LABRYSIA
LABRYSIA is an interactive catalogue / e-zine (?) that allows users to explore and discover independent games made by other developers that are designed around virtual environments. The virtual environment game is a term used to describe games with open-ended goals, encouraging the player to explore the environment on its own terms. It interacts closely with the walking simulator, but here there is no narrative frame: the player's ability to explore and respond to the environment is the foundation of the experience.
The independent games selected, expanding over time, feature all kinds of aesthetics and styles, from cozy and beautiful to strange, liminal, and surreal. Much like Myst, a game that weaves a fantastical story about the dialogue between textual and digital worldbuilding, I hope you can pore through these old books and find portals to virtual worlds that you enjoy.
Created in July 2026. The UI is inspired by Myst and 2000s skeuomorphic web design, with old book spines sourced from Wikimedia Commons. Screenshots and footage of featured games are used for the purpose of criticism and review, and remain the property of their respective creators, and this project is not affiliated with any of the developers featured. Please support their work by trying their games. A web version of this site exists at labrysia.com.
Reach out with any suggestions!
Comments
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kind of thought each book on the shelf would be a different game, I hope it gets updated at some point. I already knew a lot of these games
Thanks for playing and appreciate the feedback! I'm updating this every day and will update the count of games on the game page so keep an eye on it. Filling the shelf was a design decision, although each game belongs to a unique book spine, so it is possible to distinguish titles. Once there's about 50, I plan to alphabetize it and remove duplicates.