Summary
My life has been dominated byBlue Princeever 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 Princeis a brilliant blend of puzzles and roguelike elements that is incredibly rewarding and nearly impossible to put down. While my near-dailyBlue Princesessions 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 onReturn 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 playedBlue Princeand yearned for a similar experience. After finishingReturn of the Obra Dinn, I have to recommend it to anyone else that has been obsessed withBlue Princeand is looking for something similar.
Return of the Obra Dinndoesn’t featureBlue 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
WhereasBlue Princefeatures a wide variety of puzzles,Return of the Obra Dinnis 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 inReturn of the Obra Dinn’s world and had a blast unraveling its mysteries. It wasn’t nearly as long asBlue Prince, but it was still a satisfying puzzle game that scratched the same itch. New fans of the genre that want something likeBlue Princeshould definitely consider checking it out. It’s challenging without being overly frustrating, tells a fascinating story, and is one of thebetter puzzle games on the market.
