‘Blue Prince’ Is the Best Game I’ve Played That’s Ultimately Not for Me

Games, Review

Blue Prince is a beautiful puzzle adventure game with a blend of strategy and rogue-like elements. It is also the first game from Dogubomb, an indie game development studio founded by Tonda Ros, who developed the game over ten years. In an interview on the Play, Watch, Listen podcast, Ros explained how he built and rebuilt the game over the years, at one point starting from scratch to ensure the game played as smoothly as possible.

The care with which Ros approached the development process—from the level design to the intricate puzzles—is evident in the final game. Since it was released in April, Blue Prince has garnered significant praise from game critics and gamers alike, and rightly so.

And yet, despite experiencing an initial joy playing Blue Prince, I eventually came to the realization that this one is not for me.

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Games I Played in June 2025

Games, Review
Entry hall in Blue Prince. | screenshot by me

Blue Prince (Dogubomb) is probably the best game I’ve ever played that ultimately is not for me. The game is wonderful in so many ways. It opens with an interesting story premise — a young man inherits a mansion, which will only become his if he can find the mysterious 46th room — and features beautiful illustrative-style art with muted undertones.

The gameplay is also quite fun, allowing the player to figure out how to play through the process of playing. As you enter the mansion, you are given a brief note and then open a door and are presented with a card draw of three rooms to build, and from that room (as long as it’s not a dead end), you build more and more rooms, constructing a path deeper into the home. You are able to continue building, exploring, and collecting supplies and zeroes until you run out of steps and are forced to take a rest, resetting the entire house to zero — creating a roguelike feel.