Doomsday libraries: Representations of libraries in post-apocalyptic video games

Abstract

This article examines the depiction of libraries in post-apocalyptic games and the roles they play from a gameplay, storytelling and character development perspective. While the representation of libraries in film, fiction and other media has been the subject of considerable scholarly interest, there has been comparatively less attention on the representation of libraries in video games; this article fills a gap in the literature in its exclusive focus on the representation of libraries in post-apocalyptic settings. Libraries serve in two distinct roles in post-apocalyptic games: as storehouses of information and knowledge, and as sanctuaries from hostile and unforgiving worlds that emerge in the wake of an extinction-level event.