The Library of Babell is an idea that has been on the back of my mind for over a year, I had started doing some work before I actually found a team but only actually devoted my whole heart to it after it was requested as a university project. I say this to let everyone know, even though this work is being developed as a university project. It is a project that I love dearly and it is very personal, I have devoted my entire heart to this project so I hope that shines through all these posts.
The Library of Babel (or the library of the past, the name is still being decided), is heavily inspired by both the book and the website of the same name, for those who do not know of this concept, the book, was published by Jorge Luís Borges, an acclaimed Argentinian writer, in 1994. The original title describes a world where the narrator lives, this is an endless library, stretching farther than anyone can see, the library is filled with walls full of books, four walls per room, five shelves in each wall and 32 books on each shelf. All these books seem to be simply gibberish, just combinations of all letters, commas, periods and spaces. For the community the narrator lives with, these books are nothing more than an insignificant combination of characters, however, as the story progresses, the narrator gets in contact with adventurers, who travel through all rooms and start discovering the basic laws of this place, there are no two equal books, and all combinations of characters exist somewhere. This means that somewhere hidden deep within the library lies a book that can tell you how you die, there is a book that describes the meaning of the entire world, you only have to search for it.
This idea later inspired a website, The Library of Babel. By accessing it you can explore a somewhat replica of the book´s description of a library and read through all the books. This website is neatly organized by hexagon/room, wall, shelf and book and anyone can reach out for a title. Most of them will be nothing but gibberish, however, if you select the right book, you might just find the meaning of the universe and whatever questions you may have.
My game was heavily inspired by both of these projects, although the concept of the library was heavily edited to fit the narrative I was trying to tell. In my game, the library is a place people can access, with an elevator at the top that can give you access to the world´s knowledge. This library, however, like everything else, is used for profit. An important family holds the key to this place and a magic fountain that can tell you whatever you'd like to know. No one knows where this place originated, or how it doesn't crumble because of the laws of physics but, the truth is, it's standing.
In the game, the players will have to ask the right questions and find the right answers to hopefully find the secrets hidden deep within it´s walls.
