New roguelike games continue to release on a nearly-monthly basis, with developers applying the genre’s high-stakes style of gameplay to all kinds of different concepts.Blue Princetakes roguelike elements and combines them with a first-person puzzle game to incredible effect. To put it bluntly,Blue Princeis both one of the best roguelikes I’ve played and one of the best puzzle games.
InBlue Prince, players take on the role of Simon P. Jones, who stands to inherit his late uncle’s mansion. The catch is that the mansion’s layout changes dramatically each day, with Simon himself determining which rooms go where.Simon’s goal is to reach the elusive Room 46, which he can only do by solving puzzles, gathering resources, and unraveling the overarching mystery.Blue Princeis equal parts simple and genius, delivering a puzzle game that is plenty challenging without falling into the trap of being so obtuse to the point that it’s inaccessible.
Blue Prince = Blueprints
EachBlue Princerun begins in the Entrance Hall, which has three doors. What lies beyond each door depends on the player, as they are given a selection of three potential rooms to choose from. Rooms are color-coded by type and nearly every one serves a purpose. For example, bedrooms can give Simon the chance to recover some of the limited steps that he has each day, while the Den is guaranteed to have a gem in it. Players have to be strategic about how they lay out the mansion, as some rooms are dead-ends, while others provide multiple exits.
Most ofBlue Prince’s roomshave a positive benefit to the player, whether that’s through a gold coin to collect or a key to snag. There are some that can cause problems, though.Blue Prince’s dreaded red rooms throw a wrench into things like with the Chapel that causes players to lose a coin whenever they walk through it or the Dark Room that makes it so players can’t see what room they’re drafting next. Still, red rooms often contain multiple exits, and so sometimes they’re the best bet as players move through the mansion and try to make their way to Room 46.
Some puzzles inBlue Princespan multiple rooms in the estate and will likely require players to take notes, though others are mostly contained to their rooms. Two early rooms that feature self-contained puzzles are the Billiards Roomand the Parlor, with the former requiring players to solve a math problem and the latter tasking them with figuring out a logic puzzle. The basic idea behind these puzzles do not change from one run to the next, but they gradually get more challenging the more runs players do. The increasing difficulty keeps repetition at bay, and ensures thatBlue Prince’s puzzles never get old.
At launch, Blue Prince is available for both PS Plus Extra and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate/PC Game Pass.
The farther players get inBlue Prince’s sprawling estate, the greater variety of rooms they will have to choose from. These later rooms also tend to introduce more roadblocks, like locked doors and rooms that can only be drawn if players have the right number of gems. Resources are limited inBlue Prince, and so players have to think carefully about every single room they draw. For example, it may seem like a bad idea to pick a dead-end room like a closet early on, but that same closet is guaranteed to have at least two items that can come in handy later and make it more likely that players will have a successful run.
Like many other roguelikes, there is an element of luck at play inBlue Prince. However, there are ways thatBlue Princeplayers can increase their odds of success. I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises by going into specifics, butBlue Princehas permanent additionsplayers can earn that give them all kinds of advantages. So even though there will likely be many failed runs,Blue Princeregularly gives players the opportunity to get upgrades that will improve their odds for future runs.
I realize that, on paper,Blue Princemay not sound particularly exciting. But rest assured, the game has that “one more run” quality that makes it next to impossible to put down.SolvingBlue Prince’s mysteriesis incredibly rewarding, and the game is presented in a way that should make it appealing to both casual puzzle game fans and the more hardcore crowd. CompletingBlue Prince’s main objective is not a Herculean feat, but it provides a reasonable challenge. Those hungry for something even tougher will be happy to know that there are plenty more puzzles and mysteries to solve well beyond the main goal of reaching Room 46.
Blue Prince is Pure Vibes
Blue Prince’s cel-shaded art style is used to great effect, making each room pop with its own unique visual flair. An especially neat detail when drawing rooms inBlue Princeis that some will have a slightly different look depending on where they’re built. For example, building a hallway in the middle of the mansion means walls on each side, but building that same hallway on the edge of the manor adds windows that let players see into the yard.Blue Princeis full of clever visual details like this that will have players thoroughly examining every single inch of every room in the house.
The visuals inBlue Princepair brilliantly with the game’s soundtrack, which is often relaxing but sometimes almost haunting. The vibes inBlue Princerecall classic games likeWhat Remains of Edith FinchandGone Home.Blue Princecultivates a fascinating atmospherethat sucks players in and makes exploring and revisiting its many rooms an endless joy.
It took me about 17 hours to reach Blue Prince’s “ending,” but there is still so much to discover that I can see myself dumping dozens more hours into the game, easily.
There are multiple stories being told throughoutBlue Prince, but players are free to engage with or ignore these as much as they’d like. By reading notes and piecing together clues from one room to the next, players can learn all about the history of the mansion and its inhabitants. Like everything else inBlue Prince, the stories told may seem simple on the surface, but players willing to dig deeper will be rewarded for their efforts.
The more one playsBlue Prince, the more enthralling it becomes. The thrill of finding an item that opens the door to new possibilities in previously-searched rooms is hard to match, and unraveling the game’s mysteries is an experience that all gamers should seek out.Blue Princeis the new king of puzzle gamesand is quite simply can’t-miss.
WHERE TO PLAY
Blue Princeis available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Game Rant reviewed the game on Xbox Series X.
