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Review: Blue Prince
I always enjoy discovering an Indie game that offers something fresh, and that’s what drew me to Blue Price. The developers combined two genres that seem unlikely to mesh, resulting in a captivating concept for a game – a roguelite puzzle experience. This piqued my curiosity about how these two genres would blend, or if it would turn out to be an ill-fitting combination for gaming.
Game Details
Release Date: March 3rd 2026
Developer: Dogubomb
Publisher: Raw Fury
Price: £24.99
Reviewed On: Switch 2
* Access Provided For Review *
The Search for Room 46
The game introduces a straightforward storyline: your uncle, Herbert Sinclair, has designated you as the only heir to his Mount Molly estate. However, there’s a twist— to claim the entirety of his home, land, staff, and wealth, you must locate the fabled Room 46 within his mansion. This adventure puts you in the role of Simon Jones as you embark on what seems a simple quest.
A Blueprint of Possibilities
You will eventually come to understand that what you believe to be a straightforward quest is far more complex than it appears. Each in-game day begins in the entrance hall of Mount Holly, where you will find a blueprint featuring forty-five spaces. The entrance hall presents you with three doors; choosing one will randomly generate three potential rooms on your drafting board. These rooms may provide benefits or, in some cases, negative effects, along with layouts that could lead to multiple building directions, dead ends, or perhaps nothing at all. Your drawing board will display information about each room, indicating exit points and detailing the benefits or drawbacks associated with that room. For instance, you might encounter a bedroom that increases your step count or rooms that grant coins, gems, and keys, which are advantageous in the long run. Conversely, you could find an altar that deducts a coin each time you enter or a room which reduces your steps, all determined by RNG and mostly beyond your control.
So, why are steps crucial? Each day, you start with fifty steps, and entering a room will cost you one step. When you exhaust your steps, the day concludes, and you must rest, waking up back in the entrance hall with a blank blueprint to embark on a new run. This is where evaluating the benefits of each room becomes essential, as you may gather coins to buy fruit that adds more steps for that run. You might encounter rooms requiring a key to unlock a door, only to find you have none, or discover rooms that need a gem to place on the blueprint. This means you must carefully consider the rooms you choose to ensure you maintain an open route and do not deplete your resources, which could abruptly end your run.
Then it will return to the beginning of the day with your fifty steps, no resources, and a blank blueprint – unless you have managed to uncover some of the permanent bonuses as you delve deeper into the game. However, this will complete the gameplay cycle of waking up, laying your selected rooms, gathering items, and solving puzzles within these rooms, depleting your resources and steps – and starting over a bit more equipped with the knowledge you are gaining about each room and puzzles to aid your progress towards your objective.
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This is merely scratching the surface of what Blue Prince has to offer; the more you play, the more layers of the game you unlock that you never knew were there. You begin to learn about pairing specific rooms for bonus effects, comprehend the room colouring system, discover and craft new tools to conserve resources, and decode many of the hidden messages scattered throughout Mount Holly. With the RNG and all these layers, it feels as though Blue Prince possesses infinite complexity, and with each run, you feel like you are acquiring new insights or even experimenting with ideas.
Keeping this in mind, the game evokes a blend of emotions. During a successful run, where you might learn something new and sense a hint of progression, the game can be incredibly rewarding. Yet, this may be followed by a run where the RNG simply doesn’t favour you, leaving you no better off than your previous attempt, which can be equally frustrating.
Despite this, beyond the primary attempts to reach Room 46, the game is rich with secrets and narratives that may entice you to forgo your quest for completion in favour of exploration. For instance, you might stumble upon a note in one room that directs you back to an earlier location, revealing a hidden detail that was visible all along – yet you overlooked it without the note. Pursuing these mysteries can be equally gratifying or exasperating as striving to reach Room 46, but you will undoubtedly feel drawn to uncover them.
Mood and Mystery Combined
With this RNG method, you’ll often find yourself exploring and revisiting the same rooms on various days. However, the cel-shaded visual style and intricately designed environments are packed with small details, allowing you to discover something new with each visit. Transitioning from rooms still being decorated to a grand wooden hallway, or moving from a sunny courtyard to a dim cellar, gives each space a distinct feel, making Mount Holly appear even more expansive than it actually is.
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These elements are combined with a perfectly tuned atmosphere that stirs a range of emotions as you weigh the decision to pursue your objectives or delve into one of the numerous mysteries hidden within this building. Yet, one emotion remains ever-present: a sense of loneliness as you navigate through what might soon belong to you.
This feeling is accentuated by the varying sizes of the rooms—some vast and others quite cramped—along with the sounds of your footsteps reverberating off the walls. You can even hear every noise, including the wind when you step outside, only to return to the echoing footsteps. This experience is further enriched when the game introduces its stunning soundtrack, creating a sense of anticipation, with each instrument setting the mood for every moment.
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Verdict
Dogubomb has truly crafted something remarkable with Blue Prince; the blend of roguelite and puzzle genres creates an unexpectedly fantastic synergy – and their imaginative vision accomplishes something noteworthy. They have seamlessly integrated roguelite features with a narrative and a mansion brimming with enigmas that beckon exploration, revealing more with each attempt. If you concentrate on the primary goal, you can expect to spend about eight to ten hours failing, learning, and restarting your blueprint. However, the additional mysteries could extend your playtime significantly – and you’ll find yourself eager to discover everything. It’s important to remember that, like any roguelite or RNG-based games, a successful run can be incredibly rewarding (even in failure), while a poor run can lead to considerable frustration. With numerous intricacies such as resource management, discovering bonus combinations, and solving puzzles along the way, the game provides a wealth of content beyond its fundamental gameplay loop. Blue Prince is undoubtedly a title that deserves a chance and should be played, and having it available on the Switch makes it ideal for squeezing in another run, even when you’re away from home.
Copyright / Virtual Grip (formally The VR Realm) / 2016 -
