Blue Prince Review

True surprise is rare to come by in this age — at least with respect to media like video games, film, or TV. The internet, as terrible and powerful as it has become, has flattened the landscape in its wake; spoilers abound on social media or message boards, guides that provide every solution — impatience is rewarded with answers. But what of discovery? What is to be said of the journeys we share, or the pathways we create in our wake? Blue Prince offers a glimpse into a world that was, and one that could be; an ever-shifting den of possibility whose features and purpose are determined by the players themselves.

Publisher: RAW FURY

Developer: DOGUBOMB

Platform: Played on PC (Steam)

Availability: Releasing on April 10, 2025 for Windows PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

You are Simon P. Jones, heir to an impossibly vast mansion, courtesy of your now-dead great-uncle, Herbert S. Sinclair. The prize on Mt. Holly does not come without some stipulations, however, as you have been tasked with finding the 46th room in the 45-room estate. If Simon is unable to find the secret room, he will forfeit the right to inherit the property, so he must make his way through the ever shifting halls to find the keys and clues necessary to reach his objective.

There are a few key pieces of this puzzle that are given to the player right away: rooms are generated in sets of 3 and made via blueprints when you interact with a door for the first time, you must go north to reach the antechamber marked on your map, and the rooms within the mansion reset on each given day. There are various other constraints to hinder your journey as well, such as limited steps to explore, or currency like gems, keys, and coins that are used throughout a run. As the player, you will have to plot and plan your way through the abode, managing all of your resources wisely — all whilst fighting the randomized nature of the house itself.

To be honest, the game flat-out kicked my ass for a lot longer than it probably should have (or at least it felt that way at the time). Early on in the game was particularly frustrating because I would run into too many dead ends, never find a room facing the direction I needed, or even prematurely ending a day because I simply did not have the keys or gems required to advance. Some of this was my own fault, of course, but much of it felt like it was out of my hands, as if I were heavily relying upon RNG to advance. But as you explore the mansion things really start to open up for you, in more ways than simply having more rooms to walk through. Many rooms have puzzles, which can sometimes lead to items or keys, but many also contain notes or images — clues to help you solve other puzzles, or portions of the overarching story there for you to put together. Yes, advancing does still require a bit of luck, but as you play you’ll discover new room types, get permanent upgrades, or uncover solutions to puzzles that can be carried over to future runs.

Resource management is key as you make your way through the manor.

The way the story and the puzzles themselves are presented is truly brilliant. Blue Prince makes excellent use of space and color to tell a story in each room. Hidden meanings in the details may help you solve one of those puzzles you stumbled upon earlier, or they may simply illuminate the minutiae of the lives that were lived here in this building. There are traditional cutscenes, but most of the story is told through these visual details and through the notes and letters you find scattered across the demesne.

Eventually, all of this riddle solving and room hopping will lead you to your destination, and the credits will roll, but that’s not where the game ends. Myriad secrets lie in wait throughout the estate on Mt. Holly, many of which have very little or nothing to do with the main mission of finding room 46. Rooms that seem to serve no real purpose early on become essential to unlocking the true mysteries of Blue Prince. Puzzles become increasingly complex the deeper you go — requiring information from many rooms, or even multiple other multi-step puzzles to be solved beforehand. I have not worked everything out yet, myself. There seems to be so much left to uncover, and it’s all a bit mystifying for me as a person who does not regularly play or enjoy puzzle games.

But that might be why I loved this game so much. Unveiling hidden levers or getting a lead and working it out over time (all of which was unassisted by guides or other players) took effort, but everything I needed was right here in-game. There was no need to look online for solutions, or have knowledge outside of the scope of the notes I’d find, so those “AHA!” moments became all the more rewarding for me. It was also revealing.

Cutscenes are sparse, but are very effective in their delivery.

In many respects, Blue Prince held a mirror toward me, and allowed me to see aspects of my own habits, tendencies, and thought processes that I had not actually given much thought to prior to playing. Despite my lamentations of the instant gratification culture that permeates gaming in general, I am not immune to those same thoughts. I found myself hitting walls, unable to really figure out what I was doing. Was this puzzle one that my notes could help me solve, or did I just not have all of the information yet? Could I just brute-force it? Under normal circumstances, the answers to those questions would be just a few clicks away and maybe they already are, but I stuck with it and I was rewarded — not just with gems, keys, or cryptic notes, but with a sense of pride. Pride in that I had done it myself. A sensation that my own impatience may not have allowed me under normal circumstances.

It has also revealed that I just may not be cut out for puzzle games in the same way I am for other game types. It seems that, as the years have gone by, my patience and curiosity have waned. Where as a child or teen I could spend days on end banging my head against a wall until I had an epiphany, now even small obstacles could make my hands tighten up a bit. I’d like to think that by working through this game I have reclaimed some of those virtues for myself, and maybe as I continue to work through it, I can hone them a bit more.

Verdict

One part puzzle game and one part roguelite, Blue Prince is a beacon of creativity and mystery. Masterful use of space, color, and the video game medium itself have concocted a beautiful blend of storytelling and puzzle solving. In many respects, Blue Prince is a collaborative effort between the game and its players, with each run feeling unique by handing the players the keys to the manor — figuratively and, for Simon, literally. I have not uncovered every truth within Blue Prince, and maybe I never will, but not knowing might just be the best part.

Blue "9.5" superimposed on a video game controller.

Image Credits: Taylor Rioux and DOGUBOMB

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.