Puzzles are rarely difficult once solved. That’s why I found Blue Prince such a fascinating experiment. A masterful blend of engaging problem-solving and procedural generation to encourage replayability; an eight-year labour of love from solo developer Tonda Ros. Recently, Blue Prince made its way to the Nintendo Switch 2, welcoming even more players into the hallowed halls of the Mount Holly Estate. Dropping such an addictive game on a portable platform sounds like an easy win but more often than not Blue Prince fails to take full advantage of the Switch 2.
Welcome To The Family
You play as Simon P. Jones: teenage heir to the Sinclair fortune and Mount Holly Estate. In order to inherit his uncle Baron Sinclair’s fortune, Simon must navigate the mansion’s ever-shifting floor plan in search of the fabled Room 46.
Aside from the main entrance and Antechamber, Mount Holly resets its internal structure every day, deploying a complex RNG system to sort between over one-hundred room types, each of which provide a variety of a boosts, equipment, resources, and puzzles. For example, entering certain bedrooms can add to your step count (which decreases every time you enter and exit a room) before it hits zero and Simon is forced to bed. However, some rooms will hinder Simon’s progress by taking extra steps or taxing resources. Exploring Mount Holly was at once tranquil and disquieting in spite of its complex nature; objectively idyllic and yet undeniably eerie. The myriad letters and literature dotted around the mansion, documenting a history of rebellion and fascist regimes, made me worry about exactly what Simon might have inherited.
Mount Holly looks fantastic on the Switch 2, seamlessly loading and reloading new rooms without noticeable framerate dips in either gameplay or cutscenes. The only time the game will try your patience is when starting from the title screen. Blue Prince’s stunning cel-shaded architecture impressed last year and Nintendo honored those visuals in this one.
Skeletons in the Procedural Closet
If you’re the type of gamer who enjoys a straightforward linear campaign, Blue Prince’s narrative (or lack thereof) may not be for you. Simon will have to search every nook and cranny of every room if he’s to discover Room 46, and without an in-game journal, I would personally recommend keeping records with a physical notebook or screenshots; the latter of which was particularly helpful when it came to memorizing safe combinations.
Puzzles vary in difficulty from simple riddles and pattern recognition in the Parlor or Billiard Room to intricate multi-room trials of memory and logic. Many rooms won’t even function properly unless the correct item is placed or activated in another room (turning off armored doors via the security room, for example) which means that puzzle solutions must also work within the mansion’s procedural layout, often over several in-game days. Without a time limit on reaching Room 46, I felt free to explore the mansion in its entirety; learning the history of the Sinclairs, Mount Holly, and this world exclusively through gameplay sparked my interest more than any cutscene ever could.
However, accessibility options were disappointingly limited; confined to just three sliders for brightness, master volume, and camera controls. In such a puzzle-heavy experience, not having the ability to increase the font size of text or the volume of specific sounds is particularly egregious. The game likewise fails to tutorialise key controls; it took me several days to locate the sprint button which happened entirely by chance. Blue Prince could have been made more accessible to a far broader set of players.
Rise and Grind
Every day at Mount Holly begins the same: alone with fifty steps to explore the mansion. Of course, Simon will gain more starting resources from a number of key discoveries during his time at Mount Holly. Temporary versions of these effects come from Tomorrow Rooms which activate specific upgrades such as saving key items and starting with extra step for the following day. The most rewarding discoveries unlock permanent additions to your daily allowance of coins, stock of gems, and key shortcuts around the exterior of the mansion.
However, the most impactful item is the upgrade disk that when inserted at various computer terminals around the mansion allows one of three randomly selected rooms to upgrade; often increasing the amount of resources gained and saved or changing the effect of the room altogether. The upgrade disk made me feel like I was shaping Simon’s new home and not just exploring the Baron’s old one.
Despite all of the upgrades and shortcuts, the design of Mount Holly will remain mostly dependent on the luck of a given day’s draft pool. Every time you approach a door, you’ll be given the choice between three randomly-generated rooms that will themselves have up to three options for onward travel. Certain rooms have a higher chance of spawning depending on your position in the east or west wings of the mansion and you’ll have to balance forward momentum with resource management and puzzle-solving until you run out of steps. Navigating the mansion eventually became a puzzle in and of itself.
Open Plan
Whether it’s a shovel for digging up coins and gems or broken levers to unlock the hallowed antechamber, items are a crucial part of exploring Mount Holly. It can be difficult to discern between interactable objects and the general environment particularly when searching rooms containing multiple items such as the attic and toolshed. Forcing the player to divert their attention away from puzzle-solving and towards comparatively simple tasks interrupted the flow of the game. Thankfully, you can check the house’s current inventory in the security room and purchase resources and items at the commissary. I was also disappointed to find that the simple act of inspecting certain notes and letters was unavailable without a specific item. This roadblock felt particularly artificial and severe considering that I would have to track down these notes all over again once I had finally acquired the magnifying glass.
Unfortunately, after a few hours I almost entirely forgot I was playing the Switch 2 version of Blue Prince. The refusal to include any option for gyro or mouse controls (both heavily touted of the platform prior to launch) hindered U.I. navigation and further limited aforementioned accessibility issues. Motion controls would have helped to better control the map screen and interact with small items like coins or buttons.
Verdict
Blue Prince is the Rubik’s Cube of videogames. A procedural puzzle so engaging that I was utterly driven to unlock Room 46, track down as many secrets as possible and understand the world outside Mount Holly. Often it felt as if I was fighting the mansion itself with its randomization and daily resets but through all its dead ends and frustrating moments I never considered abandoning Simon’s quest.
The experience is uncompromised by the Nintendo Switch 2 and arguably enhanced by the platform’s portability. Though I wish the game had taken advantage of the Switch 2’s unique features more, Blue Prince remains as addictive as ever. I can’t wait to jump back in.
