Publisher Pantaloon and developer Nested Loop Studios have just revealed BOXROOM, and it just might be my next chill, virtual decorating game.
The idea is deviously simple. BOXROOM is all about arranging big box PC games, the kind anyone who grew up between the 80s and 00s should be familiar with. The twist – the games you’re shelving are generated from your own, actual Steam library.
If you’re anything like me and sorely miss the ritual of organising shelves full of physical media, agonising over whether to do it alphabetically, chronologically or by some other arbitrary system, this looks like it could be the game for you. For the decor-heads, there’s also a whole system for picking out your shelving configuration, desks, chairs, cabinets and other bits of furniture to display your backlog collection in its best light.
“I don’t know if you like to organise your games chronologically, by genre, or-if you’re some kind of maniac-alphabetically,””” says Nested Loop’s James Biddulph in a press release for the game, “but BOXROOM doesn’t judge. If you miss the era of boxes, instruction manuals and burying your nose in a freshly bought game box for that euphoric plasticky hit, then I hope this scratches an itch.”
The best bit is that you can actually boot any of your games right from the virtual shelf, giving this a ton of potential as a whole new way to browse your Steam library and hopefully make good choices about what to play.
You can find BOXROOM on Steam right here, with launching into early access some time in the next few months. There’s also a free demo available to download and play right now., and as a reward for checking out the demo, you’ll even earn an exclusive lava lamp DLC item when the full game launches.