Blue Prince

A Puzzlebox Estate with Secrets That Won’t Sit Still

Blue Prince, developed by Dogubomb, is unlike anything else I played this year. It’s a mystery. It’s a roguelike. It’s a puzzle game. It’s a journal full of scribbled notes that slowly start to make sense. At the centre of it all is Simon Jones, a young boy who inherits the sprawling Mount Holly estate and learns that his great-granduncle, Herbert Sinclair, left behind more than dusty furniture and family secrets. There’s a 46th room hidden somewhere in the 45-room manor—and Simon won’t truly inherit the estate until he finds it.

The catch? The estate changes. Daily.

A Manor That Rearranges Itself

Blue Prince throws you into the shifting halls of Mount Holly with a deceptively simple premise: explore the house and uncover its secrets. But from the moment you start your first day, it’s clear this isn’t just about poking around picture frames and dusty bookshelves. Each day, the manor reconfigures itself—rooms shuffle, paths change, and your available steps are limited. You’ll make it through only so many rooms before Simon gets too tired and the day resets. What you bring with you into the next day isn’t gear—it’s knowledge.

This is where Blue Prince shines. It treats information like currency. Learning which rooms give you more steps, which ones hide useful items, and how the mansion’s strange logic works becomes the core gameplay loop. It’s less about brute-forcing your way to the finish and more about slowly decoding the estate’s rules. Some rooms reward. Others punish. Some just confuse you until a dozen runs later, when a pattern finally clicks.

Mystery on Mystery on Mystery

The puzzle design in Blue Prince operates on multiple levels. Some are clear-cut: red letters are lies, blue letters are truth. Others are maddeningly abstract—symbols, patterns, and clues that won’t make sense until hours later. And behind all of it is a rich narrative that starts with a boy and a haunted house and expands into blackmail, political intrigue, historical conspiracies, and deeply personal revelations about the Sinclair family.

It’s a slow unravel. Like Outer Wilds or Animal Well, Blue Prince builds itself around your curiosity. It doesn’t spoon-feed you answers. It doesn’t give you quest markers. It gives you questions—and then more questions after that. You’ll end a run thinking you’ve figured something out, only to realise it opened up five new mysteries.

A Roguelike Where the Run is the Research

What sets Blue Prince apart from other roguelikes is what you lose—or rather, don’t lose—after a run. There are a handful of permanent upgrades you can unlock but no permanent stat boosts or unlock trees. The power largely comes entirely from what’s been learnt. Played sloppily, a run might yield little. Played thoughtfully, even a short day might uncover a room’s hidden rule or a symbol’s hidden meaning that reshapes everything. And unlike traditional roguelikes, this game encourages external tools. A notepad. Screenshots. A friend.

This is a game best played with a friend—not because of co-op, but because two heads really are better than one. You’ll find yourself theory-crafting with someone who saw a different clue before you did. You’ll compare notes, test ideas, revisit old rooms, and discover entirely new interpretations of things you thought you understood. That communal, brainy aspect gives the game an unexpected life beyond the screen.

Puzzles With Layers—and a Long Tail

Rolling credits on Blue Prince doesn’t feel like an ending—it feels like a milestone. At the 20-hour mark, you might think you’ve solved the mystery. You haven’t. You’ve probably just scratched the surface. There are layers upon layers still buried in the walls of Mount Holly. Dozens of puzzles lie dormant, waiting to be recontextualised by a later discovery. That’s both the thrill and the challenge of this game. It’s not content with letting you finish—it dares you to keep digging.

That depth is both a triumph and a potential barrier. This game asks a lot of its players. It assumes you’re willing to slow down, investigate, get lost, and return with better questions. It’s not a puzzle platformer you finish over a weekend. It’s a labyrinth you live in for weeks.

Intentionally Dense, Impeccably Designed

Blue Prince isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. It’s for the players who love cracking codes, building maps, and connecting narrative dots. It’s for the ones who get excited when a clue pays off ten hours later. Dogubomb’s design work is meticulous—every room, symbol, and clue feels intentional. Nothing is throwaway. Nothing is meaningless. And that gives every discovery an extra layer of satisfaction.

A Masterpiece of Patience and Curiosity

In the end, Blue Prince is a masterclass in environmental storytelling, long-form mystery, and puzzle design that trusts its players. It’s a game about being observant. About being wrong. About being curious enough to try again. For those who embrace its slow burn and scattered breadcrumbs, it’s one of the most rewarding games of the year.

Just bring a notepad. Or three.