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Blue Prince is a roguelike puzzle masterpiece
- galleywest200 1y agoI have been playing this game and it is really a blast. The tutorial note cards strongly recommend using a pen+paper while playing and I can second that as pretty much required for some of the more "meta" puzzles. Worth noting that I believe it is also on Gamepass and whatever Sony's version of Gamepass is called if you already had those services and wished to save a few bucks.
- gs17 1y ago> The tutorial note cards strongly recommend using a pen+paper while playing This is my largest complaint. The game should really have a notepad built in. It doesn't need to write down clues for me, but it would be nice to not have to find where my notes were if I put the game down for a long time. Is it that it's a console release?
- RamRodification 1y agoSo many games desperately need this feature. Almost all games could benefit from it to some degree. I see zero negative consequences to adding it to every single game in existence just in case someone wants it.
- detaro 1y agoif you play on PC through Steam, Steam at least has a notes function in the overlay nowadays: https://www.polygon.com/2023/4/28/23702656/steam-beta-update-notes-app-how-to-use https://www.polygon.com/2023/4/28/23702656/steam-beta-update...
- gs17 1y agoUnfortunately, I'm pretty sure adding Game Pass games to Steam isn't really compatible with that. It looks like there was a "notes" app for the Windows "Game Bar", but it's no longer available.
- detaro 1y agopossible, yeah, from what I've heard the launcher is weird for those.
- Anon1096 1y agoI don't recommend using it, there's unfortunately a bug where your notes will not save randomly and just disappear between sessions. Which for a note taking feature basically makes it usuable. You can find discussions about the bug on steam ex https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/6679490218977026954/ https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/6679490218977...
- rjh29 1y agoI've played 10 hours ish and it needs pen and paper notes. A text notepad probably won't work
- SamBam 1y agoI haven't played this, but I played Obra Dinn, which the review mentions, and I really don't think digital notes would have been nearly as good as pencil and paper. I really needed to draw arrows between things, sketch out a timeline, put question marks around ideas, etc. Pencil and paper is just so much more expressive.
- Secretmapper 1y agoI think the option would be great regardless. What you say is true - pen and paper is more expressive than digital notes, but digital notes is better than nothing. I played Obra Dinn without pen and paper and I was fine. There was a game called The Roottrees are dead which is based on Obra dinn with a built in journal system and it is really useful.
- aqme28 1y agoIt’s an indie game. I think that adding a full-fledged note system with as much creativity as paper+pen is a big undertaking and perhaps not the best use of resources for the developer
- nlawalker 1y agoThanks for this callout, I was looking at the reviews here and on Steam and waffling, but I've got Game Pass. Also, re: notepad writing: if you've got two monitors, it Alt+Tabs just fine. I'm writing this as the opening credits play.
- falcor84 1y ago> whatever Sony's version of Gamepass is called Just mentioning that it's PS Plus, and the game was made available on their Extra & Premium tiers at launch [0], which is nice, as they typically release all the games on the same day in the middle of the month. [0] https://blog.playstation.com/2025/04/09/playstation-plus-game-catalog-for-april-hogwarts-legacy-blue-prince-the-second-episode-of-lost-records-bloom-rage-and-more/ https://blog.playstation.com/2025/04/09/playstation-plus-gam... P.S. "Lost Records: Bloom & Rage", the second half of which is due to come out in a couple of days is very different, but highly recommended too, especially in its emotional vibes and how well they integrated the VHS camera into the gameplay.
- npinsker 1y ago> I don’t like what they do to me. I shudder to think how they could supercharge builders like Dorfromantik, Carcassonne, and Castles of Mad King Ludwig. A very similar mechanic is used in the popular board game Betrayal at House on the Hill. That game's arguably even worse because it has stat upgrades!
- tstrimple 1y agoI really want to like the super crunchy board games, but it turns out after 90 minutes of setup no one else wants to play anymore. And it's exhausting being the only person willing to learn the rules to teach everyone else. We literally only setup and played Gloomhaven once. I need a better board game group.
- nameless912 1y agoAlready contender for my favorite puzzle game of the year. I would compare it to Outer Wilds or Animal Well, but that would do all three games a disservice. Blue Prince is a thoroughly unique game that is worth your time. And like another commenter said, a pad of paper is _absolutely required_.
- throwerofstone 1y agoAfter playing the game for 10+ hours and dropping it out of sheer frustration, I came to the conclusion that I must have been playing a vastly different game than the people praising it. The first hour was great. I was constantly encountering new rooms and solving puzzles. The many times where the game decided to give me nothing but rooms leading to dead ends was annoying, but I still had things to explore in the next run so it didn't matter that much. After that first hour, the game became a slog. I encountered the same rooms, solved the same two puzzles for resources and was constantly praying for the RNG to give me something new. There is some RNG manipulation, but not enough to mitigate the boring part of the game. There are a few interesting overarching puzzles, but most of them are wrapped in multiple layers of RNG. For example, for one puzzle you need a specific item that randomly spawns, use it in a room that randomly spawns which you need to unlock with another room that also randomly spawns. It took me 6 hours for the game to give me a run where I got all three of those things in a single run. The reward? Some resources that I have next to no use for and some clues that I can only experiment with if the RNG deems me worthy. I have absolutely no idea where the praise for the game comes from. Maybe this game is perfect for those who are really into roguelites, but for me personally it just feels like the game is wasting my time for no reason at all.
- 383toast 1y ago> many times where the game decided to give me nothing but rooms leading to dead ends Since each room can only appear once, you can minimize this by strategically choosing to place dead end rooms early on in the lower southeast/southwest, and edges generally. Then always make sure you have gems as you move north, so you can usually pick good rooms.
- rjh29 1y agoAlso, there's a great book on drafting that you can find at the Library (of course you need to draw the Library twice, one to request the book and one more to get it - another issue with the RNG)
- fragmede 1y ago> After playing the game for 10+ hours You paid $30 for it. Did you get $30 worth of entertainment from it? $3/hr sounds pretty good, and if all it did was not live up to your expectations because of what other people been saying, I'd say that's still money well spent, just you gotta adjust how much stock you put into what those particular people say as relates to good you enjoy something.
- airstrike 1y agoBeen wanting to build a metroidvaniaroguelike on evenings and weekends and this gives me a few ideas to noodle on... thanks for sharing
- riffraff 1y ago> As with other roguelikes, you can unlock persistent upgrades that smooth over repetitive parts of the game. I think those are called rogue-lites, for the reason that real rogue-likes (e.g. nethack, DCSS) actually wipe out all your progress on each attempt.
- skyyler 1y agoAt this point, times have shifted, and meta-progression is usually considered an aspect of modern roguelikes. There was a trend of calling them "rogue-lites" but that's faded and now games like ADOM and DCSS are "Classic roguelikes" It's not a hard and fast rule or anything, just what I've observed in gaming discussions.
- uses 1y agoIndeed, the distinction used to be useful. But now, it's not useful because honest-to-God roguelikes are just not getting made outside hobby projects. Meanwhile, roguelites have become a core pillar of modern gaming, artistically and commercially. I think calling roguelites roguelikes is perfectly fine. It's simply what the genre became.
- card_zero 1y agoThat's horrible, but I can't stop you.
- chongli 1y agoI prefer that they be hobby projects or solo-developer crowdfunded efforts. Generally, I find that the traditional (waterfall) lifecycle of commercial games is not conducive to a good Roguelike. This is because the game is quickly shifted into maintenance-mode after release and stops receiving major updates soon after. Roguelikes really benefit from long-term development and continual balancing, new content, and quality of life updates in response to feedback from players. These are games meant to be played and mastered over the course of several years. Traditional commercial game releases are much better suited to one-and-done style single play-throughs. The other major commercial model, the subscription- or microtransaction-supported long-term game development, such as you'd see with popular multiplayer games like Fortnite or League of Legends, would seem to be a viable alternative for Roguelike development. I don't think it would work out in practice, however, since most gamers don't seem to be interested in playing a game to mastery unless it involves a high level of competitive play.
- davidpfarrell 1y agoOP: A single giveaway just popped up on SteamGifts today: https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/bloms/blue-prince https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/bloms/blue-prince Is this you?
- adrianhon 1y agoNope.
- infinghxsg 1y ago[dead]
- taeric 1y agoI just picked this up. Curious if this will be one I can play with the kids while we are going to bed in the evenings. For a long time, that was prime time to play Slay the Spire, as it will get them to go to sleep. :D
- egypturnash 1y agoIt's got a bedtime story kind of vibe.
- gs17 1y agoWith the shifting rooms, it's almost dream-like.
- gs17 1y agoI'd imagine it probably will get them to go to sleep, but mostly because they'll be watching a lot of walking up and down corridors.
- blindriver 1y agoI tried playing this after buying it, but it was not what I expected. There was a lot of FPS moving around and aiming and that makes me nauseous so I had to turn it off. I guess there's no refunds on PS games unfortunately.
- seivan 1y ago[dead]
- NelsonMinar 1y agoThe buzz on this game is very strong. The Triple Click podcast just loves it: https://maximumfun.org/episodes/triple-click/blue-prince-really-is-that-good/ https://maximumfun.org/episodes/triple-click/blue-prince-rea...
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- zkiihne 1y agoFrom the maker(s) of mythicspoiler.com
- billfruit 1y agoDungeon of the Endless is another interesting game about essentially opening rooms/doors. The frantic rush to move the diamond thing to the last room while swarming alien creatures try to stop you is very interesting.
- ndsipa_pomu 1y agoRead the review and thought it looked like the kind of thing that I like, but then saw that it doesn't have SteamDeck compatibility. Sorry, but if you're only going to target Windows then you're not seeing my money.
- kamiheku 1y agoWhile I presume they don't provide a native Linux build, it is listed as Playable on Steam Deck. > Valve's testing indicates that Blue Prince is Playable on Steam Deck. This game is functional on Steam Deck, but might require extra effort to interact with or configure. > • Some in-game text is small and may be difficult to read > • All functionality is accessible when using the default controller configuration > • This game shows Steam Deck controller icons > • This game's default graphics configuration performs well on Steam Deck
- ndsipa_pomu 1y agoMy experience is that "playable" on Steam Deck generally means a poor experience. I'll wait until it's something like "verified".
- izacus 1y agoMy experience disagrees. Many "playable" games run very well and many "verified" don't.
- ndsipa_pomu 1y agoYou're right it can be a crapshoot as to what the rating means.
- yoru-sulfur 1y agoI don't have a Steam deck, but for what it's worth I haven't had any problems with it on my arch desktop
- adrianhon 1y ago
- tensility 1y agoOn my M-series Mac devices, I get a warning for missing executable when trying to launch after installing. I've had Steam re-verify its payload files with the same result on two different systems. Any ideas?
- Nifty3929 1y agoI'm very hopeful about this game, but afraid it might be closer to rougueLITE than roguelike. I played two days yesterday, and it started to dawn on me that there must be resource accumulation day to day. Some items cost 10's of coins (as much as 80), while in one day I was only seeing just a few. And really only one easy puzzle so far involving a couple of colored boxes. So is the puzzle to just keep playing through, accumulating resources to buy what you need until you make it all the way? Or does the true puzzle reveal itself to you as you play through a few times? Maybe the things you buy/activate are one-time unlocks that give access to new parts of the puzzle, without making the puzzle itself easier? Anyway, I love puzzle games such as Myst, and I'm a new fan of rougelikes (but not roguelites) - so I really want this game to work out.
- Nifty3929 1y agoI was mistaken! Coins and other resources do NOT seem to accumulate, though I did also discover a couple of side effects you can trigger that do carry forward to future days, but which appear to be part of the puzzle structure itself, not something to make the game easier on future attempts. I like it!