable experience than real life, especially without any customers.
I still spend hours in the game taking my time, because I know that once it’s over, I’ll miss it. If you also want to play, you can grab it on Steam.
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