Every now and again a game comes along that just absolutely floors me. The type of game that consumes my energy, my focus, my sleep. (yes i dreamt about this game. no i’m not ashamed) As evidenced by the absolute onslaught of trailers and announcements during Not E3 season, covered here on the blog and here on the podcast, there are a lot of video games released every year. Sometimes it takes awhile for game of the year contenders to emerge, especially in the indie space where marketing is limited and word of mouth takes a minute. Other times, those contenders make themselves known early on. And that’s what we have here; an indie game that you can bet dollars to donuts will be many people’s indie game of the year if not outright game of the year. It's a game that begs to be streamed or played with a group. Submitted for your approval this is the Stone Age Game review for Blue Prince.

Prodigy HD Video Capture Card - BeharBros

$54.99

Prodigy HD Video Capture Card  The PRODIGY is the ultimate video capture device, designed for anyone looking to record, edit or live stream high-quality video...… read more

Developed as the first internally created game by Dogubomb, pronounced dog-yu-bomb, and published by Raw Fury, best known for things like Dandara and Cassette Beasts, Blue Prince is, at its core, a first person adventure puzzle game with roguelike elements. Which sounds pretty cool but also like so many other games either on the market or coming soon to it. What sets Blue Prince apart though is the deep, deep lore that is slowly unraveled each play session. Blue Prince starts with a simple enough premise; the player, as Simon P. Jones, has been willed the Mt. Holly Estate by your deceased great uncle, Herbert S. Sinclair. In order to lay claim to your inheritance all you need to do is locate the forty-sixth room in the mansion. The trouble with that, simple enough, request is that the map to the property is laid out in a grid five squares wide by nine squares high. Which, for the non math majors reading, is only forty five squares. Not forty six. Oh, and the layout of the rooms changes each day with only two remaining constants each session, the Entrance Hall and the Antechamber, which contains a door to room forty six but is locked on three sides by doors that require special conditions be met in order to open. Oh, and each time you enter a new room you have to draft the next room from a random list of three rooms that sometimes don’t go the way you need them to go or are dead ends or require more gems than you have to draft them. Oh, and sometimes the doors are locked by either key or key card and you don’t have any. Oh, and you only have fifty steps to make it through the day before the day resets. See, simple.

As maddening as that all sounds, and it does sound quite mad, the gameplay loop quickly becomes a deeply satisfying puzzle. The question of which room to draft in which location from among the set of choices provided to you is addictive in and of itself. The Entrance Hall provides three choices at the start of each day, West, North, and East. (you can also go outside to explore an entirely other section but more on that later) Whichever door you open first is entirely up to player preference and fortunately, there is no wrong answer. Where you go from there though, the choices you make in drafting your rooms, well that’s where it all falls down spectacularly or comes together gloriously. Learning the quirks of the individual rooms, do they add steps or provide keys/gems for example, is key to success. Early on you will inevitably draft either the Parlor or the Billiard Room and be presented with your first puzzle. The Parlor rewards you with gems if you can solve the box puzzle. In it you are presented with three boxes, one of which is true, one of which is a lie, and one which could be either. Each box has a statement on top that increases in complexity as you spend more and more days in the mansion. The Billiard room on the other hand requires you to do basic yet increasingly complex equations based on the highlighted sections of a dart board. Correctly computing the equations rewards you with keys. And it’s here where Blue Prince starts to reveal itself.

After your first few runs through the mansion it starts to click, everything in these rooms is on purpose. EVERYTHING. The developers have crafted a world that is intentional. Sometimes the message is clear. (minor spoilers for an early puzzle) In the Boudoir there is a locked safe, the code for which is hinted at by the picture on the dressing table mirror. Looking at the picture you see a Xmas tree. The four digit code is pretty simple from there. Other rooms are much more complex. The Drawing Room for example has a safe that requires you to figure out the clue, small gaits and count the paintings. Or use the internet. EIther way you are rewarded with a letter in a red envelope that hints at the deeper mystery surring Mt. Holly Estate.

What Blue Prince does so beautifully is give the player a sense of purpose. Yes, there are days where you simply draft poorly and the run is over quickly. RNG will RNG after all. There are days where you will make great progress, perhaps getting one of the permanent unlocks, and it all simply falls apart at the end due to a lack of resources or steps. But no matter how the day plays out, the goal remains simple, get to room forty six. And because there is simply so much to do and see, no day really feels wasted. Times where I ran out of rooms quickly I spent taking pictures on my phone of stuff that seemed like it would matter eventually. And it usually did. Or, when all else failed, I found myself exploring the outside sections of the game and realizing there were far more goals in the world than I had initially thought.   

I played through this game with both my wife and my teenage daughter. It was without question one of the more enjoyable family gaming experiences I have ever had. (my son does not have the patience for a game like this) Blue Prince is ultimately a game about family, messy, hard, rewarding, conflicting, and all the points in between. The piecemeal approach in delivering the story is one of Blue Prince’s most rewarding features. Even after reaching room forty six, we wanted to know more, to see more. The layers of the onion that is Blue Prince are exquisitely planned. I'm sure I've only just scratched the surface of what Blue Prince has to offer. I was and am blown away by not only the creativity but the cleverness on display. Blue Prince is a gorgeous game with a deliberate, sketchy aesthetic that really works. The controls, while simple, are perfectly adequate for what needs to be done. There is scant music throughout but what is there, discovered by drafting certain rooms, is quite beautiful. In short Blue Prince is one of the best puzzle games I have ever played and should absolutely be one you look to pick up. It is currently available for Playstation, Xbox, and Steam. Fingers crossed that a Switch 2 release is eventually announced.

And if that wasn’t enough to convince you, or was a bit too long winded, maybe this short and simple review from my sixteen year old will do the trick. “I thought Blue Prince was very visually appealing, and all the puzzles were a treat! It was relaxing at times, tricky where it needed to be, and quite rewarding! At first I was worried I wouldn't be very interested, but I'm happy I stuck around! - Peni Ryan

But I want to know what you think. Join the Stone Age Gamer discord, or you can find me on Bluesky to let me know your thoughts. See you in two weeks.