

ESCAPE SIMULATOR THE LIBRARY HOW TO
Early on, it can be daunting just to figure out how to use pages to get to the next area or start a random encounter. It can seem quite confusing at first I was quite a few hours into the game before I started to understand how certain abilities worked. There are many systems in play, and the opening may not successfully relay all the various things going on to the player. That said, the game does not do a great job of onboarding players in its initial hours. Screenshots don’t do the game justice, and watching battles play out remains mesmerizing hours and hours into the experience. It features some incredible tracks by Mili, whose talents you may have heard earlier this year in Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights. Chances are, you’ll be checking out the soundtrack when you’re not playing as well. Boss battles in this game can be jaw-dropping and surprising. While the game earns its Mature rating and is definitely not for kids, the trappings of Ruina are absolutely enthralling, from the moving backgrounds to the incredible soundtrack.

The world of Ruina is incredibly dark, disturbing, and weird.

There’s a ton of other factors to consider in combat in terms of speed, counterattacks, and more, but honestly, these things are best to discover as you play through. These start off fairly easy but get much more challenging, forcing you to think about every incoming attack or to play in different ways, like giving you targets to protect, avoid, or manage during the course of a demanding battle.ĭefeating bosses ties into yet another mechanic (yes, this game is absolutely fantastic for lovers of systems and mechanics) where your emotional level builds up over battles and gives you access to incredibly powerful effects that often come with risk/reward aspects to play around with. You take on numerous boss battles shaped more like puzzles than the normal fights you encounter along the deckbuilding journey. Or build charges, play cards that get better if your deck is single copies only, or many, many other strategies. Maybe you want to shatter opponents before they can even attack with blazing ranged attacks. Maybe the best call against a giant single target is to stack burning cards and dish out damage over time. You can take as many as five characters into battle at once as you get later into the game, and you can construct a unified vision or a crew that can handle multiple situations. But I will say this – Library of Ruina is definitely a game you should play if you like the aforementioned titles. While it shares critical deckbuilding elements, it’s not a roguelike and plays more like a traditional RPG with a ton of options and elements that unlock over time, choices for you to make, and builds to explore. There have been many comparisons of Library of Ruina to other deckbuilding fares like Slay the Spire and Monster Train, and while these are excellent games to be in the company of, it’s important to stress that Library of Ruina is a completely different beast. These receptions are elaborate turn-based battles that include both cards and dice, so they’re pretty badass if you want to get nerdy. In the Library, however, you play as librarians holding receptions for guests. In Lobotomy Corporation, you manage a facility similar to the one from The Cabin in The Woods in a simulation experience that often goes horribly, horribly wrong. Library of Ruina is a sequel to another Project Moon game, Lobotomy Corporation, which you also may not have heard of.
