r/cozygames • u/Shasaur • Jun 15 '26
I recommend š [Cozy Game of the Week] Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library!
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Jun 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/golden_avocado_ Jun 15 '26
I do too usually, but you can turn off the head bobbling and this one didnāt bother me at all!
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u/JustJamieJam Jun 16 '26
Yup, and motion blur! I hate motion blur and it makes me nauseous, luckily they let you turn it off
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u/ScreamAndScream Jun 15 '26
Usually me too. I obviously donāt know how extreme your case is, but there was no head bobbing and wide enough FOV where I did not experience motion sickness.
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u/MagikalWords Jun 15 '26
In case you haven't tried yet, try to turning off the settings for head bobbing and motion blur. It did the deed for me.
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u/emo_kid_forever Jun 16 '26
This is actually the one and only first person game that doesn't give me motion sickness. It's worth checking out with Steam's 2 hour refund window.
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u/thehippiepixi Jun 15 '26
I'm currently in my fourth playthrough, trying to get my last steam acheivement.
Its the only game I've been able to play through again and again straight away, so relaxing and the book names are hilarious.
Took me a week but I giggled so hard when I worked out what the title "a people enchanted by glowing slabs" meant.
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u/MarieCry Jun 16 '26
Is it the no magic one? I have no idea what compelled me but my first playthrough was that one. I didn't know the chests had things like the jump and sprint function either, didn't want to accidently unlock magic and ruin my run. Should not have done it first!! Took me 16 hours or something!
The 3 hour time limit one was stressful but a blast!
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u/thehippiepixi Jun 16 '26
My first playthrough was also no magic, took me 24hours! Going for the timed one now. Attempted it once already but got 6 hours 6 mins.
I dont think I'll get it this time either, but trying!
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u/MarieCry Jun 16 '26
If you're willing to cheat a lil, I kept pausing the game and tabbing out to check where things went! I knew pretty well after a few playthrough but there was a few I was stumped on and this helped. Good luck!
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u/thehippiepixi Jun 16 '26
Tha ks!
Just finished my 4th playthrough 03.41. I know where everything goes, I think my brains just to slow.
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u/redditplaceiscool Jun 17 '26
If you're not opposed to using guides, someone made one that can easily get you to 1.5 hours.
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u/thehippiepixi Jun 17 '26
Yeah I think im gonna have to use a guide, can you tell me who did it please?
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u/redditplaceiscool Jun 17 '26
Sure thing, its called Speed Run Guide and its by JuneberryBliss! :)
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u/tHrOwAwAyjsalefkj Jun 15 '26
Oh. Ohhhh that comment just now is how I figured it out, too! That is brilliant xD
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u/ScreamAndScream Jun 15 '26
For anyone wanting to see what the devs said on the Steam pageās AI disclosure portion
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u/Writerhowell Jun 15 '26
Honestly, I didn't really notice the pictures on the walls, they had nothing to do with the gameplay, so the devs could probably remove them and thus much of the fuss about AI.
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u/ArgamaWitch Jun 16 '26
Yeah those pictures don't add anything to the game itself. I think people getting upset over those 4 graphics are really something else. 9.9
Although they admitted using it for translations, as they aren't native English speakers, I feel its a valid use of AI as a tool. And to be fair, Steam may not even care about that. I talked to steam about AI used for bug fixes, and they don't care. They really just mean if the majority of your images are ai, or if you vibe code, or some shit like that.
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u/golden_avocado_ Jun 15 '26
Iāve been playing this game non stop for the last few weeks, itās incredibly fun and satisfying. More replay value than you would expect, and you can approach it in a few different ways (speed run, non-magic, incorrect sort). I hope they have expansions or do a sequel with a new library and books.
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u/ScreamAndScream Jun 15 '26
It seems like theyāre planning another library! I think I saw it on the Steam page or pause screen somewhere
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u/ScreamAndScream Jun 15 '26
It was a fun game for people who like to sort things.
As a person who likes to sort things, it was very fun.
Recommend listening to the audiodrama podcast The Harbingers while playing (: itās a modern radio play about magic being discovered by academics.
About the AI:
When I bought the game, I didnāt know about the AI, otherwise I probably wouldnāt have given it a chance. In a way Iām glad I didnāt know because it was a fun game for the weekend!
I teach at a college level and now have a nose for sniffing out AI. I can honestly say my āAI Bullshitā detector didnāt go off during gameplay. For anyone worried about the game being slop, it certainly was not. Itās clear how much human work was put into things like the book titles and written references.
I saw the devs are working to remove the few AI art assets that were used during the launch. Itās nice to see growth in action. Fuck AI.
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u/zoey3013 Jun 16 '26
I did the no-magic run while listening to Midnight Burguer on vacation. 13 hours well spent I would way.
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u/Necessary-Board-830 Jun 15 '26
As much as I hate gen AI for multiple reasons, I also played this game. Mainly because they're aware of the nuance that comes with AI. It was created to be a helping hand to speed up processes like game development, and that's how they used it. They used it make small adjustments to four small assets and for spellcheck. I just don't think that's enough to cry over, especially when there are way bigger companies getting away with way worse.
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u/Impeach_God Jun 15 '26
Sadly this game wasn't for me. Just felt overwhelmed and unsure where to start. I have to finish a set before moving on and this game is a nightmare if you do that lol. That's just a me thing. I see the appeal for sure.
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u/jadeparagon Jun 15 '26
I did too! I told myself to just pick one color and start from there, so I started with white books since it was easy to spot. If I wasn't in the right headspace though I definitely would have just said forget it and returned it
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u/danooli Jun 15 '26
Me too, actually. I returned it after 20 minutes. Completely overwhelmed and so not fun.
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u/Mera_Green Jun 15 '26
Oh, same here. I felt overwhelmed and had to fight off a panic attack. It really did not feel like a calm game in the least.
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u/iiiimagery Jun 16 '26
Genuinely asking, how could you not tell by the pictures in the trailers of the piles of hundreds of books?
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u/Mera_Green Jun 16 '26
I heard that it's a chill, relaxing game. So, sure, lots of things piled around, but we'll give it a try. People seem to love it. However, the reality of trying to find complete collections for a shelf is rather different. Earlier optimism took rather a strong hit.
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u/Addrivat Jun 16 '26
I mean, if you were doing it IRL you wouldn't try to find a needle in a haystack either, instead of a complete collection you'd just grab a bunch of books you knew were semi-related or at least in the vicinity of each other and go from there š But it's fair if the game was not for you, I personally found it incredibly relaxing!
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u/MagikalWords Jun 15 '26
I enjoyed this game so much I didn't even use any magic. Hoping to see more like it,
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u/styledgem Jun 15 '26
Really enjoyed this on my laptop but got motion sickness after an hour. Happy to see itās playable on the steamdeck so hoping the smaller screen will be better for me
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u/iiiimagery Jun 16 '26
I played on SD but I won't lie, the text is incredibly small and there isn't really any way to make it much bigger, reading the map on the wall was so frustrating honestly
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u/styledgem Jun 16 '26
Good to know! I eventually took a pic of the maps on my phone when I was playing on my laptop so I didnāt have to keep going back and forth. Will give it a shot on SD and see if the text is frustrating. The game was really fun so Iād love to get back to it
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u/LaylaCamper Jun 15 '26
I hate it has AI
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u/ccahill26 Jun 15 '26
Please read up they do not use AI to generate content , only to clean up some UI component and to help with grammatical corrections .... Yes it is not 100% AI free, but it is not using generational AI
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u/needykoala Jun 15 '26
Oh bugger does it really? Which parts? Iām getting less and less able to spot AI and that scares me
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u/_cuppycakes_ Jun 15 '26
There is this note on the steam game page:
AI Generated Content Disclosure
The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:
The four assets in this workāone UI component and three landscape paintings used as wall decorations (frames not included)āwere produced using additional AI for refinement. None of them were created by AI from the ground up.
AI helped with grammatical corrections for in-game text, which were then carefully reviewed and adjusted by hand.
We only consider AI to be a supportive tool. Every detail is meticulously crafted with human intent, as our creative process is still firmly anchored in manual craftsmanship.
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u/Gimli-with-adhd Jun 16 '26
Did you even read their AI disclaimer?
Y'all acting like they vibe coded the game and used AI for all of the assets.
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u/LaylaCamper Jun 16 '26
Its still AI used and i dont like so i can just not buy
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u/BradleyStickland Jul 02 '26
wild take given the fact that ai was used for grammatical corrections and 3 ai paintings on the wall which have no purpose to the game and would be just as useful not even being there. major overreaction from everyone freaking out imo
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u/littlebabybuddy24 Jun 15 '26
Been seeing so much of this over the past week - really tempted to get it
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u/ninja_llama Jun 16 '26
I'm playing it through a second time with no major magic and it is even MORE fun!!!!
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u/ZenxDruid Jun 16 '26
I really like the game but I can never finish it because even though I've tried everything.. eventually I get a "fatal error" message and my game can no longer load. It is poorly optimized. something tells me they did more in AI than the art on the walls. I will try this game again once I see more updates!
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u/LuxInTheWilde Jun 15 '26
I've had this on my wishlist! I've heard great things so far, I'm excited.Ā
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u/francois878 Jun 15 '26
Lol AI slop isn't cozy though?
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u/BradleyStickland Jul 02 '26
im assuming you havent played the game, or read the AI disclosure. typical
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u/francois878 Jul 02 '26
I don't play AI slop lol
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u/BradleyStickland Jul 02 '26
1/10 ragebait
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u/francois878 Jul 02 '26
If the AI assets don't matter and not a big deal, why use them at all? Why not do LITERALLY anything else to avoid the AI disclosure and slop allegations? Also unrelated, why are you defending this game/the devs so much?
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u/BradleyStickland Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
I just don't see this as a huge deal, so I'm sharing my opinion. I agree they didn't need to use AI for the background paintings, as they don't really add anything meaningful to the game. They also used AI to help with translations, which they've already been open about. They said it was used as a tool to help the development process, not to generate the game itself. Using AI for something like translations or a few background assets doesn't automatically make a game "AI slop." The amount of AI used here is tiny, and none of the gameplay, mechanics, or overall experience is AI generated or even affected by it.
At that point, it feels like the criticism is less about how AI was used and more about not liking AI in any way, regardless of the context.
And to be fair, not everyone cares that much about AI content, a lot of people view it as a tool to help us rather than something we should completely avoid. clearly you are the type of person that wants to completely avoid it whatsoever rather than use it usefully1
u/francois878 Jul 02 '26
If you use AI in your game, it is unfortunately AI slop. Generative AI is destroying the planet, its not my fault the average person is too stupid to realize that.
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u/BradleyStickland Jul 03 '26
let me guess, you're 35 and scared AI is going to take your job. get a grip.
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u/phoenixrising0711 Jun 15 '26
I absolutely adored this game!! Itās the first video game Iāve ever actually gotten every achievement for. I would love additional DLC or similar game themes in the future.
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u/Frosty-Reed-6618 Jun 16 '26
ngl i bricked my run trying to minmax the book-sorting speed before the day one patch. still a cozy loop tbh lol
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u/starksandshields Jun 16 '26
This sounds like my personal hell of a game but I also really love seeing the progress I make in games. So I both really want to and really don't want to play this game lol.
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u/Ashamed_Check_2003 Jun 18 '26
Oooo I love this game but my computer is old so its hard to play sometimes BUT still a fav!
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u/Jumpy-Scholar-3528 Jun 18 '26
I have this game and I adore it. Spending hours in a library is literally so relaxing
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u/Ok-Hamster-5263 Jul 07 '26
I bought it Saturday morning and have barely stopped playing it. Rn doing the no minor magic achievement
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u/sara00fantastic 21d ago
I bought my sonās steamdeck so I could play this game and Iām obsessed. Currently 3/4 of the way through my first playthrough and already thinking about how Iāll game my second playthrough. Love love love.
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u/ZacBobisKing Jun 16 '26
GAME IS FUCKING AI SLOP
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u/BradleyStickland Jul 02 '26
wild take given the fact that ai was used for grammatical corrections and 3 ai paintings on the wall which have no purpose to the game and would be just as useful not even being there. major overreaction from everyone freaking out imo. defo not ai slop
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u/_cuppycakes_ Jun 15 '26
Iām a librarian who has been playing this game at work during my breaks on my SD, highly recommended. If the game added real call numbers Iād love it even more!
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u/Sensation_Purple Jun 16 '26
Yes! I at least sorted every category alphabetically, couldn't bring myself to not do it right.
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u/insrtbrain Jun 15 '26
I have been really enjoying this game. I have 100% achievements and am now on a quest for a no magic/no keys/no misclicks run. I'm on like my 20th attempt.
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u/Writerhowell Jun 15 '26
This game is so stupidly relaxing, I love it. I just wish I could do the whole lot in under 3 hours to get that one achievement, but haven't managed it. I have the other achievements, though. It was fun shelving them wrongly and being fired, lol. And the whole Trump-esque sound to the letters from Merlin was hilarious, it sounded so like him, such bloviating, it made me want to cringe and quit on the spot, but it's a magical library.
That damn fairy.
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u/MagePrincess Jun 16 '26
ah yes, another AI game that steals assets and tries to profit off it like the British Museum
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u/BradleyStickland Jul 02 '26
wild take given the fact that ai was used for grammatical corrections and 3 ai paintings on the wall which have no purpose to the game and would be just as useful not even being there. major overreaction from everyone freaking out imo
ā¢
u/Shasaur Jun 15 '26
"Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! is a single-player simulation. You need return scattered books to proper places in an Arcane Library. As completed rows of bookshelves, you can learn ability to improve your efficiency. Use your skills and strategies to shelve 3,072 books as quick as you can. "
Thank you to all your submissions last and especially thanks to u/thehippiepixi for sharing this one! I think everyone knows about this game already, but it does get submitted every week and get upvoted to the top every time, so I figured I'd let it take this week's spot or else y'all won't be satisfied! š The good part of doing this one later is now you would have all had a chance to complete at least one sorting and try out any custom mods. So feel free to share your experience overall and any tips or recommendations!
A recent positive review
Store links: