20 Things You Need To Know Before You Play Blue Prince

Are you about to start delving into the mysteries surrounding Blue Prince? The game lets you play as a young boy who's seeking his inheritance, but the only way he can achieve that goal is if he manages to reach the fabled Room 46. It just so happens that the mansion that he finds himself in has rooms and items that reset each day, and there's no telling what the future holds. Moreover, there are countless puzzles and secrets to discover, so you definitely have your work cut out for you.

20 tips to know before you play Blue Prince - Beginner's guide

Blue Prince is a roguelike game, which means you restart your run at the end of each day--i.e. when you run out of steps. The good news is that you retain a few perks and bonuses. Perhaps most importantly, you retain knowledge--what you know and keep track of will be of use in the future.

Our Blue Prince beginner's guide has several tips for those who are just starting their journey. We discuss everything from drafting your floor plans and collecting items, to certain rooms that you'd want to encounter in your playthrough. At the very end, we talk about progression, such as acquiring permanent perks from the estate grounds and making your way to Room 46.

The main objective in Blue Prince is to reach the Antechamber and Room 46. However, if you look at the manor's layout, you'll see that the grid has nine rows and five columns, which means you can place up to 45 rooms in the house. Some of these rooms have connectors that allow you to place additional rooms, while others lead to dead ends.

That said, three room options are drawn when you interact with doors, and you can only pick one. Oh, and all these options are drawn randomly from a large selection pool. Most of the time, you don't really know what might appear.

Now, you might think that the best move is to rush all the way to the Antechamber--i.e. row 9, column 3--but this is actually a terrible idea. That's because rooms in the higher rows/ranks tend to have locked doors, or the rooms that you can place require gems. As such, it's actually better to plop down rooms in lower rows/ranks first so you can amass more resources.

You can draft over a hundred rooms in Blue Prince. All of these are recorded in the Room Directory, which can be accessed by opening the menu. This screen shows you the categories of rooms, their layouts/connectors, and unique effects. With this, you can plan your runs, all while hoping that these options do appear when you need them most.

Related guide: The best rooms to draft in each run

By default, you start each day with 50 steps. Once you run out of steps, the day automatically ends and you'll find yourself back at the Entrance Hall for another attempt. All rooms reset and all items you've collected disappear.

This is why you need to avoid too much backtracking (if possible) just so you can conserve the steps you have remaining. It's also a good idea to look for methods that add or replenish your steps, such as eating food or entering certain rooms. There are even permanent buffs, as well as those that apply the next day.

Related guide: How to gain more steps

One of the most important Blue Prince tips that you need to remember is that every room tends to have a note, document, photograph, painting, or interesting item/tidbit. These aren't just there for show. Some are actually crucial pieces of information that might be needed in puzzles or future discoveries.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with Blue Prince is that it doesn't have an in-game journal. The game doesn't automatically keep track of every document or letter that you've read in each room. As such, you actually need to keep track of the information yourself. You can either take screenshots--i.e. organizing them per room or theme--or jot down notes. The game advises you to keep a real notebook, in fact.

Think of it this way: Your overarching adventure in Blue Prince is one big puzzle. This adventure is broken down into broader puzzles where you roam around multiple locations, and smaller puzzles that exist within specific rooms that you visit. Basically, you need to solve a lot of brain teasers.

It just so happens that certain puzzles become tougher the more that you solve them--i.e. logic puzzles tend to have more cryptic statements and math puzzles have infinitely more confusing equations. Other puzzles, meanwhile, only need to be solved once.

Related guides:

• Parlor Puzzle
• Billiards/Darts Puzzle
• Laboratory Puzzle
• Gallery Puzzle
• Room 8 Puzzle
• Tomb/Chapel Puzzle

You rely on three common resources while exploring the mansion:

• Gems - Certain rooms that have special effects tend to have gem costs.
• Keys - Around row/rank 4 onward, you'll start seeing locked doors, which can be opened with keys.
• Gold - Gems, keys, and various tools can be purchased from shop rooms using gold.

Many of these resources, as well as various random items, can be found in dead-end rooms, such as:

• Storeroom - Contains a gem, key, and gold.
• Empty Closet - Contains two random items.
• Walk-In Closet - Contains four random items.
• Attic - Contains eight random items.

Drafting these rooms lets you acquire all sorts of items and resources during your run. But, because they're dead-end rooms, there are no other openings except the way you came in. Ideally, you should only build them at the edges of the grid or in sections that don't lead back to important areas. Don't plop them down near the middle, as you're better off placing hallways there.

By default, you can't make any changes to the drawn rooms from the draft pool. Then again, if you have Ivory Dice, you can redraw/reroll your options. You'll see three new options appear, allowing you to choose something else that might be beneficial.

Related guide: How to get Ivory Dice/redraws

Speaking of shops, the ones that you want to draft are the Commissary and the Locksmith. The Commissary has four items up for grabs, including gems and tools. The Locksmith, meanwhile, might let you purchase a Special Key, which can then turn into a unique key that unlocks rarer rooms.

Also, if you're looking around for various items, we recommend getting tools to help you find them:

• Shovel - Lets you dig dirt piles.
• Sledge Hammer - Breaks the locks of trunks/chests.
• Metal Detector - Emits a sound and lights up whenever you're near an item.

Related guide: Tools - Shovel and Sledge Hammer

If you have a Treasure Map and a Shovel, you can go hunting for buried loot somewhere in the manor. Take a look at the map and check which spot on the grid is marked with an X.

In some cases, it's a spot that already has a room. In other instances, you might need to draft a path to it. Either way, once you're in the correct room, simply dig at the correct spot to receive your just rewards.

Most of the time, you'll run around with basic tools and items. However, once you're able to draft a Workshop, you can also craft even more complex tools. That said, you do need to have the correct combination of items to come up with a unique result.

Related guide: All craftable items in the Workshop

If you drafted a Coat Check room, you can leave one item there for a future run. The next time you feel like using the item again, just pray that you can draft the Coat Check so you can grab your gear. There are a variety of instances when this is useful:

• You want to ensure that you have a Shovel or Sledge Hammer early on.
• You just crafted a Power Hammer or Burning Glass from the Workshop.
• You bought something expensive and you want it to reappear later for free.

When you have access to the Security room, you'll notice that you can interact with the Keycard System Settings. In most cases, you'd think that choosing a Low security level would be a good idea--i.e. it lessens the number of keycard-locked doors.

However, if you have a Keycard already, or if you disabled the the doors via the Utility Closet, then you should have no problems at all. As such, it's actually better to change to the following:

• Security Level: High
• Offline Mode: Unlocked

This setting makes it so that there are a lot of high-tech metal doors in the upper rows of the mansion. Assuming you've disabled the security system or you have a Keycard, then you can open these freely. You can just use your keys for other stuff, such as chests/trunks.

Related guide: How to get the computer terminal password

The way the Library works is that you can check out one book via the document on the desk. This book will then appear on your next run when you enter the Library again.

Why is this important? Well, let's put it this way: The books in the Library offer hints to various puzzles and secrets in the manor. These clues might not be apparent right from the get-go, which is why you need to keep track of the information in your own way.

You earn stars through various means, though the most common method is to draft and enter the Observatory each day. The reason why you should increase the number of stars is that higher amounts activate more constellations in the sky.

Barring one constellation that has a negative effect, all others offer useful boons that last throughout your run. These include extra keys, gems, steps, and even shop discounts. Perhaps the most useful is one that grants you a reroll/redraw function upon reaching 50 stars.

The Laundry Room has fairly situational use, but its functionality cannot be denied. Basically, it lets you swap between certain pairs of resources--i.e. steps, gems, gold, and keys--at a 1:1 rate.

Imagine this scenario: You have 1 gem and 40 gold, and you're not planning on buying anything from shops. You can use the Laundry Room to swap their amounts. You'd end up with a ton of gems, allowing you to draft more advanced rooms.

Another Blue Prince tip to remember concerns the Cloister. If you stumbled upon this room during your playthrough, you might see a small yard surrounding the statue, though it seems that there's no way to hop over the barrier.

Well, if you're facing the statue directly, simply check the two pillars to the left and right. There are two switches at the lower side of the two pillars. Your cursor will change to a different icon, allowing you to press the hidden buttons.

There are several ways you can unlock and upgrade more rooms. Here are just a few of these methods:

• The Drafting Studio lets you pick unique rooms that can be added to your drafting pool.
• The Gear Wrench allows you to tweak the rarity of gear-type rooms--i.e. Workshop, Security, Utility Closet, and others--that you draft while it's in your inventory.
• The Conservatory has a randomized selection pool of three rooms whose rarities can be toggled.
• Upgrade Disks scattered all over the mansion can be used on computer terminals. These grant permanent perks and bonuses for certain rooms.
• You can find several Floor Plans/Blueprints that unlock unique rooms, too.

Related guide: All Found Floorplan locations

As you venture forth into different rooms, you're bound to notice curious and odd objects, such as pairs of paintings. You'll probably think that there's a hidden meaning behind them. Well, yes, there is. We'll leave it for you to figure things out... just to be on the safe side. But, if you're really curious, you can read the guide below.

Related guide: Pairs of Paintings: What do they mean?

You're going to spend countless hours exploring the mansion. Still, a notable Blue Prince tip is to try and check the grounds surrounding the estate. Early on, you might see a campsite and a campfire. Beyond that, you'd notice a closed-off mine and a locked picket fence. In another area, there seems to be a collapsed tunnel. Near that, there's a platform with four pedestals.

While the manor itself is already filled with mysteries, the outdoor areas also have their own secrets that you need to discover.

Related guides:

• West Gate Path
• Apple Orchard
• Campsite (white trees)
• Gem Mine
• Blackbridge Grotto
• Satellite Dish
• Blue Flames

Remember when we said that your main goal in Blue Prince is to reach the Antechamber and Room 46. Well, yes, that's true, though you're going to stumble upon so many intricately woven and intriguing tidbits along the way.

Perhaps most surprisingly, achieving your objective isn't the end of your journey--and, no, it's not just because you're playing a roguelike game. You'll find out why soon enough. Good luck.

Related guides:

• Antechamber and Room 46
• Foundation elevator
• Secret Garden