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The First Library
A co-op survival crafting game where books are your progression. Find lost books and read them to unlock tools, weapons and building parts – or dive into them to travel to other worlds. Fell trees, build your base, cook, and fight goblins in combo-based melee combat. Solo or with friends.

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Features
Single-player
Online Co-op
Family Sharing
Profile Features Limited 
Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔ ✔
German ✔ ✔ ✔

Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“The First Library lives from the interplay of survival, building, combat and exploration. We want to refine these systems with players who actually play them, instead of finishing the game behind closed doors. Our playtests already show how much real feedback improves balance, progression and especially co-op. Early Access is the next step on that path.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We plan to stay in Early Access for about 18 months. The exact length depends on how the game grows with your feedback – we will only leave Early Access once the planned worlds, the story and the core systems feel complete.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version expands the game in every direction:
- more worlds behind more books, each with its own resources, enemies and secrets
- the complete story of the stolen knowledge
- living villages with NPCs, traders and quests
- more building parts, armor sets, weapons and decoration
- a world that reacts to your progress, and tougher enemies
- polish, balancing and optimization across all systems”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“At the start of Early Access the complete core loop is playable – alone or in co-op:
- three worlds you travel to through books, including the Drusustal valley and the Lipachertal peat moor
- find books and read them at the Read Table to unlock recipes and story
- modular building system with free placement and decoration
- melee combat with combos, blocking and dodging, several weapon types and bosses
- gathering, cooking with buffs, crafting tools and armor, farming with seasonal crops
- first story content with NPCs, dialogue, quests and traders
- horses and riding
- controller support, English and German”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Yes. The price will increase for the full release, since the game will offer considerably more content by then. Players who join during Early Access get the game for less and receive all future content at no extra cost.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Through our Discord, the Steam discussions and regular playtests. We collect feedback specifically on combat, building, progression and balance, and our updates show which feedback led to which changes. For bigger design decisions we ask the community directly in polls, and we keep our roadmap up to date on Steam.”
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This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: To be announced

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About This Game

The First Library is an open-world survival crafting game, played solo or in online co-op. There are no experience levels: everything you can craft and build, you learn from books you find and read.

The world's libraries were plundered and their knowledge stolen. Bring it back – book by book.

Gather and Survive

Fell trees, break stone and ore, gather fibers, herbs and berries. Hunt game and cook meals at the campfire that fill you up and make you stronger. Use the daylight: in Escliene, the night is not made for the unprepared.

Find Books, Unlock Knowledge

Lost books lie in ruins, in goblin camps and in forgotten places. Bring them to the Read Table: every book unlocks new recipes, tools, weapons and building parts – and reveals a little more about what happened to this world.

Build

Place walls, floors, doors and roofs freely or snap them into place. Build huts, workshops and your own library wherever you like – in every biome. Wherever your bed stands is your home and your respawn point.

Fight

Combos, blocking, shield bashes and dodge rolls: axe, spear, club, sword and bow each play differently. Clean hits make enemies stagger. Goblins, wolves, bog spiders, a bog troll and a goblin chieftain stand in your way.

Travel Through Books

Lay the Book of Smithing on a Travel Lectern and dive in: a swirl of golden light and ink carries you to the Lipachertal, a misty peat moor with iron ore, peat and bog bodies that rise from the water at night. For the fast way home, awaken a Whisperstone and hold the line against three waves of enemies until the portal opens.

Play Together

Play in online co-op with your friends: gather, build, travel through books and defend Whisperstones together. Play with a controller or with mouse and keyboard.

Features

  • Open-world survival crafting, solo or in online co-op

  • Progression through books instead of experience levels

  • Two worlds connected by books: the Drusustal valley and the Lipachertal peat moor

  • Modular building with free placement and snap points, build in every biome

  • Melee combat with combos, blocking, shield bash, dodge roll and stagger

  • Day and night cycle – tougher enemies come out at night

  • Whisperstone defense "Hold the Line"

  • Cooking with buffs, crafting tools and armor, first crops

  • Controller support, English and German

What's Next

The First Library is being built together with its community. Planned for further development:

  • More worlds behind more books – from orchard meadows to primeval forest, karst coast and high mountains

  • Villages that come to life: NPCs with their own daily routines, traders and quests

  • A story that uncovers the mystery of the stolen knowledge piece by piece

  • Farming with seasonal crops, irrigation and storage

  • New weapons, armor sets and dishes with their own effects

  • Enemies with their own strengths and weaknesses

  • A world that reacts to your progress – the more knowledge you gather, the more enemies it draws

  • Horses and riding

Join us: hop into our Discord (link on the right of this page) and be part of the closed playtest at the end of 2026.

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

We use AI-generated content as placeholders during development and are progressively replacing it with human-made assets.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • OS: Windows 11
    • Processor: i5 3GHz or Ryzen 5 3GHz
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 1 GB available space
    Recommended:
    • DirectX: Version 12
    • Network: Broadband Internet connection
    • Storage: 1 GB available space