I’ve Put Over 100 Hours in Blue Prince, And This 2018 Gem Scratched the Same Itch

Summary

Blue Prince is a rewarding puzzle game that will leave players wanting more.
Return of the Obra Dinn is a 2018 gem that can help fill the void for those looking for Blue Prince-style experiences.
Both games have earned widespread critical acclaim and are among the best in the puzzle genre.

My life has been dominated by Blue Prince ever since the game hit Xbox Game Pass back in April. I first became aware of the game when former PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida hyped it as a potential Game of the Year contender, and after playing it with my wife nearly every single day since its launch, I have to say I agree with that assessment. Blue Prince is a brilliant blend of puzzles and roguelike elements that is incredibly rewarding and nearly impossible to put down. While my near-daily Blue Prince sessions continue, the game isn’t taking up quite as much time as it used to. After 100+ hours, I have reached a point in the game where there aren’t as many goals to strive for, and so my wife and I have been looking for something to help fill the void.

We landed on Return of the Obra Dinn, a first-person puzzle game from 2018 that has always piqued my interest. Return of the Obra Dinn‘s high review scores, striking monochromatic art style, and unique premise have kept it on my radar, but I didn’t pull it out of the backlog until I played Blue Prince and yearned for a similar experience. After finishing Return of the Obra Dinn, I have to recommend it to anyone else that has been obsessed with Blue Prince and is looking for something similar.

Blue Prince Has 1 More Major Update on the Way

Fans of the critically-acclaimed puzzle game Blue Prince are in luck as there is one more major update in the works.

Return of the Obra Dinn doesn’t feature Blue Prince‘s roguelike or exploration elements, but what it does have is a challenging overarching logic puzzle to solve. The gist of the game is that the titular ship, the Obra Dinn, lost all of its crew and passengers on its last voyage under mysterious circumstances. Utilizing a magical pocketwatch, players walk around the ship to see how everyone died or disappeared. The goal of the game is to figure out everyone’s identity, their cause of death, and who killed them.

Return of the Obra Dinn is a Fantastic Puzzle Game

Whereas Blue Prince features a wide variety of puzzles, Return of the Obra Dinn is one giant logic puzzle. Players have to use clues from dialogue, the appearance of individuals, and what they were doing on the ship to figure out who’s who. Every time players figure out three individuals and their fates correctly, the game lets them know, narrowing the field of potential candidates for other guesses and revealing what players might have guessed wrong.

My wife and I spent a couple of nights utterly engrossed in Return of the Obra Dinn‘s world and had a blast unraveling its mysteries. It wasn’t nearly as long as Blue Prince, but it was still a satisfying puzzle game that scratched the same itch. New fans of the genre that want something like Blue Prince should definitely consider checking it out. It’s challenging without being overly frustrating, tells a fascinating story, and is one of the better puzzle games on the market.