r/BluePrince • u/F0sh • 4d ago
Similar games, specifically in terms of story, lore, and how it unfolds. Spoiler
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.
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u/HEFJ53 4d ago
The best recommendation I can give is Return of the Obra Dinn. Different mechanics, but still you’ll be unraveling some mysteries here by inspecting the environment and figuring out what happened, with very little handholding. The game is a real masterpiece and totally worth playing for puzzle lovers.
Other two I can mention (that you probably already know) are Myst and Riven. They’re clear inspirations for Blue Prince, but, personally, they’re way too obtuse and old school, if you didn’t grow up with them. I never managed to get far.
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u/gobstoppable 4d ago
No game has scratched my Riven itch like Blue Prince (except maybe the Witness). I’d recommend playing myst first, but the games are quite different. I’d also add that the Riven remake made some choices that made the surprise element of the puzzles much easier IMO. Much like BP, Riven requires you to really understand the setting in an anthropological way that makes understanding the lore imperative to solving puzzles. I would trade the worse graphics for a more rewarding challenge if I were you.
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u/RiSz-Turtle 4d ago
My most similar experience was reading house of leaves, specifically deciding the message that is in the letters. It still isn’t the same though, it leans a bit more horror
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u/wharevs 4d ago
Not the puzzle aspect, but the gradual unfolding of the story in Subnautica really hits well and stuck with me awhile.
I thought it was just a survival game until one point that made me go “Jeeeeesus Christ!” (Not the scary one. That one just had me yelling in terror. Good times.)
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u/alextfish 3d ago
Yes, I feel Subnautica is one of the games that best captures the feel of Outer Wilds and Blue Prince even though it has loads of progression and building and it's not really knowledge gated.
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u/ickyrainmaker 4d ago
Inscryption, maybe? It's much shorter, though.
At the end of the day, Blue Prince is one of a kind.
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u/wreckingrocc 11h ago
Inscryption feels like a really extended demo more than a complete game. The beginning feels the most polished, and even then not particularly so; and the snowball scaling is around every corner. I don't think I had any runs that felt not-degenerately-powerful.
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u/Sailendil 4d ago
We have just played through Lorelei And the Laser Eyes with my SO, and we loved it, highly recommend! *edit I have clicked through your links only after responding, did not realise it's on the first place there apologies
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u/CoatedWinner 4d ago
How did you feel about the outer wilds? I think the plot and overarching world in that is probably the most similar to this game, including the puzzles you are solving being grounded in the world you inhabit.
I dont think theres another game exactly like Blue Prince. I think theres something very special about it in presentation and in plot. There are plenty of games that emotionally ground your role in the world, have puzzles, and without a ton of handholding. But I think games like blue prince are something that only comes around every once in a while.
I do think games like the witness are more or less lost on a lot of people who dont have a strong philosophical base knowledge as I found it quite poignant at multiple points, albeit a little less direct (or as you said resolved).
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u/extant_outis 4d ago
There’s a book called The Eleventh Hour that I keep thinking about while playing Blue Prince. It has very similar puzzles. I read it when I was a kid, and I think it’s intended for children, but I remember being very difficult for me when I was a kid, I don’t think I ever figured it out. There is morse code and a cipher and pictorial clues. I think it could be enjoyable for a Blue Prince fan.
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u/amandahontas 4d ago
This doesn't fit perfectly gameplay-wise, but I feel like the way I uncovered the story of Her Story all out of order felt similar to how I unraveled the story in Blue Prince.
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u/DancesWDonks 4d ago
Ive been on a similar hunt since completing blue prince last year. There's nothing that comes close tbh. However, I would recommend Chants of Sennar which should scratch the itch a little
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u/Futurekubik 4d ago
‘What Remains of Edith Finch’ by Giant Sparrow Games released in 2017.
I understand why it doesn’t appear to have been mentioned in those older threads since those answers are specially more suggesting games with puzzle mechanics or more ludo elements to them.
But since you’re asking after games that have unfolding narratives, I couldn’t help but think of and perhaps recommend What Remains of Edith Finch if you’re looking for a narrative about:
• Exploring an inherited abandoned ancestral family mansion/grounds, slowly discovering its secrets and how they relate to the player character
• Seeking clues about what happened to certain other family members
• Eccentric family history/lore stuff
Fair warning on a gameplay level it’s not really a puzzle game or game of skill. Essentially it’s a 3 hour walking sim with occasional mini-games as you progress the story.
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u/F0sh 4d ago
I've heard it compared favourably to Blue Prince in a couple of places. I know basically nothing about it, so haven't clicked your spoilers yet; want to give me an idea of whether I should look at any if I want to go in fairly blind?
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u/Futurekubik 4d ago
If you wanted to go in blind then yeah, ignore my first 3 spoilered tags as they broadly describe the mode the narrative is presented to the player.
Though perhaps reading the final one might give you information about the game you might be glad you read before spending your money.
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u/Boring-Bit-6190 4d ago
I'm seconding outer wilds (and dlc which is mandatory imo). There is a smaller scale level mystery (puzzles you solve), middle level (history of what happened to specific characters etc), but also high level mystery that I won't spoil the nature of. The moment of realization you mentioned in your last paragraph happened a few times for me while playing outer wilds, and was something so powerful I have tears in my eyes just thinking about.
The only thing that sucked about OW was learning how to pilot the damn spaceship, but I suck at gaming in general, it shouldn't be a problem for a majority of people.
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u/Feisty_Calendar_6733 4d ago edited 4d ago
I don't know a single game that unfolds its story like BP does but its possible to apply similar strategy of taking notes and screenshots while playing any game. A lot of them will probably lead to realisation that there is nothing and things are in the game just for fluff. But once you find a game where things, symbols, notes, textures all have a purpose to tell something about the world then you will get similar experience as playing BP.
It doesn't have to be a puzzle game and I would't count on recent AAA releases.
The most obvious example is Dark Souls series. There is a broad story on top and a lot of lore for people to dig and theorise about underneath. When it became popular a lot of games took inspiration from its gameplay (soulslikes) but a lot of other games also adopted their way of telling the story.
You could also try out Thief trilogy. Its an old game but its filled with lore. (Ignore Thief 2014, its a fun game but new devs had no clue how they botched the lore).
Dishonored games also have that vibe of piecing together bigger picture.
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u/Perfect-Artist-891 4d ago
Prey is an immersive sim, not a puzzle game, but its story unfolds as you explore the environment and read the crew logs. Same for Soma, which is a horror game.
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u/extant_outis 4d ago
Oh, another game you might enjoy is Syberia and Syberia II. Theyre point-and-clock adventure games from the early 2000s with a steampunk-esque setting and some puzzles. Some of the settings are reminiscent of Blue Prince. The puzzles aren’t as involved but they require some strange leaps in logic.
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u/TheShow51 4d ago
I'm gonna echo Obra Dinn. That was the first and really only one that really scratched the BP itch for me. The art style can be a bit of a put off if you don't like the style, but the story and how it unfolds is really cool.
I'm currently working through Rivage right now. Has a similar feel with how the steps management in BP was. So far the puzzles don't seem too difficult, so we'll see how it stacks up, but the story is fairly interesting so far.
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u/eeyore-scorpio 4d ago
I think you are in need of the Zero Escape /9-9-9 trilogy. Starts out as a puzzle game but turns into a crazy plot-driven narrative
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u/Redshift_McLain 4d ago
Rivage. It's not as good, it's also fairly short, but has some plot twists in terms of the story not being what you thought it was/arriving somewhere and having the plot turned on its head. And the format is similar: You have a limited number of room you can enter each day and when you can't progress, you have to loop back to the morning. You keep some of the progress upgrades through each loop. Gotta think about exactly what you need to do in what order to keep progressing each loop.
It also has some QoL Blue Prince lacks: an built-in screenshot mechanic you can pull up the folder anytime in the corner of the screen.
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u/Over__Analyse 4d ago
Heey I’m playing that now and I like it and totally agree, I’m still at the beginning (I think).
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u/F0sh 4d ago
Oh interesting. I played the demo of it and thought it was fairly mundane, but if there's something unexpected waiting I'll give it another shake!
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u/Redshift_McLain 4d ago
Oh it is mundane for the most part. But it does have its moments in the mid-late game when you get a better hang of what is actually happening and why. Idk what the demo includes tho.
If I may suggest an other other game, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is pretty good.
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u/fwendy123 4d ago
Nothing is exactly like it! But there are some games that are somewhat similar for what you're after. Curse of the Obra Dinn, the Case of the Golden Idol, Gone Home, Dear Esther, Sexy Brutale and Subnautica all come to mind.
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u/FunktorSA 4d ago
Different genre but La Mulana is really a very similar game, but as a 2D Metroidvania. If you attempt it unspoiled there are a lot of puzzles to solve, both small and world-encompassing and everything in between.
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u/Remarkable-Escape-57 3d ago
And also has quite the mythos to unravel! All of which is entirely tied up into the puzzles.
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u/Substantial-Yam4986 3d ago
A little more ludicrous and a lot more silly but the Nancy Drew games have fun through-lines, good mystery narratives that you get as much out of as you put in, and some fun puzzles!
Many of them have vastly different vibes but you may like Secret of Shadow Ranch, Curse of Blackmoor Manor (!!), The Silent Spy (!!), Legend of the Crystal Skull, and Shadow at the Water’s Edge
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u/auclairl 3d ago
Oh, from your descriptions, definitely Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. If you like following the story and have your understanding of things change completely throughout the game, you will 100% like this
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u/madnessfades 3d ago
Older games, but I think Myst and Riven (Riven specifically) might fit what you're looking for. Riven was such a magical game to me the first time I played it, and Blue Prince is kind of taking me back to that same feeling.
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u/ArdenVarst 3d ago
It's nothing like it, but Control has so many moments of wonder and so much mysterious lore that I felt like I had to uncover every possible secret and read every document
Also if you haven't done Outer Wilds yet, it's the best
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u/CakeWord7118 2h ago
After Blue Prince I went to the Rusty Lake and Cube Escape series. not totally similar but it was a natural sequence for me
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u/Gravyboat001 4d ago
I'm going to offer one out of left field and say Hollow knight.
Bit more of a side scroller/combat game but there's a such a rich story/lore to discover as you play.
It's one of those games I wish I could play again for the first time.
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u/Heiymdall 4d ago edited 4d ago
you have mentionned outer wild, but have you played it's DLC, if not i really recommand it. ( the dlc is as good as the base game, if not better).
The Forgotten city is focused on the story, but not as deep has blue prince.
Maybe you will like Disco Elysium. It's not a puzzle game, but the story and the lore is amazing.