After reviewingBlue Princeand giving it anear perfect score, I’m thrilled to see how much attention it’s been getting. It’s not often that indie games receive this kind of recognition, let alone narrative puzzle games that are as complicated and, quite frankly, frustrating as this one. I love that its difficulty and complexity is making it blow up.
But the hype machine has been getting a little bit out of control, especially after news started coming out about it beingthe highest scoring game of the year so farandBalatrodeveloper LocalThunkmaking a mildly threatening tweet at Geoff Keighleyabout its GOTY contender status. People are calling this game a must-play, and I have to disagree. There are a lot of people who definitely should not be playing Blue Prince.
Not Every Game Is For Every Person
Don’t take this the wrong way. Youshouldplay Blue Prince if it’s something you’re interested in.. It’s an excellent game, completely unique in concept, layered with secrets on secrets, conspiracy on conspiracy. Despite having published my review, I’m still going back to it in an attempt to 100 percent it and uncover everything it has to hide. I’ve found more secrets than I could have ever anticipated, and I’m sure there’s still more to find.
But not every game is for everyone. For example, I’m absolute garbage at shooters.Returnal, which is a roguelike hybrid like Blue Prince, is completely up my alley… in theory. In practice, I make my friend play it while I watch because I know I simply don’t have the skills to be good at it.
On the other hand, there are people who hate puzzles – I have another friend who loves action-adventure games likeGod of War, but passes me the controller every time he comes across even the simplest of puzzles. He simply can’t be bothered, but I love that stuff and find it far more compelling than hacking and slashing at enemies. A tough boss fight will drive me nuts, but a well-designed puzzle will bring me immeasurable joy.
I sent several Blue Prince puzzles to my friends to see if a couple of extra brains would make me progress any faster. Most of the replies I got had lots of curse words and question marks. Again, it’s not for everyone.
Blue Prince Is Not For You If You Don’t Want To Use Your Brain
Blue Prince is an intellectually demanding game. A lot of people will hear that and cheer, but a lot of people will shudder. When I see people comparing it to Balatro, I cringe. There’s a surface level similarity, in that both games are unconventional roguelikes that play with our expectations about the genre, and Balatro can require strategic thinking and luck just as Blue Prince does, but they are incredibly different games.
Blue Prince practicallyrequiresa pen and paper – my notes were scrawled across pages and pages, and I ended up cracking open a whole new journal once they got so disorganised they became incomprehensible. Solutions to its puzzles may be self-contained or strewn across several rooms, hidden in emails and letters and ciphers that you have to decode over time. It requires patience and a pure love of the game – the game, in this case, being using your brain, drawing connections between things, and making sense of abstract clues. There are puzzles that will have you sitting frozen in front of your screen, confused and upset. That’s the point of the game.
This game is not for everyone. It is not a must-play if you hear its concept and know you won’t enjoy it. If it’s going to frustrate you, don’t listen to people telling you it’s a timesucker like Balatro and dive in headfirst, then come out of it and complain that you didn’t like it. Sure, you can just try it for yourself – it’s on Game Pass and PlayStation Plus anyway. But don’t just listen to the hype machine. Know what you’re signing up for. Know it will take hours of your life that you can’t get back, and know that it’ll only be worth it if you’re having a good time. I did, but you might not.
