The Library of Babel: New sneaking game with cardboard

The stamp “Metal Gear Solid copy in 2D” falls short: The Library of Babel wants to merge stealth game, platform action and graphic adventure into one beguiling adventure – the signs are good.

The game jumps 20,000 years into the future – after the extinction of mankind, clever, humanoid robots populate Mesopotamia – in the trailer we see an exciting potpourri of jungle and high technology, of wild creatures and mysterious cults. Main character Ludovik is a seeker who travels to Mesopotamia to solve a murder case. Arriving at a mining outpost, an emergency hinders his work, but together with the local police chief Lei, Ludovik manages to shed light on the darkness. If you liked the trailer (see below), we recommend taking a look at the official website, where the makers Tanuki Game Studio give a few insights into the characters.

According to the official description The Library of Babel wants to combine three different genres: tie game, platformer and adventure; probably that’s why it was written into the game logo. And indeed, there is not only a mysterious story and many conversations, but also an adventure-typical inventory, where Ludovik, for example, first has to connect a rope to a metal hook in order to get through the level faster with a grappling hook in the future. We see him crawling through sewers or – Snake sends his regards – with a cardboard card on his head; elsewhere he hides behind graphically highlighted obstacles. It all looks pretty good and well thought out.

And it seems that the action part doesn’t fall short either: we see how Ludovik is being pursued by a many-eyed troll, how he elegantly jumps over spike traps and between dripping poisonous soup or flees from self-firing systems. There are also switch puzzles in the form of mini-games and at the end a meeting with the matriarch, a figure that is as enigmatic as it is gigantic and clearly shows Giger’s traits. The game was inspired by the story of the same name penned by the Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, which is associated with fantastic literature.

In any case, we are curious and will keep you informed when Ludovik will start his promising adventure. The release date is currently only a vague 2022, but the game will be released on PC (Steam, Epic), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.