King Pangnapa and the Map of the Missing Library Books

Artist Statement:  This is an art piece that happens to be a video game based on my experiences and feelings as a librarian. It is intended to raise awareness about some of the issues that face our field. This is meant to be an artistic commentary on what it means to be a librarian since, as an artist, I feel powerless about this rise of book challenges and the budget cuts except to make a video game about it to raise awareness so the right people can come help us out.  The game is about you, the player, experiencing what it means to be a librarian through a 3D Platformer. The project does not reflect any employer at all, and is simply my own personal work of art. 

You are the King Pangnapa, the immortal penguin King of All Librarians for the last 6,000 years, and Mr. Grumpypants, the King of Capitalism, has stolen books he wanted to be banned from the library and has scattered them across the domains because they gave an unfair advantage to his game! Punished by the library gods for neglecting the stacks, King Pangnapa is on a quest to search the domains and find as many books as possible in order to return home to the Domain of Librarians. However, Mr. Grumpypants has set obstacles and turrets all over the place to make your life difficult because he can afford to.  Across the domains you will meet many friends who will talk to King Pangnapa. Eat tacos to restore your health! Find the books, explore all the domains, and remind Mr. Grumpypants that knowledge is power! 

This is for my Project-based Thesis for Lindenwood University in requirements of the MA in Game Design. 

-This game is best played with a remote! 

Thank you for playing!

King Pangnapa and his adventures will continue in THE MASTER OF ALL LIBRARIANS

All assets featured were bought from the Unreal Marketplace ;)

• Cover art done by Elinz 
• All the kawaii anime animals were modeled by SURIYUN, please check out Cute Penguins and Cute Zoo
• Mr. Grumpypants, modeled by GiM in Animalia Tiger
• This game uses the blueprints, VFX and structures from  TeaFX's Easy 3D Platformer Kit
• Bookshelves and Books from Nimikko
• Taco modeled by ithappy in Food 1 pack
• Skyboxes AI generated by Blockade Labs

All music is by Nine Inch Nails, and is 100% intentional for this project as NiN has been every day for this librarian's life  (have mercy on me, Trent Reznor!)

• Into the Void
• Memorabilia
• All the Pigs, All Lined Up
• March of the Pigs

In the fictional world of the video game in the Domain of Humanity, in America, books have been censored to maintain American plutocracy disguised as moral concern for “graphic nudity” in books. It is to maintain the power structures in this country so those already rich can maintain their wealth and not have to compete at all, because of Mr. Grumpypants, the King of Capitalism. He oversees who gets to “win” his game and, throughout all of the domains, has had books he wanted banned removed. He decides to ban books because they give humans an unfair advantage in winning his game.  He “hates” public libraries because they didn’t decide to play his game or sell their services; instead, they offered them for free to the general public for anyone who came through their doors without expecting a profit.  

Nine Inch Nails has been my coping mechanism as music to listen to throughout this period. The game begins with Into the Void, and alludes to all the self-loathing and self-harm King Pangnapa has done to himself in hopes of not having to be on the battlefield anymore, saving the books and memes before humans permanently destroy them. After the first level, you, the player, get a glimpse of King Pangnapa’s origin as he collects all the books set to Memorabilia. This was selected because it reflects his intimate relationship with his lover. Also, the lyrics I collect; I reject just scream collection development and weeding. 
From there, you are transported to New York City in the Domain of Humanity to meet with Mr. Grumpypants, set to March of the Pigs.  The song contains my fury, rage, and desire for peace for librarians, but I have turned this pain into art. If we’re all pigs to be exploited in the eyes of Mr. Grumpypants, then King Pangnapa will have all the pigs all lined up for him in the story of my video game. Through this last level, it turns out all the humans have turned into animals, many pigs. You encounter Gloria, the librarian turned game designer lioness who also found Biblio the Great Library Genie and uses her wish for a peaceful resolution to all these book challenges happening. This leads to all the humans becoming animals in the final level. 

Thank you to my chair and committee members!

• Michael Fetters
• Ben Fulcher
• Jeremiah Ratican

Thank you to all my fellow librarians during these difficult times...

With love, King Pangnapa

"The pigs have won tonight. "