My great aunt lived to be 102, and when she was dying she revealed that she had been married not five times but six. We have no idea who the sixth husband was or where he fits into the Aunt Mickey timeline. I can only assume we'll never know.
Blue Prince
Developer: Dogubomb
Publisher: Raw Fury
Availability: Out now on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
This kind of mystery creates great fiction: I'm a massive fan of Thomas Pynchon's Crying of Lot 49, which allegedly revolves around executing a will. Recently, I watched Denis Villeneuve's moving Incendies, following siblings on a harrowing mission to uncover their late mother's secrets. This made me realize that there's another instance of this mystery right in front of me: the Game of the Year—Blue Prince.
It took me time to grasp what Blue Prince truly symbolizes for me—unraveling my great aunt's sixth husband. Blue Prince merges daring simplicity with dizzying complexity. It's fundamentally about exploring an intriguing house, where every doorway presents a choice of three rooms. Players aim to navigate the house, managing in-game resources to unlock doors or acquire unique rooms, all while a 46th room sparsely looms as a rumor.
The game features a house that resets nightly, compelling players to maximize exploration before facing new layouts in subsequent playthroughs. This randomness has received mixed feedback as players often experience waits for desired room appearances, and sometimes progress stagnates.
Yet is this criticism valid? Blue Prince's rooms contain both explicit puzzles—manipulating pipes and valves—and implicit challenges. The game cleverly employs this randomness; it feels at times like it's coaxing players to reach a tedious state where the secrets of the house reveal themselves akin to a Magic Eye picture. This metaphor accurately describes its essence.
As players encounter unwanted rooms, they begin to recognize their contents, leading to insights through sheer persistence. The brilliance of Blue Prince, combined with its alien logic, can position it as a Game of the Year contender. The game lures players into constant contemplation about its puzzles, distracting one from red herrings.
While the game possesses innovation and cleverness, it speaks to deeper, darker themes that resonate with individuals like myself in my late forties. It's reminiscent of Oscar Wilde's words buried within A Picture of Dorian Gray: "The tragedy of old age is not that one is old but that one is young." Reflecting on this, if those words evoke discomfort, they likely resonate at a point where Blue Prince transcends brilliant puzzle-solving, delving into more profound human experiences.
Through this lens, the game explores absence—what is left behind for loved ones when one departs. Understanding Blue Prince isn't merely uncovering rooms or solving puzzles; it's piecing together the lives and experiences of those who inhabited that space, delving into the memories they left behind and the secrets they obscured.
As I approach fifty, I ponder how to minimize the mess I leave behind and ensure my loved ones find closure, sparing them the burdens of confusion. This exploration of Blue Prince reminds me that games aren't limited in themes—they can engage with personal memories and emotional narratives.
Embracing these insights, I celebrate Blue Prince as more than just an inventive puzzle game; it serves as a testament to the emotional layers games can explore, and the personal connections they can foster. Happy New Year, and best wishes for 2026.
This article concludes our end-of-year series, Games of 2025, where we highlight remarkable moments, games, and our favorites. Thank you for reading, and may you have a joyous new year!
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