Behind the Scenes: How I Made the Library Orientation Games
Be honest - how many times have you opened your laptop, looked at an upcoming deadline, and thought "Still plenty of time..." Only to realize a few days later that you are suddenly running out of time?
Yeah. Me too.
When I was still a university student, I was a professional "deadline fighter". Assignments often stayed untouched until the final hours, when panic and productivity finally came together in an amazing rush.
And some of those habits...may have followed me into working life. (Let's keep that between us, okay? Shh🤫)
If that sounds familiar, you'll probably understand the idea behind this game.
Only seven days left. What do you do??
You step into the shoes of an undergrad with a report due in a week.
But your energy is limited, so every day is a triage decision: dig into research, actually write something, check whether your sources are legit, or take a break so you don't completely burn out. The choices matter.
Finding information these days is easy. Figuring out whether you can trust it is much harder.
GenAI can spit out a tidy-looking list of academic references in seconds. The harder question – are those references even real? - shows up repeatedly. Throughout the game, you will practice:
- Judging whether a source is reliable enough
- Choosing the right research tools for the job
- Getting your citations right
No long instruction manuals. You just choose, see what happens, and hopefully pick up a few research habits that stick.
Wait – what else does the library have?
The game also answers a question we hear often: “Besides books, what else is there?”
As you move around the virtual campus, you'll bump into study spaces, specialized resources like Bloomberg terminals, and various support services. Some of them give you an energy boost; others help you clear research roadblocks.
The quiet hope is that, when a real need pops up, a useful memory surfaces: “Oh yeah, the library has something for this.”
How does a librarian produce a Unity game?
Not through any formal game-dev training, that's for sure.
I “vibe-coded” the project with AI help (mainly Cursor). It was pure trial-and-error. Some days the AI fixed a bug in minutes; other days it happily created new ones.
Even when the code behaved, bigger questions remained: Is the research advice accurate? Will students actually get the point? Is the difficulty balanced? Does this choice feel logical?
Colleagues and student helpers jumped in with testing and honest feedback and sharpened the wording, content, and overall flow. Their input made a huge difference.
The game went live online ahead of the September 2026 semester and is still evolving. Player comments will shape whatever comes next.
If you're another deadline fighter, give the game a try. You may pick up a few practical research strategies before the next real deadline arrives.
And if procrastination feels a little too familiar, the library also has a more traditional remedy:
How to Stop Procrastinating: A Simple Guide to Mastering Difficult Tasks
Find it in the library catalog: https://lbdiscover.hkust.edu.hk/bib/991012707864803412
Gary Lee
Librarian (Research Support)
lbglee@ust.hk
Ready for the challenge? Give it a try.
