If you’ve ever stood in an unfamiliar room, staring at a closed door and wondering what might be on the other side, then you already have a pretty good idea of what drives the intrigue in Blue Prince. Will the door open to a winding hallway, a peaceful bedroom, or perhaps a grand ballroom?
Hello, I’m Tonda Ros, an indie developer with a passion for atmospheric games. For the past eight years, I’ve been crafting a game focused on a sprawling manor filled with mysterious doors. Blue Prince is a melding of big ideas from vastly different worlds. It’s a blend of mystery, strategy, and discovery, combining first-person puzzle adventure elements with the drafting mechanics seen in tabletop card games. Excitingly, it’s set to launch April 10, right on the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog.
Curious about how exactly you’ll navigate through the game?
From the beginning, almost a decade ago, a single thought guided me: “Every door is a choice.” These five words encapsulate the essence of Blue Prince. Mount Holly, the estate in our game, is anything but a typical residence. It’s a mansion of ever-shifting rooms and unpredictable surprises. At every door, you have the freedom to choose which of three different rooms you’ll explore next.
Need a storeroom for useful items? Interested in a library for more clues? Or maybe just a long hallway to keep the journey going? Once you make your choice and open the door, the room unfolds in front of you.
Interestingly, creating this game mirrors the very experience of playing Blue Prince. Both the player and I work to piece together a dynamic mansion. We face unexpected challenges from the get-go, and we build—room by room, blueprint by blueprint. The decision of which rooms to draft rests entirely with us. As we design, we also explore, moving between rooms in search of answers and hints.
However, your adventure diverges at the start of each new in-game day. When you wake up, the entire layout of the house will have morphed. New doors will open to new rooms, with fresh items, clues, and puzzles waiting for you. You’ll unearth discoveries, gradually learning more about the peculiar workings of this enigmatic house.
Crafting puzzles in a perpetually changing mansion posed its own set of challenges. One player might stumble upon a puzzle, and find a vital clue in the next room. For someone else, that revelation might not come until dozens of rooms later. This unpredictability is what makes the experience so unique—your path, the items you uncover, and the order of your discoveries all shape an adventure unlike anyone else’s.
Moreover, no puzzle in the game is mandatory. In Mount Holly, there’s always more than one way to progress and many solutions to explore. If you’re stumped, don’t hesitate to move to different areas of the manor. The exploration itself is key; as you wander, you’ll uncover the necessary clues and information to tackle the challenges you face.
After eight long years of development, I’m finally ready to pass the torch to you, dear player. One last bit of advice: the less you know going in, the better. Here, I’ve only sketched an outline of the game’s core mechanics and my design approach. The details, and the unfolding story of Mount Holly, are yours to discover. And don’t worry, you won’t have to wait much longer. The mysterious doors of Blue Prince will open on April 10.
