Spellbound & Shelved

Spellbound & Shelved is a library management game in which every one of the library’s 6,655 books begins scattered across the floor. Rather than shelving anything yourself, you employ red-hatted gnomes who carry stacks of books back to the shelves, gradually restoring the building. Six types of customer can be unlocked over the course of a run, and each pays to visit, but each also pulls shelved books back down again, so income and mess both come from the same source.

The central control is the sign on the door. Setting it to CLOSED stops customers arriving, letting the gnomes tidy uninterrupted while no money comes in; setting it to OPEN brings in gold but allows the disorder to build up again. Your role is to hire and upgrade gnomes, unlock new areas and decide when to open or close. Optional interactions include collecting tip coins before they disappear, encouraging a gnome to move faster and ushering out lingering readers, though the game can also be left to run on its own.

The game includes more than 200 upgrades, 15 shelf wings that must be purchased to unlock, 29 achievements and a finale triggered when the last book is removed from the floor. A complete run takes roughly one to three hours, with saving available at any point. The game has now been released and holds a Very Positive rating on Steam from over 100 user reviews.