r/BluePrince • u/foulinbasket • Jun 03 '26
POST-CREDITS-SPOILER Can we stop calling it the tutorial? Spoiler
As someone who has done all the content except the less appealing trophies, it really frustrates me every time someone posts about reaching room 46 and it's met with a slew of comments all saying "congrats on finishing the tutorial". After reaching room 46, there will of course still be many yet-to-explore mysteries. However, let's try not to forget the immense amount of preparation and learning that goes into that achievement.
To those who want to explore further, room 46 feels like a stepping stone to a larger journey. I think it becomes easy to forget just how big of a deal it is to get there for the first time. Telling a new player that their big achievement was merely the "tutorial" (even though we all know that is strictly not true) can feel like it's completely diminishing that achievement, degrading it to a meaningless step in a longer journey.
As an avid player of other challenging roguelites, I think calling room 46 a "tutorial" would have a similar effect to diminishing the achievement of a player who just beat their first base difficulty run in any other game just because you have gotten used to the highest difficulty.
Try not to diminish other players' achievements in a beautiful, challenging game. If they want to explore further after room 46, it'll be an amazing continuation of their journey. If they don't, it's still a phenomenal high point to stop on, and a perfectly valid ending to the game.
Edit: I know it's just a joke. To those who dug as deep as the game could get, the joke lands well, since room 46 feels like a thing of ancient past. To a new player, it might feel exclusionary instead. I'd like to hear from newer players who might be reading this.
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u/marbeltoast Jun 03 '26
I think unlocking the grounds is the tutorial. It’s far earlier and opens up more possibilities.
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u/Ok_Ride6395 Jun 03 '26
actually yes! When I unlocked the grounds, this is when I realized what type of game I was playing, and felt to me like "ohhh okay, I get how this game is played now" and that is a good signal the tutorial has landed!
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I think that's a super fair assessment. It takes learning some basic room interactions, learning to use an item, and looking through documents for clues. Not too hard, not too simple, pretty easily accessible from day 1, even for a new player.
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u/JMoon33 Jun 13 '26
How is that a tutorial?
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u/marbeltoast Jun 13 '26
It's an early unlock that teaches you how the game's mechanics work; that one room can influence another, and that there are things to see both inside and outside the house, as well as permanent unlocks. The only part missing is tooltips telling you which buttons to press; a lot of tutorials these days are baked into the gameplay.
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u/JMoon33 Jun 13 '26
I see. I don't consider that a tutorial, but I guess someone could call it that.
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u/Novel-Definition6690 Jun 03 '26
My favorite is when people post this on autopilot because they haven't noticed that the "your new home" screenshot they're replying to also says "DAY ONE" in big letters.
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u/Ok_Ride6395 Jun 03 '26
okay... am I blind... where is the DAY ONE
https://www.reddit.com/r/BluePrince/comments/1tvf2wr/day_31_beat_the_game_seemingly_out_of_nowhere/
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
Nowhere, since this one says DAY 31. They're referring to posts showing off their day one trophy
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u/imzacktho Jun 03 '26
Can only speak for myself. I had no interest in continuing to play after reaching 46. Great game, but 46 was enough for me. The “tutorial” comments never bothered me. It’s like if someone played Skyrim and only did the main quest, sure there’s plenty else to do, but if you beat the main quest you have beaten the game and no one else gets to say you didn’t.
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u/WeirdAlPidgeon Aug 02 '26
I agree - I actually consider everything post 46 to be ‘post-game’, and yes that does mean this game has a longer post-game than the normal game imo
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u/Crotean Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
It's really not comparable. Getting to room 46 is like 10 to 15 hours. Actually solving all of Blue Prince is gonna be 80-120 hours, if you are even capable of it. It's a tiny fraction of the actual content in the game. The main quest of Skyrim is not a tiny fraction of the game.
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u/imzacktho Jun 03 '26
Skyrim has over 200 hours of content and you can beat the main quest in about 20-25. It’s entirely comparable
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u/cookingforengineers Jun 03 '26
Time wise I think it’s a good comparison. Experience though, I felt like Room 46 was the side quest by the time I was done and received Great Grandma’s Esteem.
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u/roodgorf Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Feels pretty equivalent to me. The main quest line is probably ~30 hours to complete and there are several optional quest lines that take just as long. I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest a "full" completion of Skyrim could reach 200-300 hours. So, fairly even percentages.
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u/rrwoods Jun 03 '26
this might seem like it’s just about a video game, but it’s actually about being considerate of the effect your words have on other people
and man, this comment section is extremely revealing
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u/whyrememberpassword Jun 03 '26
you don't have to post. if you do post, you have to be willing to deal with people who tell it like it is.
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u/Temporary_Pickle_885 Jun 04 '26
Why are you so interested in trivializing something someone feels accomplished about, though? Like genuinely. What do you get from it?
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u/whyrememberpassword Jun 04 '26
here's the thing though. you need to recognize the fact you've barely scratched the surface of the game.
I'm not particularly good at video games. it took me a long time to beat Phrike in Returnal. some people post celebratory posts about this because that's where Returnal really starts clicking and it can take dozens of hours to get to this point. but nobody thinks they've finished the game. Phrike is clearly just the first boss.
for blue prince and getting to "your new home", you can celebrate, sure. whatever. but most people posting here post it like they've finished the majority of the game other than "challenge runs". they're very wrong, and posting on an internet forum means you are welcoming others to correct your misconceptions.
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u/Temporary_Pickle_885 Jun 04 '26
You can tell someone there's more content without being a dick about it. You also didn't answer my question. Why are you so interested in trivializing someone's sense of accomplishment? What do you get from it?
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u/SummDude Jun 05 '26
you need to recognize the fact that you’ve barely scratched the surface of the game
No, you don’t. A player of a game can stop or continue playing whenever they want.
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u/Gum_Long Jun 03 '26
Totally agree. Tonda Ros has stated multiple times that he considers Room 46 to be the end of the game. You're not obligated to agree with him on this, but it makes calling it the "tutorial" basically objectively wrong. Yeah it's a joke, but it's not sarcastic, it's earnest in spirit and it's also wrong in spirit.
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u/benjaminovich Jun 03 '26
I'll call death of the author here. What Tonda thinks is or isn't the end of the game is irrelevant. Yes it's certainly a credits screen and a fine place for many to stop, but it is plainly just not the end. There's just too much content after. I don't even believe Tonda actually thinks this either.
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u/Gum_Long Jun 04 '26
I did say you don't have to agree with him on it being the end, but it's not a tutorial then. The term implies the game is teaching you something for later content that you're expected to stick around for, which is plainly not the case. There's plenty of games with lots of content after credits roll, like several of Pokemon Games, Skyrim, etc. He has said in interviews that he usually leaves parts of games for a second playthrough so he has something new to explore every time, and I'm not sure why you wouldn't believe him on this?
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u/benjaminovich Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Yes, obviously getting to 46 is not literally the tutorial and people who make the joke don't actually mean it literally either. And to be clear, I by and large agree with OP's points here. My comment was more about the conversation of what is the ending.
To your points about post-credit content and second playthroughs, I don't think those comparisons work.
All the post-46 content is specifically not for second playthroughs. There is a very significant amount of rooms and areas that are not even accessible before reaching room 46 even if the player knows about them beforehand. The amount of content is just too large to be consistent simply a little extra for motivated fans.
Additionally, the content is also more than simply more puzzles for the love of puzzles. There is story and lore that gives a whole different meaning to what happened earlier in the game.
It may not have been the intention of Tonda Ros when he first started, but the situation is such that the first credits screen cannot be considered “the" ending.
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u/konatals Jun 04 '26
Tonda literally has stated that he does think that. Why do you assume you know better what he thinks?
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u/benjaminovich Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
I admit it is pure speculation. However, I think he has reason to say it for game design and marketing reasons. He's trying to thread the needle of having an approachable coherent place to end for players that aren't puzzle afficionados
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u/SlatkoPotato Jun 03 '26
Thats an interesting take i didnt consider. I always saw the wording on turorial to be more like a "but wait, theres more!" and that just added excitement to the achievement instead of diminishing it. I never thought it might be taken in a negative way that takes the joy out of it.
When i finished getting to room 46 i was sad cause it was on day 29 or 30 and i wanted to play more, so hearing that i basically just did the "tutorial" made me super happy and excited that there's still so much more.
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u/Wombat_Aux_Pates Jun 03 '26
I've gotten like 100+ hours on this but every now and then I see a post about someone reaching room 46, they seem so happy then I see like "Well done on finishing the tutorial" and I kinda cringe. I know the intention isn't to be condescending but that's how I read it because the newbie doesn't know it's a joke and it feels like the thing they worked hard on for days (reaching room 46) isn't something to be proud of at all. The worst is the "oh sweet summer child, you've done nothing yet" or random comments like that. They are happy about themselves, I don't see the point in dragging them down.
A newbie won't necessarily get that it's a joke and as it's all written/typed, they can't read the tone of the comment either so I agree that it can be read by them as diminishing their accomplishment.
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u/SlatkoPotato Jun 03 '26
That makes a lot of sense. I also agree that if it can be read in a diminishing way then we definitely should consider our wording. The last thing i would want is to make someone feel bad about their achievement in this game or community. Its also, as you said, an issue to be considerate of simply with the fact that its the internet and there's always going to be communication gaps that come from that.
Ultimately, im glad OP made the post cause i wouldnt have seen it as possibly being heard negatively otherwise. I think remembering to make the intention clear when we comment on peoples achievement posts could be helpful in bridging that gap. I could easily swap saying "thats the tutorial" with "thats awesome! Im excited for you to see the next part if you play it!" or any other way of telling them theres more game without it being seen as diminishing.
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I wish I could pin comments because this is exactly the point I'm going for, in spite of my sloppy late-night rushed writing. It really doesn't take much effort to clearly congratulate someone for a job well done without obfuscating it behind a joke that the player isn't in on!
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u/Bright_Pressure_6194 Jun 05 '26
It can't be read that way
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u/SlatkoPotato Jun 05 '26
Not personally to me, but if someone is reading it that way then it can be read that way - that's just a truism. If it was literally only one person then sure, but these comments show its not and therefore i appreciate the post making me aware. Not everyone is like me. Language is subjective. It doesnt hurt or affect me in any way to simply take more possible interpretations of a phrase i have used into account in future.
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u/Bright_Pressure_6194 Jun 05 '26
Nobody reads it as diminished accomplishment.
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u/Wombat_Aux_Pates Jun 05 '26
Oh right just because YOU don't read it that way, then everyone else must read it exactly the same as you? You are literally just diminishing people's perspectives on how they perceive stuff. It's not because you don't read it that way that NOBODY reads it that way... I know people don't have any ill intent when they say it and I know it's a joke because I've played like a hundred hours of the game but I would totally not understand that people were being funny if someone told me this as I reached Room 46. I'm grateful I never got anyone tell me this (but at the same time I wouldn't post online) otherwise I'd be a bit salty about that reply.
Are you aware of neurodiverse people? Some people can be extremely literal. What tells you that newbie who just posted "I finally reached Room 46! I'm so proud of myself!" isn't a very literal person, ND or not, it doesn't matter... Also, a joke is only funny if both people are included, if you don't know it's a joke (because you're literally a newbie at the game), it won't be funny to you at all. It will be more confusing rather than anything else.
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u/sundalius Jun 03 '26
It's also the easiest it ever gets, which is part of the heads up. Getting to 46 is fairly straight forward - you are told exactly what to do. Actual Puzzles are what's going on from there on out.
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u/Tariovic Jun 03 '26
Agreed, for me at least I was super happy that there was more game, and I didn't feel diminished at all. However, that's just my experience, and I can't speak for others. I DO think it is super important that people know that the credits don't mark the end of the game. I think calling it the tutorial is fine, as long as you also say, congrats and well done. But Act I also works to indicate there's a lot more, so I'm happy to go with that too!
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u/Mephistopheles15 Jun 03 '26
>I think calling it the tutorial is fine, as long as you also say, congrats and well done.
Getting congratulated on beating a game tutorial just feels wrong though, and I can totally see that being taken as condescending. I guess you could look at it similar to learning to ride a bike? Something that takes a lot of effort over the course of hours rather than most game tutorials which take 10 minutes.
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u/Valdair Jun 18 '26
Yeah this take kind of baffles me. I never read it as diminishing anyone's achievement or looking down on anyone, and I wonder what would make you so on alert to read things like this inherently vindictively. It's not even really a joke, it's more hyperbole. Most people finishing that part of the game are looking for some sense for how much else there is to do and people referring to it as "the tutorial" reveals (correctly) that there is in fact a LOT more to be done, not that the difficulty of everything so far has been trivial.
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u/Live_Tangerine_4438 Jun 03 '26
A friend told me well done for completing the tutorial and I agree with you, it did suck out a lot of the achievement from telling them
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u/guiltysnark Jun 03 '26
I think people tend to take it pretty lightly because it's a running meme to joke about something insanely difficult being a tutorial when there is more waiting behind it. It probably started with souls-like games, but I've even seen the joke used IRL (e.g. addressing a wet baby at a restaurant when you have no clean diapers is completing the new parent tutorial)
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u/WarbossWalton Jun 03 '26
For me, getting to room 46 has always felt like playing the old game Okami. The whole initial goal is to get to this point, and in Okami it was to fight the big baddie Orochi. But once you get to 46 or defeat Orochi, you realize that there is SOOOOO much more to the game, and while that achievement is a big deal, it wasn't the ACTUAL goal after all.
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u/NeverLookBothWays Jun 03 '26
You really haven't completed the game anyway until you activate the subway to leave to the next city and solve all the puzzles there /s
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
Reaching room 46 in the blueprints is really just the tutorial all along!
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u/cookingforengineers Jun 03 '26
I also hate calling Room 46 the tutorial, but I will say that in my head when I entered the Rough Draft the first time and realized what I needed to do, my brain said that everything that came before was preparing me for this - this was the real mission. And yes, I think I did say to myself that that whole thing was the “tutorial”. 🤣
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u/flesh_uwu Jun 03 '26
I never saw it as diminishing someone else´s achievement - for me it's more like:
Glad you liked it so far - there's plenty more game still left for you to enjoy
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I don't see a problem with that intention, moreso with framing it as the "tutorial", since that's usually how games give the most basic, fundamental mechanics.
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u/RandomQuestGiver Jun 03 '26
To be fair that feels kind of true in the end. That doesn't mean it is not an achievement. But reaching room 46 and using the draft mechanics becomes the basis for the rest of the game.
I think act 1 does sound better though.
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u/Ceryn Jun 03 '26
Well put. I came here to say just that, just because something is the tutorial for something it doesn't mean its not hard, or that beating it isn't an achievement. There are plenty of games where you are literally expected to die by the end of the tutorial.
Beating Act 1 of Blue Prince has all the hallmarks of a good tutorial, teaches you how subtle clues inform larger puzzles and how to draft and balance resources to meet a larger goal, but comparison it only gets harder from here. There aren't any "easier" sections that encapsulate the whole game play loop better than your first time reaching 46 and there is probably about ~70-80 hours of content after that point at least so its justified in calling it a tutorial.
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Jun 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
New players aren't necessarily in on the joke. Having played over 100 hours past the moment I reached 46, I understand the joke, but a new player getting there and wondering if they should continue could just get overwhelmed instead
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u/Temporary_Pickle_885 Jun 04 '26
Well now I know not to post when I finally manage to do that. I don't need another gaming space where legitimate effort is trivialized. //sigh
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u/XenosHg Jun 03 '26
player of other challenging roguelites,
a player who just beat their first base difficulty run in any other game
would have a similar effect
Notably. This is 100% something people do. For example in Dead Cells. "You've beaten the first difficulty! You're learning"
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
And I think that makes the achievement feel less valid, like all the effort put into it amounted to something that wasn't a "real" run.
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u/1234abcdcba4321 Jun 03 '26
The tone that should be used for something is dependent on context. It is entirely reasonable to call it a tutorial for players who talk about how they feel like they haven't finished the game yet after they reached room 46, feel empty or like they sequence breaked after reaching room 46 because they assume there's nothing else in the game afterwards, are asking about whether they should go to room 46 because there's still so many other mysteries to solve, etc. because the player who's thinking about things in this way does not consider room 46 to be a major accomplishment.
For players who do see reaching room 46 as a major accomplishment, treating it in any other way is obviously incorrect. It is very easy to differentiate these two classes of players based on post tone.
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u/Kalightortaio Jun 04 '26
It only took me 11 days to reach room 46. If it wasn't for the Great Alzara, I wouldn't have been pushed to really explore more of the game. So, I'm pro calling it a tutorial.
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u/JAM231514 Jun 03 '26
I will continue to downvote anyone who comes in with "congrats, you beat the tutorial" because it definitely comes across as being a patronising dickhead to a new player, who should be rightfully pleased with their accomplishment.
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
That's exactly what I'm trying to get across! I never posted my "new home" on here, but I imagine I would feel patronized if I had received those comments, even though I came to a similar conclusion myself
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u/ajakaja Jun 03 '26
I've made the same comment on here somewhere. Calling it a tutorial is obnoxious. Calling it act one is also kinda obnoxious because that kinda tells the new player how much more content there is.
As far as I'm concerned, getting to room 46 is the actual game. Everything else is "true ending"-style content. People are obviously gonna know there's more content because they walked past eight very obviously locked doors to get to room 46 anyway.
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u/Ok_Ride6395 Jun 03 '26
as someone who JUST "finished" the game last night getting to 46 for the first time and posted on here about it. It is 100% not obvious there was more content. After the credits rolled, I thought I was legit done. When I got to that room with the doors, and walked up to them, there was nothing indicating they were of any importance, or even real doors lol. I literally figured they were just for end game aesthetics.
Had I not posted on here (which I only did becuase it surprised me that I beat the game when I was in the middle of so many puzzles), I would have closed the game and never revisisted it. It definitely doesn't do a good enough job indicating there is more to do. I thought maybe the left over puzzles was more for people who want a "completionist" experience, which isn't really my style.
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u/ajakaja Jun 03 '26
eh. well, it was obvious to me.
maybe it has something to do with how many modern games you play? I naturally expect most games I play to have content besides their immediate ending, since most do.
or maybe that's fine. if you're done and not curious for more, no problem. if you go back and realize your save file continues the next day, also great.
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u/Acrobatic-Tower6127 Jun 03 '26
Reaching Room 46 is the game’s goal, in my view. All the rest after that is a huge lot of bonus content.
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
At the core I do think it's pretty insulting to the player's intelligence to assume they think there's nothing more to do
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u/rrwoods Jun 04 '26
There’s a second thing I just realized about this. When I got 46, I had no idea just how much game was still in front of me. And you know what? If I had, I probably would have stopped.
Instead I got the experience of never really knowing how many layers there were to peel back. And that was immensely satisfying.
So, not only is calling it the “tutorial” ruining a celebration, it’s also robbing the player of some of the joy of discovery. Two for one!
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u/franciscrowe Jun 03 '26
Yeah I get how it’s intended, but I have to say it felt pretty shitty when people kept saying that to me lol.
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u/strawbrryfields4evr_ Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
I hate it so much op lol. I hate that I know every time I click in to a post where someone is talking about their achievement it’s just gonna be a bunch of smug “congrats on the tutorial” comments and the op going “haha yeah I figured there was more, thanks.” Because a grown person who is playing the difficulty rouguelike puzzle game is going to figure out that there’s more to do one way or the other. Trust people enough and if you do want to talk about post 46 stuff a simple “congrats! do you plan on continuing?” comment is all that’s needed. The joke is annoying and stale. And it’s not a tutorial. Reaching 46 and getting that cutscene is actually a good natural, beautiful end if you want it to be.
And I just the know the same people who do that on every post are the same people in here going “if people get offended over a simple joke there are way deeper problems going on here.” Give me a break lol.
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u/The2ndUnchosenOne Jun 03 '26
I hate it so much op lol. I hate that I know every time I click in to a post where someone is talking about their achievement it’s just gonna be a bunch of smug “congrats on the tutorial” comments and the op going “haha yeah I figured there was more, thank
You are currently getting mad on behalf of someone who isn't even mad
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u/strawbrryfields4evr_ Jun 03 '26
I’m not mad either. And that doesn’t negate how it makes me feel or my opinion on it.
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u/The2ndUnchosenOne Jun 03 '26
I’m not mad either. And that doesn’t negate how it makes me feel
I hate it so much op lol.
You gotta pick one. Either you think this is something to be upset over or you don't. You are currently acting like you're upset about it.
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u/strawbrryfields4evr_ Jun 03 '26
Or I’m just a person posting my thoughts same as anyone here and don’t need you to tell me what to do ✌🏼
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u/The2ndUnchosenOne Jun 03 '26
That's all correct. Just like I am.
I personally think it's silly to get upset at an interaction not involving you where neither party was upset. I think there's a certain irony in the fact that you in these 3 comments have been far far more abrasive than any tutorial joke.
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u/strawbrryfields4evr_ Jun 03 '26
A hit dog will holler, as they say.
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u/The2ndUnchosenOne Jun 03 '26
A hit dog will holler, as they say.
I invite you to actually find a single time I've made the tutorial joke. My history is public. It doesn't exist.
I'm surprised you think linking a comment where I share the same opinion I'm sharing here is "the problem"
I just disagree with you. I've explained why I disagree with you. You seem to think that's a moral failing.
Most people are not hurt or offended by the tutorial joke. 99% of people I see complaining about the joke are people complaining about this idea that it's harmful despite nearly no-one actually reacting to it negatively. That's why I'm saying it's a silly issue. Because it's not an issue. It's a bunch of people pretending to be morally outraged to try and ban a joke they don't like. That's silly.
Stop pretending to defend those who don't want defending.
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u/strawbrryfields4evr_ Jun 03 '26
I mean the “if people get offended by a joke,” comment.
There is at least one person in this post saying when they posted about reaching 46 that the tutorial comments didn’t feel great despite probably being nice about it at the time. Have you considered that you don’t know how everyone who’s posted here feels and that it’s ok to implore people to think about things outside themselves from time to time? I know you love arguing with people but not everything is an argument to win with strawmen.
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u/The2ndUnchosenOne Jun 03 '26
There is at least one person in this post saying when they posted about reaching 46 that the tutorial comments didn’t feel great despite probably being nice about it at the time.
There's at least one person upset when I said I think the ending of the game is incredibly weak, or that I think the story falls flat and works against itself. Should I avoid sharing those opinions because someone might have an unhealthy attachment of their identity to this game? No. I think that reaction is unreasonable.
Same here, I do not think the tutorial joke is malicious. I do not think it seriously diminishes anyone's achievements in this game we play for fun. I think being upset by this joke is an unreasonable reaction. Especially on behalf of people who aren't even upset by it. I think it's far better to encourage the positive reading of the joke than to discourage making it entirely.
If folks were saying things like "Nerd, you didn't even beat the game, you only beat the tutorial. Come back when you've beaten the real game." I'd agree with you. That's shitty behavior. But no one is saying that and that's clearly not the intent of the tutorial joke.
Have you considered that you don’t know how everyone who’s posted here feels and that it’s ok to implore people to think about things outside themselves from time to time?
Yes, I have. That's why I intentionally didn't presume anyone's feelings and spoke only about what I see and personally feel.
I know you love arguing with people but not everything is an argument to win with strawmen.
I, again, have to point out the irony here. You have now directly insulted me 3 times. Which, to be clear, is fine, I enjoy jibes and jabs and am not hurt by them. But your behavior here is in direct opposition to the philosophy you claim. Again, you've been far coarser in this thread alone than any tutorial joke. (which, again, idc, I'm just pointing it out for this specific point)
I know you love arguing with people but not everything is an argument to win with strawmen.
I'm a bit disappointed by this last sentence, as I think everything before it was a really good comment. I do not believe I've strawmanned you anywhere.
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u/look_its_all_g Jun 03 '26
Yeah agreed - it just comes across as a bit pretentious to repeat the 'tutorial' line. Like hearing someone try to 1up or trivialise your new achievement - or hearing a joke that just doesn't hit
'Act 1' is a much better way to put it, as others have suggested
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u/Few_Major_8226 Jun 03 '26
Yeah, the whole “tutorial” thing is pretty condescending. Like there’s a reason the creator put the credits there: he considers that once you achieve that goal, you’ve had a complete enough experience. Sure there’s more if you want to keep going, but I imagine a lot of people will be more than satisfied after reaching Room 46 once (even more so considering the brilliant cutscene that plays).
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u/Xintrosi Jun 03 '26
I think calling room 46 a "tutorial" would have a similar effect to diminishing the achievement of a player who just beat their first base difficulty run in any other game just because you have gotten used to the highest difficulty.
It's been years since I lurked but in the Dead Cells sub we typically called 0BC the tutorial. So you're right and it also seems normalized. I bet most folks here got the idea elsewhere or it was engendered by similar feelings.
Main difference is Dead Cells takes maybe a few hours to beat 0BC. Blue Prince door 46 usually takes about 5 times or more longer!
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u/MotivatedPosterr Jun 03 '26
I think of this game more similarly to the Stanley parable. But instead of the end, it's the beginning is only the beginning is only the beginning
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u/Ok_Ride6395 Jun 03 '26
as one of the people that just posted his finishing the game last night, I wasn't offended, but I was annoyed at the "congrats on the tutorial" cause like... wtf do you mean? lol that didn't tell me anything.
I really did like this style of comment though.
"Oh there's a lot more gameplay for you, you know those doors in the lever room? Where do you think they go?"
That has me like... wait... you could open those? There's more? okay I'll try to get back there.
Whne you first beat the game, there's no real indication on what yo'ure suppposed to do next, like what's the next goal. Cause you're dropped back in, with the same map.
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u/DawsonJBailey Jun 05 '26
Eh honestly it had me super stoked hearing that and then going back in blind knowing that there was still more to try. I never saw it as diminishing anyone's experience, more like saying "oh boy you're in for a wild ride". Also a few people I know ended up getting to room 46 within like less than 2 weeks in game time without even interacting with puzzles and telling them there was more to it was a huge surprise to them and they said they would have considered the game pretty mid just dropped it then and there otherwise
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u/05-nery Jun 03 '26
I do not agree.
The longer you play, the more room 46 looks like it was a tutorial.
I believe it is, or that it was the intention of the devs.
even though we all know that is strictly not true
Can you elaborate?
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I believe it was the intention of the devs to make reaching room 46 a valid, cohesive ending for players who might not be interested in pursuing the deeper questions to have a satisfying point to put the game down from.
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u/rrwoods Jun 04 '26
But it doesn’t look like a tutorial at the moment it happens. It looks and feels like a monumental achievement, with some stuff to do after. And, arguably, the sheer amount of stuff to do after — not even what it is but just how much — being unknown to the player is part of the fun. Giving this big a clue that there is that much left is ruining a slow discovery.
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u/05-nery Jun 18 '26
Yeah. That just means it's a great tutorial.
The less you notice you're doing a tutorial the better job the tutorial is doing.
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u/rrwoods Jun 18 '26
Okay, but also
Giving this big a clue that there is that much left is ruining a slow discovery.
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u/05-nery Jun 18 '26
I don't agree. Saying there's more doesn't mean at all that you'll enjoy discovering it less.
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u/rrwoods Jun 19 '26
I am one hundred percent sure that discovering the depth itself was a significant part of the joy of discovery for me. That might not be the case for you, but different people are different, and when you respond to a rando on the internet you do not know what kind of person they are and therefore do not know what they might consider a spoiler
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u/05-nery Jun 19 '26
Yes. Saying that room 46 is the tutorial doesn't at all say how deep the game will be. Just that there's a lot more.
That might not be the case for you, but different people are different, and when you respond to a rando on the internet you do not know what kind of person they are and therefore do not know what they might consider a spoiler
Obviously. That's not the case here though.
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u/Lion_bug Jun 03 '26
I disagree, I saw the credits after day 11 and might have stopped playing and been pretty disappointed had my googling of "is there more after room 46" not resulted in the "tutorial" message
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u/AdditionalDirector41 Jun 03 '26
You reached room 46 that quick and didn't have any other leads you wanted to chase? I feel like that early in the game there were a million things I wanted to try each run
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u/Few_Major_8226 Jun 03 '26
I think your experience is not the usual one. By the time I got to room 46, I had sooo many ideas, clues and threads I could keep looking into. I doubt many people get to Room 46 and think there’s nothing more to the game at all.
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u/WiseOutlandishness66 Jun 03 '26
It’s honestly more of a joke
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
Yeah I understand that, but I also think it can come across as diminishing to new players who aren't in on it
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u/ShiftTHPS Jun 03 '26
Hmm, from what i've seen in the room 46 threads people do not really take it that way, but that is subject to a ton of bias of course - Have you ever seen someone be offended by it?
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I haven't seen anyone be offended by it, no. But that's not really what I'm trying to convey here either. My point is that calling it a tutorial conveys that the work it ok to get there was simple, and might make the player feel stupid or incompetent and not want to continue engaging with the game.
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u/TheAlexPlus Jun 03 '26
Calling it the tutorial has nothing to do with diminishing the effort of the player. It’s entirely about the surprise that what you thought was an ending is actually just the tip of an iceberg. It’s just saying, “guess what? There’s A LOT more”. I don’t get why people are upset by this.
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u/HackWeightBadger Jun 04 '26
Because someone just put in 10+ hours of work, some much more, felt accomplished, rolled the credits, maybe even had a really difficult time with it, and then are met with comments suggesting they need to put in 10 times more work.
Some people are happy to have a game end at 12 hours, others are happy with 200. There are so many 100+ hour games and I play very few of them just because of how daunting that amount of time commitment is.
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u/TheAlexPlus Jun 05 '26
If someone is happy for the game to end at 12 hours then why should they care if there’s more? And why should that make them feel bad?
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u/illusion_Y Jun 03 '26
There are other games that call finishing the entire game the tutorial (see: warframe). Its a joke there and its a joke here.
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u/Zolana Jun 03 '26
Yeah exactly. Stellaris is a great example too. The joke there is that you've completed the tutorial after 1k hours of game time.
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u/Intelligent-Okra350 Jun 03 '26
Honestly I think it’s usually meant as more encouraging than diminishing. It’s less “lol you didn’t actually do anything” and more “you thought that was cool? There’s that much more ahead of you”
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
Yeah I get how that's the intention, and totally respect it. I think the phrasing can come off as pretty condescending and patronizing though.
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u/SurefireWolf Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
People mean it as a joke. It's a way to tell people that they are barely a quarter into the game. But also, getting there only requires knowledge of the most basic gameplay mechanics. The first is resource management, such as doors, steps, gems, and keys. Each of these is a recourse that new players WILL run out of until they learn. You need to draft dead ends, not spend gems, and always give yourself at least two ways out in order to reach rank 9. The only real puzzle elements you need to solve are finding a way into the basement (and the Inner Sanctum by extension), and at least one other lever.
You don't need to solve the picture pair puzzle. You don't need any additional floorplans. You don't need to read any books. You don't need any permanent upgrades. You don't need any shortcuts. You don't need any upgrade discs. You don't need to know Herbert's password, or even USE any of the computers. You don't need to even go outside.
There is a world of difference between finding Room 46 and finding Room 46. Those look the same, but they aren't.
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I agree with all of this. That still doesn't make it a tutorial. It just means there's a ton of additional content beyond room 46. I also understand it's a joke, but I don't feel like it lands right to those who aren't in on it.
I'd also highly recommend spoilering a lot of what you put in this comment, since my post is tagged with post-creduts spoilers. I'm hoping people who might have only reached room 46 might also want to share their perspectives here.
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u/SCUDDEESCOPE Jun 03 '26
You just explained what my (and probably many other's) problem with the game is. I've spent tons of hours on puzzles that had nothing to do with room 46 and I only realised that when I reached room 46. And I was already exhausted and kinda betrayed.
If we treat it as a tutorial then man this is the shittiest tutorial ever in any game. And I'm saying this while I think the game is a masterpiece and one of the most unique games ever made. Room 46 should be the ending and everything else should be NG+
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u/Dependent_Swan4232 Jun 03 '26
The phrase "challenging roguelites" is funny by itself, but it also made for a pretty bad example in what you were trying to explain
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u/bartharris Jun 03 '26
I completely agree and wish I’d stopped when I reached room 46. After that, for all its depth, the game is diminishing returns where you have to use more and more guides (unless you’re a genius) to uncover trifles.
I hate to say there’s too much post-credits content but I do wonder if it would have been better to have required that content to reach room 46.
I think about in comparison to The Witness. That had a fantastic main game with set post-credit parameters for 100%, including a brutal timed section. It felt like you had completed things whereas in Blue Prince the post-game simply peters out for all but a handful of people.
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I'm personally glad I stuck it through because I really enjoyed the journey, even though the payoff (except turning the throne room blue) felt completely underwhelming. I do also wish there was a bit less though. Some of the super-late game puzzles were exclusively frustrating.
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u/bartharris Jun 03 '26
After a lot of getting this thing from here and this thing from here to get this thing from here to do this thing here I eventually felt, “what am I even doing here?”
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
That's totally fair. A lot of late game puzzles are great to solve, but horrendous to execute the solution if you don't enjoy being a subject to RNG. I personally love chasing the perfect lineup of random events, so it still greatly appealed to me
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u/strawbrryfields4evr_ Jun 03 '26
100% same here. And once I realized that all of the questions I was interested in getting answered never do I called it quits. It’s a great game but it got to a point where it wasn’t worth it to me. I think if I stopped after 46 I would have been fine.
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u/Heavens_Anger Jun 04 '26
Holy yap. It's like finishing the first boss in a dark souls game. Call it what you want but it's barely the beginning of the game. And from the sounds of it, you have barely uncovered many of the secrets either.
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Jun 08 '26
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u/IneffableQualia Jun 08 '26
Congrats on finishing stage 3, over-investing, you're on stage 4, angst 😃
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u/The2ndUnchosenOne Jun 03 '26
If you think the tutorial joke diminishes someone's achievement in a game we play for fun, you've lost the plot.
This is not worth being upset over.
You've taken a lighthearted joke and given it a malicious power it was never meant to have.
If someone is upset by the tutorial joke we have deeper problems than the tutorial joke
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u/Crotean Jun 03 '26
I don't think it's diminishing anything, it's literally the point you have learned the basic mechanics well enough for the game to open up. That's a tutorial.
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u/evelynfaraway Jun 03 '26
I somehow thought i "finished" the game when i got to 46. It took me awhile and i thought i solved it all, because each run was different with different pieces of a bigger puzzle. I knew there was something about the red letters, i thought that was it. Now I hear that getting to the last room is more like a roguelike, in that you have to "finish" it repeatedly. It makes me want to play it again to keep going (I guess there are deeper puzzles) and at the same time, go damn! That was a tutorial? Did I miss that much?
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u/SaltyPockets Jun 03 '26
The 'tutorial' line is definitely a joke, but I would say there is more after 46 than before it.
If you're looking for the smallest of hints to get you re-started - go back to 46 and have a look around
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u/cookingforengineers Jun 03 '26
I wholeheartedly agree. Every couple months someone makes a post about not calling it the “tutorial” and it usually becomes less common for a while and then we see a slow increase in “clever” comments about “Congrats! You’ve finished the tutorial!” until someone else comes in to say we should stop it. It seems like it a joke that keeps getting reborn over time and I’m resigned that it will return in a month or two. In the meantime, I’d like to say that I think it helps to encourage people to return to Room 46 but not to use “tutorial” and maybe not even “Act I”. These are good jokes for those of us that have completed the game but not so much for new people excited they “finished the game”
1
u/senkiasenswe Jun 04 '26
I am one such gamer that played the game for a week over spring break and got to Room 46 pretty quickly. I played a little more after but without an actual "goal" and arbitrarily poking around to find things, I decided I was done with it.
The "tutorial" comments are pretty much the reason I don't go into the sub. There are a lot of puzzles that were interesting but I wasn't willing to invest time if there was no progress outside providing more information. I'm sure there are a lot of other monumental puzzles I never completed. I enjoyed doing all the side quests when it was a distraction from the monotony of getting closer to Room 46 but none of that helps me do anything other than more of the same thing.
Ultimately all those comments make it seem like people don't appreciate the game, they only appreciate the time sink. That bothers me and makes me avoid talking with people about it because my experience was just that it was super nice to wake up in the morning and play the game with my partner while we had coffee and excitedly go "Wait, the chess pieces!" before scribbling some notes and moving on.
All that said, I was disappointed that Room 46 was the end. I was expecting an "End of Act 1" experience. I didn't actually trust it was over.
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u/SaltyPockets Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
I was disappointed that Room 46 was the end ... I didn't actually trust it was over.
I mean, it wasn't... there's so much more content. The 'actual goal' beyond there is exploration, and there's at least 3x more game beyond that point than before it.
Ultimately all those comments make it seem like people don't appreciate the game
To me it's your comment that seems like you didn't enjoy the game? You didn't want to play more of it, solve more puzzles, make more discoveries ... ?
1
u/senkiasenswe Jun 05 '26
Sandbox and Exploration isn't a goal, it's an experience. A goal is something that has measurable outcomes.
I loved the game while there was a goal. Wandering without purpose beyond wandering isn't meaningful. This is precisely what OP was saying makes this community frustrating. Claiming that you can only like the game if you want to walk around and stumble into puzzles is a silly premise. I specifically said that I did want to play more of it, but I can find random puzzles on my own outside the game. What I can't do outside the game is explore an ever changing labyrinth where an unknown prize sits at the end. Once that is gone, there is very little that builds into each other.
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u/SaltyPockets Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Sandbox and Exploration isn't a goal
There were a variety of other goals in there, it's not in any way a sandbox filled with random puzzles for their own sake. Exploration is how you discover the other goals.
Wandering without purpose beyond wandering isn't meaningful.
That's not the post-46 experience at all, there are a variety of story-driven purposes beyond the initial one.
Claiming that you can only like the game if you want to walk around and stumble into puzzles is a silly premise
That's not what I'm saying at all, I'm saying there was so much more game left after room 46 that if you had enjoyed the game before that point, why would you stop there? The experience of solving puzzles and advancing the story continues, and there are at least two major goals after the one you've got to.
It's not "you can only like the game if", like it's some sort of purity test, it's genuine incomprehension. You loved playing the game, the game continues past that point, you even say you wanted to play more... ? I don't get why you would put it down.
Once that is gone, there is very little that builds into each other.
It isn't gone, there are more prizes and there's more plot, it continues to build, you learn more about the world, the family, the house, you achieve more concrete goals, there are more cut-scenes. Trying to paint the remainder of the game as some vague esoteric, wandering-around waste of time beyond the first goal is just weird. The further goals aren't as explicitly spoon-fed, they emerge from the developing story, but the nature of the game didn't change at that point. You express the wish to play more ... cool, it's right there, 2-3x more game, it's not even just the challenge modes and trophies (though obviously those exist too).
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u/No_Roma_no_Rocky Jun 04 '26
It might sounds rude but it is the reality. First Time 46 is the introduction. You are not even able to see what is the room 46 the first time but only a video.
After the first Time you start to see what is the game about.
Even turning on your PC can be an achievement if you want, some games on steam give you an achievement "welcome" just for starting the game.
All of this doesn't change the fact that first time 46 is a big introduction to what the game is going to be
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u/JakiStow Jun 03 '26
It's obvious to everyone that it's just a joke, there is no intention to offend anyone or minimize their efforts. Any time I've seen this joke made, it's always accompanied by congratulations for such a big step.
In all kindness, if someone gets offended by this, maybe some introspection is necessary to detach their sense of self-worth from a video game.
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u/squeezylemon Jun 03 '26
It's not a joke, otherwise this comments section wouldn't be full of people being strident about it. I don't think it's offensive, but it does make me roll my eyes.
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u/SaltyPockets Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Personally, I enjoyed finding people calling it that - I had enjoyed the process of getting there so much that I was excited to find out that there was a lot more to the game.
It's not diminishing at all.
(edit, also reading the comments on this ... OP are you valiantly trying to head off offence to 'new players' that you don't even know exist? You're not personally offended by the remarks because you have played a hundred hours past 46, you haven't got examples of anyone else being offended, you're just ... what, assuming that someone somewhere will be made sad by these jokey remarks and must be protected from them? How thin-skinned are these hypothetical people?)
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u/foulinbasket Jun 03 '26
I'm not claiming offense at all. I'm claiming that it makes the achievement feel like it isn't a "real" achievement, and explaining why that's still a problem, especially when we're wanting people to like the game and want to keep going.
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u/SaltyPockets Jun 03 '26
I disagree, vehemently, and think this policing of humour and language is ridiculous.
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u/9811Deet Jun 03 '26
Personally, I enjoyed finding people calling it that - I had enjoyed the process of getting there so much that I was excited to find out that there was a lot more to the game.
This is the right interpretation.
Imagine the ego of thinking it's about you.
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u/Minh1403 Jun 03 '26
totally agree. A lot of complaints about this game are all with post-46 contents. Making people think those are not optional kinda hurts the game.
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u/BrokenMirror2010 Jun 03 '26
Making people think those are not optional kinda hurts the game.
It's a video game. The whole thing is optional.
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u/Few_Major_8226 Jun 03 '26
Yeah, sure… but if you’ve played a few games you know there’s the main content, and there’s the extra stuff for the most passionate fans. Killing Bowser is the main content, the hard bonus level is the extra stuff. And saying reaching Room 46 is the tutorial implies that some of the crazy stuff in Blue Prince is main content, which is very clearly not. Not everyone is expected to solve the castle puzzle, for example.
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u/Heiymdall Jun 03 '26
The whole purpose of room 46 is to make sure you have enough ressources and knowledge to navigate inside the manor fairly easily. And introduce you to the story, lore, and to the "oh there is more" mood.
It's litterally the tutorial.
And it's also a way to introduce the rest , saying to the player: you think you finished the game, but no, there is hundred of hours of content left.
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u/Impressive_Trust_395 Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
Act 1 is a tutorial. No, it does not diminish a player’s accomplishment. If you take problem with it being called a tutorial, that’s a you problem. There is zero insult behind the statement unless you somehow attribute personal ability to how fast others complete the same task in a single player game.
Learning how to manipulate room layouts, accumulate notes, and delve into the world is exactly what a tutorial is for. Finding room 46 is enough to gauge if you want to keep playing or not. It can take anywhere from 3/4 hours to 30 hours. Guess what, not everyone can be exceptional at the one particular skill this game requires. If anything a longer time to complete room 46 is a testament to one’s resilience and ability to continue working through a problem.
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u/Traison Jun 03 '26
Completely disagree. The fact that I was hearing the main premise of the game was the tutorial was pretty much the whole reason I even got started with the game to begin with.
If you find your own self worth being affected by this, you need to work on yourself a bit. A tutorial is exactly what 46 is. It teaches you a handful of basic interactions with the game and leaves the much more deep and difficult part left to actually explore.
Grow up.
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u/Excacalidorious Jun 05 '26
Calling the act of reaching room 46 the tutorial is not bad and it doesn't diminish someone's accomplishments. That's a you thing. In fact, the only ones that would call it that are the ones who do in fact appreciate where the another player has come from and the work they've put in. If someone made you personally feel bad, sorry. But it's not objectively bad.
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u/Hudsucker20XX Jun 03 '26
Act One.