The Sim genre is such a mixed bag. I understand that you can say this about any genre of game, but it seems to show more with these. I’ve played some really good ones over the years, but on the other hand, it feels like if you make a game that’s god awful and call it a Sim, you get a pass. Some of the worst games I’ve experienced have come out of this genre, as have the ones I’ve given some of the lowest scores in my time as a reviewer. We’re playing LIBRITOPIA: Librarian Simulator on PC today, and while it has some charm, there is still a lot here that leaves itself to be desired. Importantly, before you think I’m sitting here sharpening my axe, I’m very aware that this is an Early Access title, so this is a look at the game’s current state, not its finished one.
In LIBRITOPIA: Librarian Simulator you will be given the chance to build and run your own library. In my head, there’s something quite endearing about this idea. Libraries are cozy spaces where bookworms can find solace from hectic lives. These are emporiums of learning for keen-minded students or just somewhere to peruse when you want to escape the world for a while. I went into this game looking for a sense of whimsy. I wanted something slow-paced and charming while still being addictive. I’m not sure I wanted to get dropped into a dash game unprepared, but that’s what happened.
In LIBRITOPIA: Librarian Simulator, you will have to fulfill the needs of your patrons without getting too many complaints. If you don’t have what a customer is looking for, they will leave unhappy with your service. Should too many customers leave on any given day, it’s game over. If this was a Dash game, I’d have been much happier with this than I was. The fact that they’ve taken a Sim title and boiled it down to this means that all of the nuance that makes a good simulation a simulation goes out of the window. We’re equating the job of the librarian with stress, and although this might be correct in a sense, I’m not sure this is what we want as players.
Before the start of the day in LIBRITOPIA, you’ll be given the option to build and place new items for your library and gather any books that have been dropped off the previous evening. You start the day from your computer (which seems a little strange), and then a stream of bibliophiles appear, looking to get their fix. We’re fine up to this point. This is what we’re expecting, so it would be a little bit mean to complain about the premise.
Firstly, for a group of people who should be fairly well-read, your customers are dumb as a sack of bricks. Initially, you have literally twelve books on your shelf. The patron will walk over to the shelves, look for a little while, then ask you for a book that was right in front of their face. This would make sense in a room full of hundreds of books or if you had stacks of books unshelved. When everything you own is present and on the sum total of two shelves, this is a little bit ridiculous. The books are initially shelved in such a way that the covers are visible, too, so there really isn’t any excuse. Playing devil’s advocate, this is something that changes the further you get into the game, but this adds another issue with it, and I’m not sure it was intentional.
As you buy more shelves, the books get placed so you can only see the spine. This means that you can only see the book’s title, and some customers will ask you for an author or genre. You can either remember everything you have in stock, which is easier said than done, or look the item up at the check-in desk. This is smart but burns time and customer patience. You don’t want impatient patrons because they’ll leave, and that’s endangering you losing the game. You can label your shelves, but you can only do so much at a time, so, again, this is useful but makes life more difficult in a pinch.
In LIBRITOPIA: Librarian Simulator, your library is broken up into zones. You have check-in and check-out desks (why we need a separate computer system for each is beyond me). Then, there is an area for customer queries where they’ll wait for you to find what they’re looking for. This is awkward and slows things down unnecessarily. If we’re going to be realistic, everything should be on one computer. The waiting area is an understandable touch, but in a dash game, you want to start with as few steps as possible and add more slowly. As you go, you can buy automated desks, and you’ll need them. I still think it felt a little cumbersome from the off, though.
To check a book out for a customer, you need to go to your computer, search the item, and then click to check out. This is fine, but you need to leave the computer every time you want to check a book out to see what you’re searching for. If you have six people in a row all waiting, this is more steps that feel awkward. If I was given a window on the screen with the book I was looking for that I could see at a glance, I’d be a lot happier.
The check-in desk, on the other hand, features a matching game where you have to match the book’s title, author, and genre. The buttons you’re matching move, and I didn’t find this process to be particularly responsive. What should have been done in a few clicks took longer, not because I was clicking on the wrong thing, but because my clicks didn’t feel like they were registering. Not to sound like a stuck record, but if we’re going for dash mechanics, fluidity is key, and it isn’t always there with this process.
This is pretty much the play loop in LIBRITOPIA. Get books, give them to your readers, and then pull them back in again. This is about as simple as you can get. The thing is that it doesn’t feel simple. It feels like they’ve taken something straightforward and gone about it in the most awkward way. To make this more irritating, your patrons will ask you for books that you haven’t even seen yet. This happened to me a couple of times towards the start of the game. It’s not a major complaint, but when your patrons effectively equal the number of lives you have, you don’t want to be losing them to circumstances out of your control.
From an aesthetic perspective, LIBRITOPIA: Librarian Simulator is fairly basic. This game feels like it belongs back in the 2000s, and although I understand that all art is a choice and that devs only have so many resources, it’s not particularly pretty. The sound is virtually nonexistent, and what we’re given by way of sound effects doesn’t always fit. I noticed a few male voices attached to female patrons, and even though the best you get is a series of grunts, you want them to be believable. Outside of this, the controls are fine, and everything works the way you’d expect.
If you like Dash games, I think there’s something to be said for LIBRITOPIA: Librarian Simulator. This is by no means going to hit game-of-the-year status in anyone’s eyes, but there are some fun mechanics in play. I think we need to do away with the term Sim as it’s a bit misleading. Yes, we’re simulating running a library, but the Sim genre is a different animal from what this title is coming over as. As a Dash title, there’s enough challenge here to make this game replayable. The issues I’ve mentioned, though, are placing LIBRITOPIA in just okay territory for me on most fronts at the moment.
Having said all this, I’m fully aware that as this is Early Access, I might come back in a month or so and find I’m playing an entirely different game, so there are still loads for the devs to play for. As a final note, the devs are clearly working on this title as we speak, so we can definitely expect improvements to come in the future. This isn’t an expensive title either, so you won’t be burning your pockets if you want to play.
This Preview is based on an Early Access copy of the game provided by the Publisher.
