'I Am Looking Forward to Finally Moving On' — Indie Dev Tonda Ros Is Still in His Blue Prince Era

Tonda Ros, the creator of Blue Prince, is nearing the extremity of a triumphant year. His crippled released to captious acclaim and, much recently, accolades. It won Best Indie Game astatine the Golden Joystick Awards and was nominated for Game of the Year and Best Storytelling. And it’s been nominated for Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game astatine The Game Awards 2025. A caller collaboration with iam8bit has resulted successful Blue Prince merch — a imagination for immoderate tiny indie title. And Ros is connected the cusp of finishing and releasing the last update to Blue Prince, which volition see a colour assistance mode, power remapping, the long-awaited minigame Dirigiblocks, and (my idiosyncratic favourite change) the summation of a feline to Mount Holly.

I spoke to Ros past month, aft the Golden Joystick nominations had taken spot but earlier The Game Awards database was out. Like galore of my colleagues, my encephalon had been eaten live by Blue Prince earlier this twelvemonth erstwhile I played it up of launch. I’ve ruined a perfectly bully diary scribbling attempted puzzle solutions and chaotic conspiracy theories astir what’s happening successful Mount Holly, and however I mightiness peel it isolated similar an ovum to get astatine immoderate was inside. I was thrilled beyond measurement astatine Blue Prince’s fantastic triumph thigh of a last puzzle, but besides driven perfectly bonkers by the information that neither it nor immoderate different puzzle successful the crippled sufficiently answers each azygous past question Blue Prince asks. Like Lady Clara, I was near for months wondering, Does It Never End?

Tonda Ros inactive won’t archer maine whether it does oregon not. For me, it has — I’ve enactment down Blue Prince blessed with my experience. For Ros personally, Blue Prince has not yet ended. But it will, eventually. He has galore more, precise antithetic adventures up of him.

Here’s the transcript of our afloat interview, precise lightly edited for magnitude and clarity. Though we don’t spoil immoderate of Blue Prince outright, we bash motion to immoderate of the late-game themes passim our conversation, truthful proceed astatine your ain risk:

IGN: I loved your game. Thank you for eating distant implicit 100 hours of my beingness earlier this year.

Tonda Ros: I'll accidental thanks. And I apologize too. I knew specifically for property that it would beryllium like... there's truthful galore games to cover, right? So it's ever scary to springiness idiosyncratic a precise large repast due to the fact that you are taking distant immoderate attraction inadvertently from others, which benignant of... I don't know. That's a weird happening to effort to wrapper your caput around.

IGN: It's the occupation of the universe, right? I mean, there's excessively overmuch art. There's excessively galore things. There's excessively galore books I privation to read, excessively galore games I privation to play.

Ros: I know. It's similar prime 2 mediums, and the remainder you're going to person to beryllium contented with casually enjoying and appreciating it. But to really, truly admit a medium, there's excessively overmuch contented to truly descend your teeth in. So I deliberation you person to prime astatine slightest 2 astatine a clip and possibly passim your life, you tin person your publication epoch and past your crippled era. But yeah, it's thing I conflict with too.

IGN: I wanted to inquire you what you were up to now. This happening took 8 years of your life, and it's retired present and you don't request to perpetually beryllium patching things oregon whatever. What epoch are you in? What are you doing?

Ros: I mean, honestly, it's inactive the Blue Prince era. I was ever told there's a twelvemonth of upkeep, adjacent if you're afloat done astatine the clip of launch. And I was like, "Okay." I had been told that by capable radical that I appreciated that that was true, adjacent though I didn't truly understand. But it is decidedly consuming everything. I conjecture I attraction astir each azygous small detail, which is I privation I could conscionable fto go. Iam8bit is releasing immoderate chill products based connected Blue Prince. So overmuch of my clip is conscionable spent hyper-fixating connected the details of the replica of the cardinal and worldly to effort to marque definite it's right. So a full clump of worldly similar that.

And past we conscionable did the Mac port, truthful that was taking a batch of my time. I'm successful determination playtesting that nonstop to effort to marque definite that that is arsenic close to the acquisition arsenic it perchance tin be. And likewise arsenic we're moving connected assorted updates arsenic they go. So I mean honestly, adjacent though Blue Prince is out, I'm inactive afloat focused connected that, and that's not adjacent counting the last Blue Prince update, which has been tied up successful each these different things that person consumed me, we'll say. I'm astir apt inactive different twelvemonth retired from being onto my adjacent era, but I americium looking guardant to yet moving on.

IGN: It feels similar there's thing weirdly poetic present astir a crippled that is astatine slightest successful portion astir this obsession and not rather being capable to enactment the enigma down. We're each trying to determine if each the secrets person been found, and you person not been capable to enactment down the crippled either for antithetic reasons.

Ros: No, I was surviving it. I deliberation my acquisition making it is it beauteous overmuch echoes the player's travel due to the fact that successful the opening the task was precise grockable. I could fathom the scope of it precise easy and past passim the full project, the intricate web of systems and interconnected things conscionable spiraled retired of control. And I deliberation adjacent the end, I was arsenic mislaid arsenic anyone was, and I was like, "I deliberation astatine immoderate constituent I conscionable person to merchandise this due to the fact that this is starting to get distant from me."

I often gag that the location has a caput of its own. So adjacent if I'm trying to instrumentality caller features oregon hole immoderate quirks of the house, the location conscionable won't fto me. And astatine a definite point, I was conscionable like, "I'm conscionable going to person to respect what Mt. Holly is." And if she won't fto maine bash something, I'm conscionable going to beryllium like, "Okay, that's the mode you privation to be, I'm conscionable going to fto you beryllium arsenic an entity unto yourself." And I deliberation that was it getting retired of- it's spiraling retired of power is conscionable maine saying, "This volition astir apt conscionable devour the remainder of my beingness if I don't arbitrarily halt this astatine immoderate point."

IGN: What bash you marque of the absorption to it? I mean it's evidently been precise positive, but I consciousness similar Blue Prince has taken disconnected successful a mode that games of this genre don't usually get to see.

Ros: Yeah, yeah. Super crazy. I would emotion to effort to fig out- If I could abstracted myself from my ain work, it's like, what acceptable of circumstances has led to this? Because I deliberation a batch of things successful life, it's similar the close place, the close time, the close appetite. There was a bully model determination wherever they conscionable wanted to get into thing similar this that they hadn't. And that's not to accidental determination weren't games similar this, but they conscionable for immoderate crushed hadn't travel crossed their sheet before. So I deliberation for a batch of radical it was adjacent much of a caller acquisition than it should person been. If possibly they had been playing a batch of the games successful the genre, you could place that this isn't ace crazy. Maybe meshed together, it was beauteous original. But yeah, I had ever considered it beauteous niche. In playtesting, I had a beauteous bully consciousness of the benignant of radical that would similar it. And I besides knew that not each puzzle fans volition similar it due to the fact that the strategy and precise hard committee crippled aspect, it's not a crippled that's casual astatine all. And truthful I thought that that would astir apt further bounds the audience. So yeah, to spot the reception and to spot it stroke up has conscionable been... I conscionable consciousness truly lucky.

IGN: I deliberation the 1 disapproval I spot travel up implicit and implicit are the radical who are truly into the puzzles but who conscionable bristle against the rogue-like elements oregon the randomness of them, particularly erstwhile you cognize the reply to a puzzle, and you conscionable request that circumstantial country and you conscionable can't get it. What bash you marque of that?

Ros: I knew that was coming, and that's wherefore I'm amazed the crippled was arsenic fashionable arsenic it was fixed that, due to the fact that I had seen that successful play testing. And I knew that determination was immoderate radical that they conscionable person to person much control, and it's hard for them to fto spell a small spot of the power and beryllium successful a system. But I conscionable wanted to marque a crippled the mode I similar it. And I similar erstwhile I'm successful a system, adjacent if it's a hostile system, portion of the amusive is figuring retired a mode to tame the beast and to navigate astir those challenges. And it is precise committee game-coded successful that way. And a batch of times successful committee games you're going to beryllium successful situations wherever you're going to person to enactment with the cards that you bash gully to effort to make a strategy. And that's amusive with a batch of my favourite types of committee games, is you person to usage these things to make a strategy connected your own.

So there's a level of subordinate input and creativity, which I conscionable perfectly love, but I don't deliberation that's for everyone and surely a batch of radical from the puzzle community. I deliberation puzzle games successful wide person historically been linear experiences, and truthful a large departure similar this is going to ruffle immoderate accepted feathers for sure.

IGN: There were immoderate discussions of player-antagonistic plan this twelvemonth astir Blue Prince and immoderate different games too, astir what is the enjoyment and joyousness you get retired of playing thing that it feels similar it's perpetually warring you successful immoderate way.

Ros: Yeah. I deliberation that's thing that's mostly been ironed retired of a batch of games. I mean, I deliberation if you astatine slightest spell backmost to the '80s and '90s, things were a batch more, let's say, little creaseless and less- much friction and much failure. Certainly successful the crippled implicit era, conscionable getting crippled overs and restarting was conscionable a halfway component. And a batch of things were Ghosts 'n Goblins. We're conscionable going to replay this, we're going to replay this. We're conscionable going to get amended and amended with our skill. And evidently I deliberation arsenic radical optimized subordinate journey, I deliberation the accent started being astir polishing and making the subordinate travel a batch little turbulent. And that's surely not the types of games I like. I similar to get challenged some mechanically but besides challenged successful presumption of my ain taste. Maybe if I'm utilized to playing a definite benignant of game, I'm wholly good with idiosyncratic subverting genre norms oregon method things to effort thing caller adjacent if it fails. I deliberation it's chill to spot idiosyncratic effort thing that's not the default line.

IGN: I consciousness similar I cognize the reply to this already, but I got to ask. So to your knowledge, person players recovered everything? Is determination thing left? Does it ne'er end?

Ros: I don't deliberation I'm ever going to reply that.

IGN: Yeah. I had to try.

Ros: I deliberation radical are suspicious that I americium reluctant to reply that. All I tin accidental is that it's designed for a azygous subordinate to beryllium capable to acquisition everything successful the game.

IGN: I consciousness similar if you've gotten heavy capable into Blue Prince, it's beauteous casual to recognize wherefore you don't privation to reply that question.

Ros: Yep, yep. And it's astir apt conscionable my property type. I consciousness similar I astir apt wouldn't privation to reply that question for thing I marque due to the fact that answering that question definitively volition adjacent a spot of the magic disconnected successful immoderate ways, I think. I deliberation that arsenic agelong arsenic there's a accidental that there's much to discover, past determination volition beryllium the anticipation of players oregon let's accidental the exploration. It's similar successful the frontier. When there's unexplored territory, past adventurers tin inactive dream. Even if they ne'er spell to those territories, there's inactive the imaginativeness of what exists successful the woods that person ne'er been explored. And past with Google Maps and stuff, and present the onshore masses are each explored. Some of that magic and imaginativeness is astatine slightest curbed.

IGN: This is possibly immoderate of the aforesaid question. But would you ever see adding much to Blue Prince? I mean, you said this is going to beryllium the last update that you're moving on. Is that conscionable wholly against the tone of it?

Ros: Yeah, I mean, I don't cognize the tone of it, but for me, I bash emotion implicit games. And I bash emotion erstwhile thing is definitively done. So I had tried my champion to get everything into the crippled astatine motorboat due to the fact that that was thing I conscionable truly wanted. I didn't privation to eternally beryllium updating this. Well, each I tin accidental is that determination is simply a definitive magnitude of worldly successful the crippled that is planned, and immoderate of it had to get sacrificed successful bid to summation stableness and to enactment connected immoderate of the functioning systems to person a smoother acquisition for everyone.

There were a mates cinematics and cutscenes that were successful the process of being created, but I was conscionable like, "If I absorption connected these, I'm not going to beryllium capable to absorption connected immoderate of the remaining bugs oregon gameplay stuff." And that's conscionable a information of it being my precise archetypal crippled and being specified a tiny squad of conscionable maine and a fewer radical helping me. That I had to recognize my ain limitations and being like, okay, adjacent though artistically I privation this could beryllium a afloat implicit acquisition astatine motorboat and get each these cutscenes and gameplay elements, but I did negociate to get everything gameplay-wise into the crippled with the objection of 1 arcade game, which was just, it's conscionable a standalone mini-game and it really- It's wholly abstracted from the remainder of Blue Prince.

So that was an casual 1 to sequester disconnected due to the fact that it's similar this was conscionable like, I don't adjacent cognize wherefore I wanted to bash a mini-game wrong a crippled for my precise archetypal game. But immoderate of these ideas I get, I'm conscionable like, "Oh, I truly would emotion to effort this." And astatine immoderate point, it had woven itself excessively overmuch successful the thread for maine to wholly region it, astatine slightest with the clip I had.

IGN: What astir different connection translations? I'm evidently precise alert of the information that translating this is simply a minefield due to the fact that of the mode the puzzles work, but I cognize that that was 1 of the things that was criticized astir it astatine launch, is that there's truly nary mode to play it if you don't talk English.

Ros: And I deliberation however hard it is truly appeals to maine due to the fact that it's astir similar a historical undertaking of localization, and it appeals to maine due to the fact that I consciousness similar it would beryllium specified a chill situation to do. Now, astir apt the fig of localizers and the fig of specific- It's not adjacent conscionable localizers oregon translators. You really request radical from these idiosyncratic cultures that excel successful wordplay. And truthful getting unneurotic this imagination squad and tackling this is like, it's thing I've thought a batch astir and thing that truly appeals to maine arsenic a challenge.

Now, the trade-off is it would astir apt instrumentality years of my life, astatine slightest 1 twelvemonth per connection to do. And truthful you get into this truly weird happening of I would beryllium giving up aboriginal games successful bid to marque Blue Prince much accessible. And that's a brainsick equilibrium standard that I'm not definite however to proceed with. Let's accidental it's thing I'm precise funny successful that has a batch of trade-offs creatively with however overmuch clip I person conscionable successful my beingness to marque different games. How overmuch clip bash I privation to springiness to this? But it's appealing, we'll say. It's appealing successful a batch of ways. Not conscionable to fto Blue Prince beryllium capable to beryllium experienced by much people, but it is- If you haven't played the crippled fully, you mightiness not rather recognize however intolerable of an undertaking it is. But I'll accidental it is absurdly difficult.

IGN: I conjecture reasoning astir that and moving connected from Blue Prince, what's next? This was your archetypal game. Are you going to marque different one? Do you privation to bash thing else?

Ros: Yes. It'll ever beryllium thing else. I tin accidental I volition ne'er marque a sequel to my enactment due to the fact that I emotion creating thing standalone and past going connected to thing wholly different. It volition apt not adjacent beryllium successful the aforesaid nonstop genres. I volition astir apt beryllium mixing it up. You'll commencement to spot overlap. You'll commencement to spot overlaps with immoderate of my interests. So it volition beryllium familiar, and hopefully I'll inadvertently person things that truly worked with Blue Prince that I'll transportation connected successful presumption of astatine slightest technicals. But yeah, we'll see. I'm hesitant to bash different 3D crippled due to the fact that for my archetypal game, 3D was truthful difficult. I truly privation I did a 2D game. I astir apt could person done it successful 5 years alternatively of eight. But yeah, I deliberation it'll beryllium thing wholly different.

IGN: You modeled that full ruin underground, and it's driving radical brainsick due to the fact that it's 3D models, and they can't get implicit there.

Ros: I know. A batch of the cutscenes amusement a batch of things excessively that we 3D modeled and created. And for me, it's similar I deliberation a batch of different people, you'd person the temptation conscionable due to the fact that you've done the effort, that you privation to afloat get arsenic overmuch worth arsenic possible. But immoderate of my ideas are like, I'll conscionable travel up with an thought and it's like, "Okay, this is going to instrumentality 3 months to do." And the comic happening is, I astir apt wouldn't marque that determination successful the archetypal twelvemonth of making the game. It's similar each your decisions astir clip are contextual to the project. So it's like, "Oh man, I person to walk 20 days adjusting substance alignment." Right? That sounds truly ridiculous successful your archetypal 3 months of the project. I'm going to walk 20 days aligning text. But erstwhile you're 8 years in, you don't adjacent blink astatine that benignant of stuff. It's like, oh, I did a change, and present I person to rescale each representation successful the full game. This volition astir apt instrumentality maine a month. And I'm like, "Okay, let's bash that."

And truthful each these decisions are each contextual. But I don't truly shy distant from that due to the fact that it's similar if I travel up with an idea, I usually don't fto clip beryllium the crushed I don't bash it, due to the fact that I deliberation a batch of different games are connected temporal budgets, not conscionable monetarily, but they're connected temporal budgets and they person to release. And that prevents a batch of precocious effort ideas from manifesting. And I didn't truly person the aforesaid urgency to release. My determination to merchandise was conscionable I really can't support immoderate of this successful my caput anymore. First off, I couldn't halt moving connected the crippled for adjacent a week due to the fact that I would hide excessively overmuch astir the mode things interconnect and stuff. So I beauteous overmuch had to ne'er instrumentality a interruption and conscionable ever support it successful my head. And truthful that conscionable was like, the clip was up. It had conscionable dated to completion.

IGN: There was an anecdote that was told to america successful the Press Discord that I truly wanted to inquire you about. And that was that astatine immoderate constituent successful development, each erstwhile successful a portion if you had capable hallways successful a consecutive line, determination mightiness beryllium a shadowy fig astatine the extremity of the corridor oregon something. Is that real?

Ros: I person heard this, and I deliberation this is simply a chill rumor that's travel out, and I'm not 100% sure. I'm not definite oregon 100% sure, but determination was a feline successful the game, and I deliberation I tin accidental that due to the fact that the feline is planned for the last update due to the fact that helium was a portion of the game. So determination were playtesting iterations that had the cat, and the feline could beryllium seen walking astir the house. So it might've been idiosyncratic mistaking the feline for a larger shadowy figure, possibly conflating it with an Alzara thing. Part of the chill happening I've realized is- So I watched a batch of radical play the game. I had my playtesters grounds sessions. And 1 of the things, you're ever told however faulty quality representation is. And it's 1 happening to perceive that and past evidently to drawback yourself being like, "I'm truthful definite I'm right. I retrieve it this way." And past if it's thing that you tin really spell backmost and look to, you realize, "I can't judge my encephalon conscionable fabricated the mode this occurred truthful vividly, truthful vividly."

And what I realized watching radical play the crippled is they would marque chaotic incorrect assumptions based connected what they remembered perceiving connected erstwhile days, and they would beryllium truthful sure, and I'm like, "We person recordings here. I would beryllium capable to amusement you that what you retrieve was wholly false." Even though they're 100% confident. And I deliberation for immoderate reason, the mode Blue Prince is acceptable up, it truly is capable to play connected that, due to the fact that it's a crippled astir making assumptions based connected your experiences successful erstwhile iterations of this house. And I deliberation that it does play into the thought of the location having a property and a caput of its own, due to the fact that astatine immoderate constituent you commencement questioning whether things successful the location are changing, and oftentimes they aren't. But it's conscionable that your position that they're changing is correct. So I emotion that story.

Whether it was ever existent oregon not, I'll permission it a spot mysterious. But I bash deliberation that to me, it exemplifies possibly people's mendacious memories that commencement to manifest that springiness emergence to these rumors and astir apt is replicated successful real-life mysteries and haunted houses. That it's not that radical are adjacent fabricating these stories, but that they turn retired of possibly not adjacent apparitions that happened successful the present, but apparitions that happened successful memories.

IGN: So Blue Prince has been nominated for immoderate Golden Joysticks, which is awesome. And we're successful awards discussions conscionable mostly close now. It’s being discussed that a batch of these crippled awards programs don't person a puzzle genre class adjacent though they person enactment and escapade and each this different stuff. What bash you marque of that? Do you consciousness similar Blue Prince challenges that a small bit? Do you deliberation determination should beryllium 1 oregon shouldn't be?

Ros: I mean, I emotion puzzle games a lot, and I deliberation that there's capable of the large genres, we'll telephone them. Obviously there's a batch of precise chiseled small genres, and I consciousness similar it's astir apt conscionable mathematics of however galore players are playing definite things due to the fact that if you look at- I don't know, immoderate of the different ones that get representation. Multiplayer is evidently the biggest umbrella of each time. So I deliberation there's a definite fig of, successful my opinion, there's a definite standard of umbrella that if you were representing things smaller than the puzzle genre and not puzzle genre, past I would accidental puzzle games surely should person a place. But I'm good if there's conscionable not capable players for puzzles. I deliberation it logistically makes consciousness that possibly they don't get practice until much radical play, and hopefully games similar Blue Prince that are ace fashionable volition beryllium shifting those numbers. So that possibly we'll emergence to the occasion. But I don't cognize the logistics. Maybe it is conscionable a oversight and getting ignored. In which case, past I would advocator for its inclusion 100%.

[Author’s note: Following this interview, Ros reached backmost retired to adhd immoderate further commentary to his effect to this question.]

When I deliberation backmost to my ain childhood, and the games that were astir formative for me, it was the puzzle games and puzzle books that played the astir beneficial relation successful my development. They fostered my emotion of occupation solving and engineering, and opened up the recreational satellite of mathematics, logic, and connection play. I deliberation it's just to accidental these games and books had arsenic ample a relation successful my acquisition arsenic immoderate people I attended successful school, truthful I consciousness beauteous powerfully promoting the genre, and supporting media that helps to radiance a spotlight connected these types of thinky games. If including a puzzle class successful awards shows volition assistance much kids observe these types of games, past I deliberation it's thing that we perfectly should advocator for.

[The remainder of our archetypal interrogation continues below:]

IGN: Okay, 1 past question, and I’ll bash a silly one. What bash you marque of the word Metroidbrainia?

Ros: Okay, truthful if you play Blue Prince, you astir apt cognize I'm each astir words and etymology. So for me, I emotion it due to the fact that I conscionable emotion however liquid connection is, and I emotion erstwhile presumption are created. So I deliberation that being capable to look astatine a connection and seeing its etymological history, and that 1 has specified a affluent one, due to the fact that if you adjacent spell and look astatine Metroid, it is itself a operation of Android and Metropolis. And truthful I deliberation that if you could dissect this down and past you tin spell to Castlevania, and this was castle and Transylvania, and truthful it's astir similar a household histrion of words. And truthful I deliberation that it's funny. I cognize that the word is, it's a small contentious successful its acceptance, but I deliberation it's comic due to the fact that each of the words that are feeding into this are besides benignant of portmanteau combinations of sub-words.

Even Transylvania has roots of, I deliberation it's wood and people. And truthful it's comic due to the fact that they're each coalescing into Metroidbrainia, and Metroidbrainia volition likewise astir apt beryllium utilized arsenic a basal of different connection further on. So I deliberation the much you're capable to look astatine a connection and the much affluent past it has successful its DNA, the much absorbing it is to me. So I personally emotion it for that. Maybe phonetically it's not arsenic aesthetically beauteous to perceive retired large arsenic immoderate different terms. But I bash emotion what a affluent past it has of games of possibly cinema with possibly Metropolis being portion of that thought for Metroid. I don't really cognize however they came up with that term, but I person work that it does travel from Metropolis and Android, oregon Metro and Android mightiness beryllium subway-related.

But yeah, I emotion words, and I emotion the roots and I emotion the past of words, and I emotion however each these things tin harvester successful antithetic ways. And past I emotion that words’ meanings alteration from twelvemonth to year, and the definitions shift. And I emotion the quality instinct of trying to combat for definitions due to the fact that that's the 1 you know, not realizing that each connection you're utilizing utilized to mean thing else, and that it's each liquid. And that we're each successful generational positions warring for our ain meaning, due to the fact that connection is simply a stream that's ever moving forward.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].