A Roguelike Mansion Mystery
Every now and then I like to go and get well and truly lost.
However, in this day and age the ability to lose yourself is hard, as we have at our disposal sat navs and smartphones telling us our exact location, as well as the nearest place to get craft beer while we wait for an Uber. So going off the beaten track and losing myself is a nice pastime, all as I test my not-needed directional skills.
Blue Prince is a game about being lost, both directionally and narratively, as a clever and unique roguelike adventure plays out. It’s a game that stays in your head well after the end too – and here is why.
Lost in the Maze
Blue Prince is the debut game from indie developer Dogubomb but it feels like an effort from a much more well-established game maker.
The premise is that you have been called to the family mansion in Mt. Holly. You are here to claim your inheritance and all you need to do is find the 46th secret room in the mansion. The other 45 rooms in the mansion will give you clues and ideas about where this probably could be. However, the rooms move location every night, so in the morning you are starting the adventure all over again…
Secrets in the Shifting Rooms
I don’t want to spoil anything in terms of story, but the narrative is drip-fed throughout, playing out through things you discover in each room. And frankly, it’s a brilliant system; one that meant I couldn’t wait to discover a new scrap of information.
The gameplay is best described as a roguelike first-person exploration puzzle, with every game session starting in the mansion entrance, with you left with a choice of three doors to go through. Choose a door and then you get a choice of three rooms you want to select or build. That room could be a billiard room or a security room. Some of these rooms will be pathways, taking you further into the mansion itself, closer to the mysterious 46th room. Others might be deadends or puzzles that, if solved, will give you items that might help you in the next run. But remember you only have a limited number of moves to use each day. You’ll want to use your time wisely.
An Onion of Intrigue
This is a game that truly puts its gaming hooks into you, and there’s a high chance you’ll become pretty addicted to its ideas. I normally bounce off roguelike games quite quickly but this one drew me in, forgoing any violence to concentrate on the puzzle-solving and quest to work out the route to the end.
At one point, Blue Prince advised that I got a notebook to start to work things out and I did; sitting in my living room making notes and drawings about details in a game is something I haven’t done for a long time. You may wish to as well, as every run feels more intriguing than the last and the things you might find will lead you down a rabbit hole that could eat away more hours. It’s a true onion of a game, as you peel back more complex and intricate layers. It’s a slice of genius in game design.
Cel shaded graphic design is the order of play here and it works brilliantly. There is a sense of class and beauty to the design of Blue Prince and the little extra rooms you discover along the way come with some brilliant lighting. The audio effects are simple too, as is the sweet relaxing music that calms the mind as you are left to try and solve the mystery at play.
A Must-Play Mystery with Roguelike Appeal
Multi-billion pound corporations will have many meetings to discuss what the perfect game is and how they can entice their audience into spending money. But no one can second-guess a good game that blows people’s socks off. On paper you might be put off by the description of Blue Prince and it’s hard to write about as well, especially without ruining the mystery. But when you start playing it just sort of works and it all makes sense… until it doesn’t.
Maybe the roguelike elements will annoy, and sometimes luck plays a bigger part than any thoughtful decision making, but even if you do reach the end, Blue Prince will continue to reveal a host more secrets.
Your Links
Blue Prince Charts a Course for PlayStation and Xbox, Joining PS+ and Game Pass at Launch – https://www.thexboxhub.com/blue-prince-charts-a-course-for-playstation-and-xbox-joining-ps-and-game-pass-at-launch/
Buy Blue Prince on Xbox (or play through Game Pass) – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/blue-prince/9PFRTPRQ569Q
