r/BluePrince

I loved Blue Prince, played most of it last year (finished it earlier this year). Now my partner is playing it and we want to play something similar together. I have seen many recommendations (Outer Wilds, Return of the Obra Dinn, Animal Well, ...) but many recommendations of games that I have already played which I consider and think, "that is nothing like Blue Prince!"

So if you take all the games in this thread and this one, and any others you have seen/would like to recommend, which are similar in terms of having a really big unfolding mystery that really develops into something different through the game?

For example: in Tunic, there is a bit of a mystery, but it's not that big, and it doesn't develop that much. You can basically play the entire game, get all >!fairies!<, open the big door, etc, and even >!go outside the bounds of the game!< without really caring about the story. In Blue Prince, the story is a much more important part.

In The Witness there is a big mystery, but it's >!not really developed or resolved particularly!<.

In Chants of Sennaar it's one big puzzle and I guess there's a reveal when you go to >!the top of the tower!< but I dunno, I never felt like I had my mind blown.

In The Talos Principle there is a story that you uncover through documents on the terminals, and maybe it's the most developed of these examples, but it still doesn't really tick the box for me. Maybe because it seems so disconnected with the actual puzzles, which seem very "game-y". In Blue Prince you're trying to accomplish something in the same world as the story; in Talos Principle you're not, or may as well not be.

If I were to condense my desire down, it's a moment like when you enter the >!Safehouse!< for the first time. At that moment, you realise the world you're in and the story being told is not like the one you thought it was. You realise that your mother >!was alive!<, that the political intrigue you had vague notions of was >!significant and violent!<. At that moment, for me the scope increased tenfold. I didn't get that when in Tunic I realised that >!the patterns!< in the >!manual!< were >!codes to put together!<, even though that was really cool. I didn't get it in the witness with the environmental puzzles, even though that was neat.

So I'm at a place where several of my storylines seem to be wrapping up but there's still a ton of stuff I haven't even begun to crack. I've tried tiptoeing through walkthroughs to see how much I have left without spoiling anything and it seems like I've done a lot of stuff out of order, or rather progressed further on some pieces and not much on others. Here's a rundown of where I'm at, would love to get some sort of ballpark of how much I've got left or if I've missed any major things along the way.

Off the top of my head (obviously major spoilers ahead):

- reached 46

- 3 of 8 sanctums opened (the safe house, the reservoir and the music room), 2 solved (The sigil from the Secret Garden and the one from the rune book)

- chess puzzle solved, buff unlocked, Castle wall opened but I haven't done the Castle thing yet

- 6 trophies

- unlocked all outer areas, only one microchip, no idea where to find the others

- got to the exam but didn't ace it

- 3 safes/letters (Office, Boudoir and Shelter). I cannot for the life of me work out the others and I can't tell if I'm missing something or just an idiot. Tried every possible interpretation of "small gaits" for example, tried every date I've found on every safe to no avail.

- three lockboxes, all have been passports so far

- maybe 12 letters in the mailroom, all of them were hints for things I've long since worked out

- unlocked Lady Epsen's diary which took so much work and was so underwhelming ha ha

- Solved the Baron Baffler puzzle but have no idea what to do with the solution, is it related to the Castle puzzle? Was really hoping it was the password for the outdoor control center thing but no dice.

- All books purchased. New Clue is full of stuff that is clearly helpful but I haven't been able to parse any of it. The directions on the signs for example are clearly pointing to something but without being able to leave the estate I have no idea what to do with it.

- No idea where to find the machine in the wall the Gardener refers to in his journal, have tried running power to the outside rooms but nothing has come up yet, nothing I can knock down outside.

- Haven't lit the dynamite in the Trading post yet but I'm hoping that's an option

- Pretty sure I have all but one of the rooms unlockable from the drafting studio

- unlocked Planetarium but have no idea what it is besides the star buff

That's all I can think of at the moment. Hard to tell if I'm 80% through or 30%. Any thoughts? Don't need solutions just yet unless there's anything major I've skipped on accident.

Thanks in advance!

Ideally, I'm looking for book equivalent of Blue Prince. I don't even know if such a book exists. Puzzle books exist, but most of the ones I've encountered are filled with logic puzzles that don't have much connection to the plot. Contrast this with Blue Prince, where solving the puzzles and understanding the lore are two sides of the same coin. I'm also aware of books like House of Leaves, which are definitely cryptic and have mysteries, but they're more about horror than puzzles. The only book I've come across that's closest to Blue Prince is Maze, but of course Blue Prince is similar to Maze because the game drew heavy inspiration from the book. So, any suggestions?

Reviewing my ton of notes, I have some unanswered questions. I guess most answers are "none" or "we don't know", but if not the case, thanks for your replies :

- a/ LIBRARY : any meaning with the arrow on the floor ?

- b/ Book The Curse : meaning of "ajentor" ?

- c/ what's the interpretation of handcuff and shooting star in the t*** gallery painting ?

- d/ how possibly can the Orindia Aries castle be inside a giant natural cave (after all Orindian ruins are outside). That sounds totally stupid which itself sounds stupid given the game..

- e/ the Dovecote letter from Mary mentionning the SD : What's the deal with returning, from where ? (from the museum, really ? you have time to send pigeons after a holdup ?)

- f/ meaning of "RLCF" ?

- g/ in the labyrinth, why the three paths "that convene" use orange instead of yellow ? Yellow seems so much better given the theory of reuniting the 3 blood lines from Orindia..

- h/ how is the "merry/mary" image + "each seasonal greeting" any useful ? I see how the gaits/gates double meaning is useful for the safes but not the Mary one.

- i/ Safes : the 44 msg clearly states that "we ~count small ~gates". OK, so how does that apply to the boudoir / shelter / lock pad / study safes. They are dates ok but what are the small ~gates that we have to ~count in those 4 cases ?

- j/ any meaning with the following suspicious sentences from the "word from the editor" in Drafting Strategy's: "Grand Architect, Louza T. Reyland" , "the way I view the world and the spaces between it", "hidden in the floorplan of your youth"

- k/ what happens if we do the "natural order" of angels before the "chapel order" ? (i'm now too tired to try)

And the final list of things that occupied my brain for ages for nothing:

- the dad photo showing something quite important (i so much hoped it was the airplane 😂 )

- no use of the planet names / ordering / placement in the spiral

- still no way to use the 2 frozen servers to replace the 2 dead ones in the Grotto (we have to admit this is really vicious from the developer to create this situation)

- no use of the library video with the 2 people reading ?

Blue Prince is currently on sale 40% off on Steam so if you wanted to get it for friends and family…. I love this game so much.

“Blueprints”