Dogubomb: Blue Prince | Review

Blue Prince Review | Welcome to Mt. Holly, where every dawn unveils a new mystery. Navigate through shifting corridors and ever-changing chambers in this genre-defying strategy puzzle adventure. But will your unpredictable path lead you to the rumored Room 46?

Time Played: 30 hours (and counting)
Console: PC / Steam / Playstation / Xbox
Recommended for fans of: Outer Wilds, Return of the Obra Dinn, Stanley Parable (or the board games: Betrayal, Castles of Mad King Ludwig)

At the time of writing, Blue Prince has the highest meta critic score of 2025, and is 20th of all games released in the last 5 years. This ‘indie’ game has seemingly come from nowhere and taken the critics by storm, although general reviews seem a little more mixed, and I understand why! This game spans a number of genres, but at its heart I’d describe this as a “Rogue-like puzzle game, with mystery at its heart and a touch of risk”. My new husband and I are so addicted to this game that we were seriously debating buying a steam deck while on our honeymoon last week just to keep playing it, and we now have a whatsapp chat just dedicated to notes and photographs from the game! 

Welcome to Mt Holly

The game seems quite unassuming to start with, and for my first couple of ‘days’ I didn’t get what the fuss was about – how naive I was. You are tasked with finding the 46th room of the house, which is arranged in a 5×9 grid. However, the catch is you can only use a certain number of steps a day, requiring you to carefully plot your route, and the blueprint itself is constantly changing. The game mechanic is fairly simple – you open a door, ‘draft’ three possible rooms and select which is behind the door. However, each room type may benefit you in different ways – do you want to select the bedroom, which will give you a few extra steps, or the closet, which will give you some items to use, but has no additional doors to open? Do you want to use your precious gems to purchase a more expensive “courtyard”, or do you take the chapel for free but lose some coins? 

Drafting the rooms themselves is your first layer of puzzles, but far from the last. We have currently played through 25 days, and only filled 45 rooms once, as it quickly becomes obvious that there is much more to the house than it appears.

Meta puzzles within meta puzzles

I am going to attempt to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but obviously be warned that I may accidentally give you some tips if you are playing. 

What I missed in my first few ‘days’ is the amount of meta puzzling that is required in this game. While you have to have some luck to draft the right tiles, position them in the right spots and keep an eye on your resources (steps, keys, gems and money), you will also be picking up information along the way, as well as discovering items and even making permanent changes to your experience.

Each room is beautifully decorated and designed, and as you play you will start to notice similar things popping up in different rooms, but you may not initially figure out what they’re for. However, when you do….wow. The level of excitement we felt as we uncovered a hidden message (or two), plan out what kind of “run” we are attempting (do we want to get a certain room to check a theory, or do we want to get to a certain place to find a missing piece of information). Once you’ve found a ‘solution’ it also doesn’t stop – we know what a message says…but what do we do with it? Where do we use it? 

Another eureka moment comes when you realise it’s not just the house you have access to, but the grounds as well, but exploring will also use steps. So, what do you prioritise? How do you open the temptingly sealed doors?

Part of what makes this game so engaging and moreish is the sheer volume of puzzles, meta puzzles and breadcrumbs that keep us going, and the frustrating luck aspect that will just refuse to give you the rooms you want or items you need. I hate it…but I love it. 

The Art and Lore of Blue Prince

Outside of the puzzles, I just love the art style of the game, and the attention to detail with the lore and world building. I feel like I have really come to know the history of the world, and the family who owns the house, as well as their servants. Each room is beautifully rendered, with enough set design to mask any puzzle elements without feeling like it’s deliberately hindering. Various cutscenes and music also add to the atmosphere and leave you feeling always slightly on edge.

Blue Prince – The Final Verdict

I am firmly in the camp that this is one of the best games I’ve played recently. There is so much to do, it’s so expansive, and has so many layers that Shrek would be proud. Playing this with my husband I can see how we have different play styles, but this plays perfectly into both – allowing you to be both analytical and strategic, but also requiring you to go with the flow. I love the mystery solving and puzzle elements, but also the ability to always discover something new.

Blue Prince can be played on PC or consoles. To find out more, head to their website here.