Blue Prince game review

Hello friends!! Welcome to today’s video game review of Blue Prince!!

There is something deeply humbling about a game that quietly assumes you are smarter than you are. Blue Prince is that game.

And yes, before we go any further… the title is a genuinely fun little pun on blueprints, which feels both obvious and clever in hindsight, and also very on-brand for a game that is so deeply and thoughtfully concerned with structure, layout and understanding how things fit together.

I went into it expecting something atmospheric, maybe a little puzzle-heavy, something I could dip in and out of now that my PC is finally set up properly and I can actually enjoy gaming without fighting lag or load times. Or just not being able to play because I can’t get it on a Mac or Switch. It felt like the perfect “ease back into gaming properly” kind of choice.

What I did not expect was how quickly it would get its hooks into me.

Fifteen hours later, I’m sitting at my desk with a notebook open beside me, retracing my steps, questioning my own memory, and writing down theories like I’m about to uncover something deeply important.

Which, to be fair… I might be.

Anyway, let’s have a look at the game Blue Prince!!

Blue Prince game review

Title: Blue Prince
Developer: Dogubomb
Publisher: Raw Fury
Release date: 10 April 2025
Players: 1 (single player only)
Platforms: Windows, MacOS, PS5, Xbox X/S, Nintendo Switch 2
Genre: Puzzle, Strategy, Indie
Steam

Blue Prince

Welcome to Mt. Holly, the mysterious manor with shifting rooms. In Blue Prince, you embark on a genre-defying experience, filled with a unique mix of mystery, strategy, and puzzles that weave together to create an unpredictable journey. Will your explorative steps lead you to the rumored Room 46?

Steam

A premise that slowly tightens its grip

Blue Prince opens with a premise that feels deceptively simple. You’re exploring a manor that doesn’t behave the way you expect it to. Rooms shift, layouts change, and each decision you make subtly shapes what comes next.

At first, it’s easy to settle into a rhythm. You pick a direction, open a door, and see what’s there. There’s a quiet satisfaction in uncovering new spaces and in learning the general logic of how the manor unfolds. It feels manageable, almost relaxed.

But the more time you spend with it, the more that sense of control starts to slip.

You begin to realise that the manor isn’t just something you’re moving through, it’s something you’re slowly trying to understand. Certain rooms start to feel more significant than others. Small details linger in your mind longer than they should. You find yourself hesitating before making choices, wondering if this path might lock you out of something you haven’t fully grasped yet.

It’s a very subtle escalation. The game never announces that it’s becoming more complex, it just… does. And by the time you notice, you’re already invested.

There’s something very clever about that restraint. It never overwhelms you, but it also refuses to stay simple.

Suddenly you’re a professional note taker

There’s always a moment with games like this. That moment where you go from “I’ll remember that” to “I am absolutely not going to remember that.”

For me, that shift came somewhere in the middle of a run where I started noticing patterns I couldn’t quite hold onto. A symbol here, a layout there, the difference between blue and red notes, and a connection that almost made sense but slipped away the second I tried to pin it down.

At first, I resisted. I really believed I could keep it all in my head, despite several warnings. But Blue Prince is not that kind of game.

Eventually, I caved and grabbed a notebook… and the experience changed immediately.

Suddenly, I wasn’t just reacting to what the game gave me, I was actively engaging with it. Tracking things. Testing ideas. Writing down half-formed theories that might prove useful later. Even when those theories turned out to be completely wrong, they still felt like progress because you confirmed something.

There’s something incredibly satisfying about that shift. The game starts to feel less like something you’re playing and more like something you’re working through. Not in a tedious way, but in that quiet, absorbing way where your brain is constantly ticking over, even when you’ve stepped away.

It’s rare for a game to invite that level of engagement without explicitly asking for it. Blue Prince just… assumes you’ll get there.

Fifteen hours in and still unfolding

I’m around 15 hours in and I feel like I’m somewhere in the middle of understanding Blue Prince… and also nowhere near it at all. I am absolutely playing the game ‘deeply’ and looking at everything in my path, reading every scrap of paper and checking every crevice of each room. I’m not expecting to finish it for another 15-30 hours.

There are threads I’ve started to pull on that clearly lead somewhere, but I have no idea where that is. There are patterns I’m recognising but don’t fully understand (yet). And, thankfully, there are moments where small things are clicking into place. I’m getting that brief, satisfying sense of clarity… followed almost immediately by three more questions.

I am so hooked.

In a lot of games, not knowing what’s going on is frustrating. Here, after the first 10 minutes it feels intentional. Because after the first 10 minutes you realise there is no tutorial — there was just that one letter at the start of each day.

It feels like the game is designed to sit just slightly ahead of you, always giving you enough to stay engaged, but never quite enough to feel finished.

It helps that the core loop remains satisfying. Even when you’re confused, you’re still exploring, still discovering new rooms, and still making decisions that feel like they matter. There’s always something to do, even when you’re not entirely sure what it all adds up to yet.

And maybe that’s the real strength of Blue Prince. It trusts you to keep going. Not because it’s constantly rewarding you with answers, but because it’s built a world that makes you want to find them.

Have you played Blue Prince?