📚Librarians, rejoice 🎉 — your library experience just got deeper! Introducing The Reading Zone 📖, a brand-new mechanic available early in the game! From now on, curious readers will stop by to browse your shelves, settle in for a good read, and maybe even check out a book or two. But don't get too comfy — it's still your job to keep the area tidy and quiet 🤫!
This update also brings characters now carrying books in their hands 👐, making the library feel more alive than ever. We've also refined the game's pacing and balancing ⚖️ to better integrate the new features, especially in the late game — overall progression now feels smoother and more satisfying 👌. The Checkout Screen got a much-needed revamp too: books being checked out are now clearly displayed at the top 🔝, with improved visuals and a more user-friendly list. And good news for all modes: the Book Return system now follows Relax Mode behavior — boxes stay put instead of being moved around! 🙏
Ready to dive in? As always, a big thank you to everyone who shared reports and feedback on Steam and Discord ❤️📚 — your input helped shape this update! Please keep it coming to help us make the game even better!
📕MAJOR UPDATES:
- New game mechanic: The Reading Zone! It is available from Day 4 and, once unlocked, new reader-type customers will begin visiting the library to browse, read on-site, and perhaps rent books too. Donʼt forget—itʼs the librarianʼs job to keep the Reading Zone tidy and remind readers that the library is a quiet place!
- Animation improvements: Characters now actually carry books in their hands—no more floating books!
- Pacing adjusted: With the introduction of the Reading Zone, weʼve fine-tuned the gameʼs pacing to better integrate new features. The overall progression should now feel smoother and more enjoyable for all players.
- Rebalancing: Weʼve reworked the reward and book arrival calculations to improve game flow after Day Expect a lower total number of books and better alignment between book deliveries and available bookshelves.
- Books being checked out appear at the top of the screen with relevant details!
- Duplicate books have been removed from the list.
- A new column now shows the current quantity of each book in the library.
- Adjusted the size of instructions and the search bar for better visual balance.
- The Book Return process now behaves like Relax Mode in all modes — boxes no longer swap places during returns, only when a different book is being returned.
📒MINOR UPDATES:
- Added new in-game notifications for unlocking books in the Libridex and achieving new high scores.
- The Help Zone now displays the current number of clients and the max capacity visually.
- Added visual feedback when books cannot be interacted with.
- A new furniture piece was added to the Book Arrival area to improve book handling.
- Added a new Player standing animation in front of the computer.
- A new rule ensures that when librarians choose one automatic counter reward, the second reward choice will always default to the remaining one.
- An Update Rewards System has been created that applies to players who have already passed the point of unlocking the first Reader Zone.
📘BUG FIXES & ADJUSTMENTS:
- Optimized Book Database performance in large libraries.
- Fixed a bug where the office bookshelf was incorrectly included in book arrival calculations in Relaxing Mode.
- Books now no longer clip through walls when carried.
- Resolved text scaling issues when building objects with text (e.g., Reading Zone, checkout counters).
- Fixed a bug preventing player movement when crouching near library entrances.
- Fixed a rare crash on Day 15 in Score Mode.
- Fixed a book return bug that deselected fields when clicked twice.
- Resolved a naming issue where two players could spawn with the same name.
- Corrected errors in book titles.
- Fixed a crash related to language switching during gameplay. Thrown books now reset properly if they donʼt hit the floor.
- Fixed a bug where switching from Survivor Mode to Relax Mode could cause the library to auto-open at the start of the day.
- Attempting to use a computer while jumping no longer causes the player to float.
- Various minor usability and UI improvements. Fixed missing or unclear translations.
- Corrected text alignment issues.