Board 8 > Blue Prince is currently the highest rated game of 2025

(+) Yeah! (+)

WazzupGenius00 posted...

I can drain the fountain to get to the basement door, but I need to drain the reservoir one or maybe two levels in order to reach the boat, and you can't have both drained at the same time without utilizing the reserve tank in the pump room, which I am pretty sure is only powered by the boiler. Or other electric means that I also lack.

Ah, I see what you mean. In case you succeed with this method, you need to drain the reservoir exactly 1 level to use the boat.

But there are alternate methods too.

catesdb posted...

so it sounds like I had a different experience from a lot of yall

It's kind of reassuring to see people get stuck on random things like I did

catesdb posted...

but I still havent ever gotten

I'm getting concerned about that for my own game. As I add more and more rooms to the pool, it seems less and less likely that I'll luck out and be able to connect the two. And I for sure am going to need to do that.

Yeah I've found a few more rooms and I really don't see how it can make things easier in the grand scheme. Any increase in variance is just brutal.

Day 40 and still just fumbling around with bad RNG trying to get to the last room. I'm not sure I'm going to have any motivation to keep playing at this point based on how annoying the last 10-15 runs have been so I might just look up the ending and move on.

Overall I think this was a good idea ruined by poor execution (keys). The fun is also extremely front loaded while you're learning things and now my runs are just blasting through the house and hoping I find enough keys to actually progress.

It's difficult to avoid that in any puzzle game while you're learning the game but it feels especially bad here.

foolm0r0n posted...

Also finally got the Antechamber with a super clutch Great Hall (I had Foyer already) placement that saved me a bunch of steps

Yessss my dream goal is to make those two rooms super common (Great Hall and Foyer). That's gonna be my wombo combo. I already made the Great Hall super common and it's been very useful, I can always get it when I want it.

augh I had a 50% off sale from the Observatory and a Bookstore but then almost no coins, even with an early shovel and the Root Cellar active. Still bought something but not one of the highest-priced ones

just finished day 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MdA6uyZ5kQ

Got to room 46 on Day 23. Never ended up getting a Boiler Room to power anything else up! Also got the four blue flames a couple days before that, but for some reason when I flipped the switch it revealed, nothing happened.

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Got to room 46 on Day 23. Never ended up getting a Boiler Room to power anything else up! Also got the four blue flames a couple days before that, but for some reason when I flipped the switch it revealed, nothing happened.

hmmm it definitely works for me lol. unless any of the flames are turned back off when you flip the switch

46'd

And not at all in the way I thought I was going to get there. I spent so long hyperfocused on trying to drain the reservoir because that is what all signs pointed to. But then on Day 29 I got offered the Tomb for the first time ever, which happily gave me the opportunity to use all the notes I took about the Cathedral and opened up just enough of the underground to allow me to open the north antechamber. And then clutched out a secret garden to get back into the antechamber and BAM, Room 46.

But... I'm in the middle of so many puzzles still that I want to keep going.

I never drained the reservoir to see what's down there
The gear puzzle goes up a whole level that I didn't interact with.
I found the Room 8 key but never got to use it
I've only removed like half the boxes from the tunnel.
I've never drained the fountain either.
I've never stolen the crown from the exhibit room.
I haven't found all the red letters yet
I haven't exhausted the fortune teller
And I'm sure there's more still that I haven't even touched on before even getting into the challenge runs.

I DID solve the chess puzzle though and I felt like a golden god.

Definitely will put some more time into it, was pretty fun. Might not have the staying power of a Balatro, but it will likely be the indie game getting all the hype in awards season.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/5b3bbc77.jpg

Oh right, the 46 house

Oh yeah I'll post my 46 house later, it had all but 1 god damn spot filled

FFDragon posted...

I found the Room 8 key but never got to use it

never heard of this

FFDragon posted...

I've only removed like half the boxes from the tunnel.

didn't know this was possible

FFDragon posted...

I've never stolen the crown from the exhibit room.

never heard of this

wow so much to do

Yeah I'm amazed you did all that stuff before 46. I didn't think room 8 was possible to get before clearing! Still no idea how the boxes work.

oh I did one more run after 46, because trophy, and ran into the gallery (and souvenir shop) for the first time so you might be right

My first run after reaching 46 also gave me the souvenir shop and the gallery (with the Key 8 key but I couldn't end up using it). Some of the souvenir shop items sounds pretty cool, getting the lunchbox would be a nice extra. And the swim trunks more just so I could see how it looks. And the arcade game is gonna be added at some point it looks like!

It was the same for me. I actually got both Room 8's key and Room 8 on that run oh ya. I've bought the first three items from the souvenir shop. Lunch box is very useful! Permanent upgrade that should be bought ASAP.

I spent like two-thirds of the game so far thinking that any references to hallways were specifically referring to the room called Hallway, and not the orange room type in general. Probably wouldve picked different Upgrade Disk effects once or twice otherwise!

Wow I'm glad my foundation isn't where FFD's is. Screws up the antechamber east entrance, my favorite one!

I have exclusively entered from the West.

I can still get to the east, but I need to have some dice on hand to up my chances

My Foundation is directly north of my Entrance Hall lol

Oof.

I didn't realize what I was getting into when I drafted my foundation. I do like it being towards the top though.

Same lol, but honestly I think it's pretty funny being right next to my Entrance Hall so I'm fine with it

Objectively you'd want it pretty much as north as possible though, so I just add an extra challenge to myself

For reference, here's my full room house layout that got me the trophy. I'll have to check for my first Room 46 house

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/dbaa8502.jpg

Just started today and still just in the process of taking notes on each room and figuring things out. Just unlocked my 2nd permanent upgrade.

I think I've figured out how to open the time lock so I'll be checking that next

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

My Foundation is directly north of my Entrance Hall lol

You can do that??

I thought they made it draftable only in the same spot, or at least the same rank. I don't really like variance in permanent choices like that, especially since no one understands Foundation is permanent when it's first drawn.

I sort of applaud the audacity but yea it probably should be like, only draftable on Rank X or higher

Mine is on rank 2 too, it's never been a problem. Actually makes me more likely to get Her Ladyship's Chamber since it kinda altered my usual pathmaking tendencies

Yea I actually kinda like having it next to my Entrance, I have a guaranteed north and east path on rank 2. But it does feel weird for what its purpose is for.

I'm thinking it can be anywhere in the middle 3 columns, but not the 1st row, nor last row. Yea weird design choice but I also applaud the audacity. I can see advantages in having it in certain places. (Except for FFD's slot which just sucks LOL pwned)

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Unrelated, I had an absolute godlike ~2 hour long run last night. At one point I was walking around with SEVENTEEN items in my inventory. I spent something like 25-30 keys during the run and still had 6 left when I called it a night. Raised a certain secret permanent number from 2 to 16, found 5 new rooms, opened 2 cool locked things, activated 2 cool things, just outrageous stuff.

(Ironically didn't accomplish either of the main 2 things I was trying to do, but got a lot of other stuff accomplished!) (Or maybe that's not ironic, maybe that's literally the game heh)

I just got my foundation and its literally 2 spaces below the antechamber. I almost think its TOO close

Being near to the antechamber will be very helpful for a large chunk of the game. Maybe even the majority of it. Mine's in 2B, which is not so good a slot (it was almost in 2C, which would've been worse, since its wall is on the north side).

Got an absurd amount of coins on my latest run so was able to buy the swim trunks and the blue bird plush from the souvenir shop. Also got the Vault with 3 of the deposit box keys,

I've decided to shelve the postgame stuff for now. I noticed myself getting impatient after a run with only mild progress. The main things I want to do are either grindy or grindy+luck dependent. That's not a bad thing when you want an excuse to stick around! I just need to wait to be in the mood for it. Certain combos can be inherently fun, but they don't appear every time.

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

My first run after reaching 46

MacArrowny posted...

I actually got both

The puzzles in that room- the gallery- are the wooooorst. I've always had a bone to pick with that style. To this game's credit, it does instantly validate whether or not your answer was correct, even if you don't realize it until you get one right.

Does the utility closet change? I've solved it before and got the bonus. But my dowsing rod just told me to go in there for loot and theres nothing, so I'm assuming I gotta solve it again.. but I can only do red and green, it's not solvable. My buddy says he's done it a second time though....

maybe you've forgotten a rule. i did it a second time (though there was no reason to, i was just curious) ||doesn't blue only appear if you've turned all 6 green? or something||

oh my foundation is exactly where FFD's is, I don't mind it

and I also basically always enter the antechamber from the left. don't think i've ever entered from the bottom actually

it does explain why it took me so long to figure out how it worked though

I'm now on Day 17 and I'm still missing 16 rooms (not including 46).

I feel like my RNG is absolutely terrible.

You won't get a lot of rooms just by pure chance, you have to create the opportunity to get them.

Ok so a couple puzzles made me Google and I need the boiler room, and I have literally never seen it, lol.

Day 16 opened up all four permanent upgrades and made it to the underground area below the fountain.But haven't really figured out what I need to do down here yet. Also have obtained 3/8 red letters

room 46'd.

turns out i was sitting on the pieces for a long time, just completely missed the hidden passage in the basement. i even had an inkling in that direction, but getting physically stuck in a gap took the wind out of my sails and i ended up chasing other stuff for a few dozen runs. last trip to the antechamber was harrowing compared to how relatively trivial it was earlier, guessing from all the extra floorplans - just wasn't drawing any rooms with the levers.

now, i wonder if i could rinse this game before my month of game pass ends.

Saw the boiler room for the first time on day 19 and didnt have the gem for it, lol.

I have only seen it once in 25 days. I'm definitely slowing down hard on the progress so I'm kinda over most of the challenges. Looking up some secrets more often to save time.

I have pretty mixed feelings on this game. I didn't even want to play it at all based on some of the things I've heard about the RNG. I eventually gave it a try and it did get its hooks into me, but I still think the roguelite aspects are kind of a cheap way to add emergent gameplay to the game. Yes it can add excitement when things turn out in your favor, but it can be infuriating when runs end due to factors outside your control.
Outer Wilds was a similar puzzle box game where you had to follow multiple separate threads in a time loop. But in Outer Wilds, all the threads are always available from the start, and when a run ended, you could always make a beeline to exactly where you were and continue following that particular thread. Not so in Blue Prince. You just have to go in blindly and grasp at whatever thread feels like showing up that day.
Roguelite elements can make any game addictive and fun, but I'm still not sure it's a great fit for a detective game.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Saw the boiler room for the first time on day 19 and didnt have the gem for it, lol.

foolm0r0n posted...

I have only seen it once in 25 days.

Gear wrench and coat check have helped me out with this

Never seen gear wrench, and only seen workshop once too.

If it had a normal meta shop where you bank your extra gems or coins to buy stuff between runs, it would be so nice. It would make it less magical but smooth out the curve so much more. The way it is now, it just stretches out the game so much for no reason. It's not like it's missing content. It could still be a solid 25 hours long.

I've only seen it once in 12 hours and made sure to put it in a coat check since it seems absolutely essential in reducing RNG churn/grinding.

The fact that a game like this even has churn at all is kind of ridiculous.

foolm0r0n posted...

Never seen gear wrench, and only seen workshop once too.

If it had a normal meta shop where you bank your extra gems or coins to buy stuff between runs, it would be so nice. It would make it less magical but smooth out the curve so much more. The way it is now, it just stretches out the game so much for no reason. It's not like it's missing content. It could still be a solid 25 hours long.

Yeah I saw the Wrench one time but never drew a mechanical room after.

How does the wrench work exactly? Gimme some spoiler text on the details. I got one, but was too afraid to use it, because when I googled it, it sounded like there was a chance it would make the targetted room rarer, which sounded awful.

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I think there are some pretty tiny tweaks that would drastically improve the game.

I saw gamedev Tyler Glaiel on Bluesky make some suggestions I loved, about putting permanent repeatable upgrades in the antechamber, so every run where you get there, you get more permanent control of the RNG, on all future runs. Specifically two ideas:

• Put the table from the Conservatory room in there.
• Put a permanent Die in there (i.e. you start every run with +1 die).

Pretty genius ideas I think.

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I'm thinking the designer of the game never intended for the meta layers to become the player's focus.

In other words, maybe it was never meant to be a "detective game" as DeepsPraw said.

Instead, they perhaps always wanted the drawing/drafting of rooms to be your focus, forever, until you get bored and quit.

And so, the meta layers were perhaps meant to just entice you to keep playing the real game, for a bit longer (and the "real game" = drawing/drafting rooms).

They just accidentally made the meta layers a little too enticing?

There are quite a few things you can do to get dice. Permanent ones would be nice, but I generally feel like I have enough power to control my fate.

Epyo posted...

How does the wrench work exactly? Gimme some spoiler text on the details. I got one, but was too afraid to use it, because when I googled it, it sounded like there was a chance it would make the targetted room rarer, which sounded awful.

You use it on a room and can make it rarer or more common. Make sure you know what you're doing before you choose. Up is rarer, down is more common. There are some rooms you want to make rarer, though definitely not before solving certain puzzles.

Epyo posted...

I'm thinking the designer of the game never intended for the meta layers to become the player's focus.

Tons of puzzles are based entirely around these layers. You have to read and understand the history books to solve them lol.