The British Library Simulator
It's the spring of 2020 and London is in lockdown.
If you miss wandering around the British Library, here is a (very little) simulator of the St Pancras building in London, UK.
Virtual readers are out and about and very eager to share British Library facts with you.
Use the keyboard arrows to navigate through the game.
Links mentioned in the game:
- Emerging Formats: https://www.bl.uk/projects/emerging-formats
- The British Library: Our Story: https://www.bl.uk/about-us/our-story/
- The UK Web Archive: https://www.webarchive.org.uk
- British Library Sounds: https://sounds.bl.uk
- The Sound Gallery: https://www.bl.uk/events/sound-gallery
***
Joint winner of the 2020 British Library Staff Award
Part of the COVID E-lit: Digital Art During the Pandemic documentary
Exhibited at ELO 2021 as part of the Covid Electronic Literature Exhibition
***
A special thank you to Adam Le Doux for making Bitsy!
Comments
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loved this! i was just at the library a few weeks ago and visited the room full of ancient texts, drawings, etc. i never knew that just up the stairs was a giant cube of bookshelf at the heart of the library that looks like it came straight out of science fiction. there's something about a HUGE institution committed to knowledge that seems so commanding, so domineering, like a big sepulchre of written words. i get a little intimidated, so i dont spend long there.
you rendered the library in a very cozy, beautiful way. still, i paced myself exploring, because I want to come back and see everything.
... maybe one day i'll pluck up the courage to visit the basement.
can't wait to come back <3
I'm glad you enjoyed it! :) And I'm very happy to hear I somewhat managed to make the library less intimidating. I absolutely understand the feeling (sometimes I have it too!) but if this game made you feel like giving the library another chance and exploring it some more, hooray! <3
See you around the corridors :)
What an innovative way to learn!
Thank you so much! :)
I wasn't sure what to expect, but this was charming and relaxing. Thank you
Thank you! I wanted it to be a fun and comforting experience, so I'm glad you find it relaxing :)
Cute game!
Thanks! ^_^
liked it! (but I really wanted to sneak in the basement...)
Thank you! Maybe I should create a spin off where you just wander around the basement...
That was cool. I liked jumping the queues, it felt scandalous.
Haha, I'm glad! I definitely don't have the courage of doing it in real life...
That's a good thing! Queue jumping is a horrible sin best left to video games. Your library simulator is basically Grand Theft Auto V.
looks interesting - doesn’t work with an iPad though - off to fire up the laptop...
Oh, that's good to know! I wasn't sure what devices would support this - I believe it should work on mobile, but I need to do some more research...
This looks great and it was a really pleasant visit!
Thank you! I'm happy you had fun :D
Awesome! Great job!
Thank you so much!
Really nice, and a reminder of a strange and distant time when we could 'visit' 'places'.
Thank you! Yep, one of the reasons why I made this is that I miss idly wandering around buildings.
This is so cool! Great work <3
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)