Introduction

Blue Prince is a puzzle game in which the aim is to find the room 46 in a 45-room mansion. In the game, you start each day anew, without the rooms and items or tools you found the day before being found again. Blue Prince starts off informing you that your older brother, Herbert S. Sinclair, the baron of Mount Holly, has just passed away and that you are the next heir to the mansion. However, your older brother has set a challenge before you can be seen as the new baron of Mount Holly.

The Challenge

This is to find room 46 in the mansion with doors leading to different rooms each day, a challenge he is sure you will do, even though he has added extra difficulty to that. This is due to a few stipulations he had in the will regarding completing the challenge, which are not being able to sleep on the estate, not being able to take any items or tools from outside to the estate, and not being able to take any items or tools off the estate. This forces you to start each day fresh and not rely on the success of the day before.

Permanent Progress & Outside Areas

This comes with a few exceptions, you find further down the game when it comes to unlocking outdoor areas on the estate that are classed as permanent additions, such as the gem caven which gives you two gems each day.

There is a total of four outside areas to find that can help with items or tools at the start of each day that you have to unlock. These are the west gate path, the gemstone cavern, the apple orchard and Blackbridge Grout. Each of these outside areas gives different things to help you or hinder you in finding the room 46 in the mansion that day.

Puzzle Design & Exploration

Blue Prince can be quite fun, but it definitely puts you to the challenge when it comes to understanding the puzzles of each room. As you explore the game, you will come across multiple different rooms in the drafting pool, some of which you simply walk through other with obvious puzzles to complete, and some in which it takes a bit of learning from clues in other rooms to understand and complete or even just to find.

Example Puzzle Breakdown

Any example of this could be seen through the utility room, as when you first look at the room, you believe it just gives you access to turning power on and off in set rooms, however as you explore other rooms such as the mail room you get clues informing you the lights that all seem to be unpowered in the utility box should in a set sequence of colours, and when you have changed the lights to match the sequence you will have access to a lever which when pulled down unlocks the gemstone cavern permanently additing the outside In addition, giving you two gems at the start of each fresh day after that day.

Story & Replayability

Throughout the game, you will learn more about Herbt S.Sinclare and your family’s history, with some nice and some dark knowledge you may not wish to have. You will find that not all rooms or puzzles are needed to find room 46 to complete the game. However, they can add more detail to the game and also give you achievements if you like to find them. This can make the game more interesting for those who enjoy collecting achievements or having more detail in the game, but still keeps the interest for people who enjoy less difficulty. It can also make the game feel replayable and adds the interest of repeating the game to unlock more achievements.

Graphics & Audio

When it comes to Blue Prince’s graphics, the game itself has good detail and multiple different things to look at, making it visually appealing for most. The game is played in first person, allowing you to appreciate the detail up close while still having the odd cut screen to allow appreciation of the wider angles and the overall view of certain rooms in the game, one being the security room.

You find that the audio played in the game is very basic with specific noises and music playing at set times or set rooms in the game but overall fit into the game by making you aware when you have unlocked an area, which could be important or playing a repetitive stating tune at the start of each day just to give the feeling of a fresh day each day which workes well to remind new players that you start fresh each day andthat everything restarts even the music. This can get a little repetitive the further you play in the game, but overall helps the game flow well.

Puzzle Variety & Mechanics

Blue Prince has a good range of puzzles to do, between the ones that stand out like a sore thumb, such as the parlour room puzzle, where there is always one truth and one false statement among three boxes, in which you figure out which box has the gems inside of itself or the billboard room where the dart board is a math puzzle with bule meaning addition, yellow meaning subtraction, red meaning multiplication and purple meaning divide. To unlock behind it, in which you always gain some form of key or keys.

But I love how they also add the fun of building different tools out of tools you have gathered from around the mansion in the workshop room in the house.

Tool Crafting System

This is because it allows you to use the tools you have gathered in different ways. An example of this is if you gather the sledgehammer, the battery pack and the broken antechamber lever and enter the workshop room, you can combine these three items to make the powered sledgehammer, which will allow you to break down set walls around the mansion, one being in the basement when accessed through the foundation.

This specific wall you break will then allow you access to the basement from outside, from the time you break it onwards, for the rest of the game.

Criticism

The only complaint that I think can even think to be had at the game is that it can take time to understand how to complete the aim at the start of the game which i know can sound confusing reading but this is because as much as it explains the game aims to find room 46 when you start there isnt really a clue how you start the process of finding the room. This is due to how you start the game with a letter telling you the rules written by your brother in his will, and a blueprint on the entrance hall table. In which the only thing you see in that blueprint is where the entrance hall and a room called the antechamber.

Final Thoughts

Overall. I have really enjoyed the game as it has challenged me to think outside the box push me to learn new concepts with the game. Some of which can really open the mind. The game is surprising overally entertaining and pushes you to be more curious of thing around you.

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone interested in learning or anyone who enjoys a good story and detail, as it will make time fly by. It’s a game I can see myself playing multiple times again, just to have more of the story or to unlock the achievements.

Availability

Blue Prince is out on all platforms for the pc game is here: Blue Prince