My favorite game of 2025 wasn't even nominated for GOTY, but you should definitely play it

The Game Awards announced its 2025 Game of the Year nominations and my personal GOTY, a roguelike first-person puzzle game Blue Princehe was not nominated. The list of Game Awards 2025 nominees is particularly rich, and it's hard to argue that the six games that have been nominated for the main prize do not deserve it.

The six games nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2025 are Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Donkey Kong Banana, Hades 2, Hollow Knight: Silksongand Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Expedition 33 is a front-runner in the eyes of many, with the critically acclaimed turn-based RPG breaking the record for most nominations at a single Game Awards ceremony with 12. Blue Prince it wasn't nominated for game of the year at The Game Awards 2025, but I still think everyone should play it, even if they don't really consider themselves fans of puzzle games.

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Game Awards nominee withdraws from consideration

One nominee for the One Game Awards withdrew their game from consideration after finding that it did not meet the criteria for a nominated category.

Blue Prince is a puzzle game where players explore a vast estate with the ultimate goal of reaching the elusive room 46 using a limited number of steps. The catch is that the layout of the mansion changes every day and changes according to the rooms players choose. Some rooms are dead ends and some have negative effects that make it difficult to get to room 46, but others give players perks and useful items that make their journey a little easier. On average, most people “beat” Blue Prince in 15-20 hours or less, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Blue Prince is great because it can be a normal length game and leave you feeling satisfied, but has enough puzzles and mysteries that it can also be a massive 100 hour+ adventure. It became my second and is easily one of my most played games of the year. I was completely captivated by it Blue Prince and I recommend it to everyone I can.

Blue Prince has a higher critical score than some of the GOTY nominees

I am certainly not alone in my love Blue Prince. Blue Prince it received an overall score of 92 on the Metacritic review aggregate, making it the third highest-rated new game of the year discounting re-releases such as the Switch 2 versions. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Hades 2 and Expedition 33 are ahead of him with scores of 95 and 92, but Blue Prince is ahead DK Banana (91), Silksong (90) a Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (88). I personally scored Blue Prince a perfect 10. However, The Game Awards GOTY nominations aren't just a list of the year's highest-rated games, so it's still not entirely surprising that Blue Prince he was not nominated.

The Blue Prince was not nominated for Game of the Year, but is up for another award

Blue Prince it didn't get a GOTY nod, but is nominated for other awards at The Game Awards. Blue Prince was nominated for Best Indie Game and Best Debut Indie Game, though the problem is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also nominated in these categories. It is highly probable Expedition 33 you will exchange The Game Awards and Blue Prince won't win Best Indie Game or Best Indie Game Debut, but a nomination at all is still a testament to its quality. I personally think so too Blue Prince earned a nod for Best Art Direction.

Blue Prince won India Game of the Year at the 2025 Golden Joystick Awards.

You don't even need to buy Prince Blue to play it

At the time of writing and probably until April 2026 or maybe even later, you don't even have to buy Blue Prince play it all. The game usually retails for $29.99 and is worth every penny, but it's also easily available to play through an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PlayStation Plus Extra subscription. Blue Prince was a rare single game for both Game Pass and PS Plus at the time of its release earlier this year, and it's easily one of the best games to grace any subscription platform in 2025. If you're already signed up for one of these services, great, but if not, you can sign up for Game Pass Ultimate for $29.99 and try both Blue Prince and GOTY nominated Clair Obscur: Expedition 33while PS Plus Extra also has its fair share of heavy hitters available.

Blue Prince isn't a co-op game, but you should still play it with a friend

Blue Prince is a single player game, but I think playing it as a “co-op” game improves the experience dramatically. The way my wife and I played it, we took turns running, and whoever it wasn't was on laptop duty. We filled an entire notebook full of clues, ideas, and reminders as we played, and it was immensely satisfying whenever we achieved an “Ah-ha!” a shared moment. Playing Blue Prince with a partner means sharing the burden of figuring out the game's tricky puzzles and having someone with whom to strategically come up with a plan to beat the game. Alternating also alleviates the frustration of a bad run because you don't run the risk of two bad runs back to back.

The Game Awards 2025 will take place on Thursday, December 11.