BLUE PRINCE

Hubert Spala
May 5
5 min read

It's hard to talk about BLUE PRINCE because it is a multi-layered cake of mystery, conundrums, and riddles. It would be way too easy to slip while pouring words out to the digital paper. So I must be wary with every word. Spilling anything for a game like this should be considered a crime, where every revelation is the juicy caramel centre of its fun factor. Let us start simple, then - the premise. You are a young lad who inherited a whacky mansion from your whackiest relative, who - like every bajillionaire ever! - has more than one skeleton in his vast and slightly esoteric closet. There is, however, a bit of a caveat to the sweet riches awaiting you. A stipulation, if you wish.

To get the goods, you must find the elusive Room 46. That also doesn't exist. Or does it? And so, you are given a set of simple rules and a goal to achieve. All would be nice and easy if not for a few extra twists to mess things up. See, the mansion of the ole coot is... well... Probably Magic, that special kind of occult aura that surrounds a vast amount of riches, I reckon. And so, every night when you tuck in your sleeping bag in your humble tent outside the mansion, it gets completely redone. Every room you discovered on your last day of romping around is gone. And so, you need to draft the new layout every single day, slowly but surely learning how to lay them well, what to expect, what to aim for to reach that far-flung antechamber.

But venturing into the ever-shifting mansion is just one part of the play. The real challenge lies in the many mysteries surrounding your peculiar gruncle. You must be vigilant, have your eyes peeled, and a notebook at the ready - a physical, honest piece of paper with a pen by your side. Because nearly every room harbours some clues, some bits of puzzles to assemble bit by bit in your quest for answers. You will scrounge bits of info to find codes for safes. You will learn secret openings to reach some of those safes. There are rooms you can only draft and explore once you ensure a set of conditions is met. Letters and notes scribbled here and there offer more insights. Every scrap of paper might hold another answer, even if rarely served straightforwardly.

Drafting out your rooms is key to a good run - nonetheless, it is quite easy to block off your progress and be forced to start a new day.

All that is done against the often ruthless and unforgiving random nature of the game. You never know what rooms await you, and it is a rather simple thing to get yourself stuck and have to sigh in mild resignation, call it a day, and start anew the following day. All that thanks to the often scarce resources that help you move forward. Coins, the most ubiquitous resource, let you buy key items to help you progress... assuming you will draft a shop when you have some coins to spare, and the items in the shops will be of any tangible help. Keys are crucial as you go deeper into the mansion, as more doors will be locked and require them to traverse further. Gems are great to always have on hand whenever you draft into your last available push, as many great rooms will be stuck behind a paywall of said gems. Rare Ivory Dice can save you in a pinch, but spending them too early might be a terrible choice. It is a constant battle of resources and being resourceful with what limited stuff you have on hand. Especially since a new day means you don't have anything with you. Bummer.

All is not lost to the evil grasp of RNG. You can unlock some permanent upgrades that make your explorations easier, but every one of them is a puzzle of its own that requires some keen awareness and digging around. Here lies the Good and the Bad of this astonishing feat of game design. I do not remember the last time I enjoyed a sense of satisfaction for solving a puzzle like I did in this game. It is sublime when you peel another layer of mystery just for the game to wink at you and hand you another set of clues for your peculiar scavenger hunt, your wild goose chase. Opening up new stuff, finding answers, and delving deeper into the mansion and family history is legitimately satisfying on a level few games can offer. But at the same time, the often brutal, random nature of the game can be quite frustrating, and it is not exactly a rare occurrence when you feel like the game blocked your progress out of sheer spite.

Allow me the most minor spoiler that, likely, won't mean anything if you aren't playing this game already, but... After 15 hours of diving in I still didn't a single god damn Battery Pack item! I am convinced that they are not real, even if I know for a fact they must be. Perhaps I am cursed never to see one in my lifetime! But then one day I sit down, realize that the BLUE PRINCE title is in itself a little play - a pun on the word blueprints - and I had a little chuckle and a dawning realization that the puzzles in this game reach to its every nook and cranny.

I sank too many hours and burned too many evenings finding my way to the finish line. And even once the finish line was achieved, as expected, my hunger for answers was not quenched. There were still things to do, bits to uncover, stories to unravel. It is a very fat offering for any fan of puzzles, riddles, and logical problems to solve. A veritable cornucopia of them! And all that oozing with atmosphere; Worry not, my fretful readers, there is no horror aspect at all to this title - no jumpscares, no evil twists, no monsters in the wardrobes. But even without that, the vast, empty mansion filled with an eclectic selection of chambers and richly layered with secrets has a bit of a spooky, ominous quality permeating it. Washed out colors, the music, the echoing sounds of your footsteps, they add up to a strange vibe - not exactly oppressive, but somewhat solemn and eerie. It fits well, that's for sure.

BLUE PRINCE is a gem. It defies simple categorization because in its structure, you will find many different ideas from many different sources. It's a roguelike, sort of. It's a puzzler, to be sure. It's a resource management game as well! And a bit of mystery drama on the side. It's a mix as eclectic as the mansion itself that you'll rebuild over and over, day after day, on your quest to find both the secret room and the truths hidden around it. If you're a fan of puzzles, this is an absolutely must-play. If not...? Give it a try anyway - it might be the best way to get hooked on this particular genre of fun.