Blue Prince Gives Animal Well a Run For Its Money in One Area

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Summary

  • Blue Prince is the highest-reviewed game of 2025 so far, praised for its absorbing experience and clever design.
  • Animal Well and Blue Prince offer multiple layers of secrets, puzzles, and optional content.
  • Blue Prince’s roguelike and random elements add further challenges for fans who want to solve everything, requiring patience and a hint of luck to solve.

Within a week of its launch, the game titled “Blue Prince” is receiving tremendous acclaim, standing as the most critically lauded title of 2025 so far. It boasts an impressive average critic score of 90 on OpenCritic and is being considered for Game of the Year. This debut production by Dogubomb, which took Tonda Ros eight years to meticulously refine as creator, director, and designer, has demonstrated that the effort was worthwhile. Despite being a more specialized and experimental “roguelike puzzler,” it has already attracted much praise for its immersive gameplay.

The current scenario bears a striking resemblance to that seen with Animal Well, an acclaimed Metroidvania game from last year, which was the debut title under Videogamedunkey’s Bigmode label. Much like Animal Well, this game created quite a stir upon release, pulling in countless players with its captivating yet eerie labyrinthine environment. Furthermore, both games are known for their intricate layers of hidden secrets and optional content to uncover. Interestingly, Blue Prince might even surpass Animal Well in this aspect, given its unique design and wealth of discoveries.

Animal Well” was additionally recognized with nominations for the categories of Best New Indie Game and Best Independent Game at the 2024 Game Awards. It currently holds a rating of 89 on OpenCritic.

How Blue Prince One-Ups Animal Well’s Treasure Trove of Secrets

Blue Prince and Animal Well’s Rabbit Hole of Hidden Layers

Both games start off with seemingly straightforward objectives: one is about escaping from a well, while the other involves reaching Room 46 in Mount Holly’s mansion. Initially, they provide a smooth entry into their gameplay mechanics, allowing players to explore and learn as they go. As the game progresses, it gradually introduces complexities and intricate combinations, preparing players with the necessary skills to tackle earlier blocked challenges and solve puzzles that were initially inaccessible.

The unique aspect of games like Blue Prince and Animal Well lies in the fact that, upon finishing a gameplay session and reaching what seems like the conclusion, it actually opens up a sequence of intricate stages and challenging riddles. While some of these challenges are technically optional, they provide additional layers to their narratives and environments, as well as alternative endings. These games encourage players to delve deeper into their worlds, uncovering and resolving more profound mysteries.

At the moment, you can find “Blue Prince” on both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and the Extra and Premium tiers of PlayStation Plus. On the other hand, “Animal Well” can be accessed through the Extra and Premium tiers only.

Blue Prince’s Design Presents a More Diabolical Challenge For Hardcore Completionists

Before the launch, lone developer Billy Basso expressed his belief that it could take years for gamers to discover, let alone solve, all of the intricately hidden puzzles in Animal Well. Players echoed this sentiment, yet a committed group of enthusiasts formed and began pooling their findings to crack the game’s cryptic codes. At times, they used sheer force, while other instances required piecing together all the subtly placed hints to arrive at the right answer. It remains uncertain whether every secret hidden in Animal Well has been found, but many have been, and much quicker than expected by its creator.

Blue Price shares a similar depth in its puzzles that extends beyond their initial stages, but unlike Animal Well, its roguelike aspects make traditional methods less effective due to its unpredictable elements. In both games, careful observation and attention to detail are essential for solving the clues. Unlike Animal Well, where once you have the answer, it’s just about following the precise steps, no matter how complex, to solve, Blue Price frequently challenges this approach by introducing unexpected obstacles.

In the game known as “Blue Prince“, incorporating an element of randomness significantly increases the complexity of solving certain problems. This is because, even if players have already figured out the solution, they might not gather all the necessary pieces for a specific puzzle during one attempt. This added layer of difficulty introduces patience and a touch of luck as essential elements to overcome. However, experiencing a flawless run where everything fits perfectly can be incredibly rewarding. Similarly to “Animal Well“, the abundance of hidden secrets in “Blue Prince” encourages players to explore further, and it’s likely that future games will strive to surpass its achievements in this regard.

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2025-04-17 14:04