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

The Game Awards has announced its 2025 nominees for Game of the Year, and my personal GOTY, first-person roguelike puzzle game Blue Princewas not nominated. The Game Awards 2025 nominee list is particularly stacked, and it's hard to argue that the six games that have been nominated for the top prize don't 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: Silk Songand Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Expedition 33 is the front-runner in many eyes, with the critically acclaimed turn-based RPG breaking the record for the most nominations at a single Game Awards ceremony with 12. Blue Prince wasn't nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2025, but it's still something I think everyone should play, even if they don't really consider themselves fans of puzzle games.

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Game Awards nominee withdraws from consideration

A Game Awards nominee has withdrawn its game after determining that it does not meet the criteria for its nominated category.

Blue Prince is a puzzle game where players explore a sprawling estate with the ultimate goal of reaching the elusive Room 46 with a limited number of steps. The catch is that the layout of the mansion changes every day and transforms based on the rooms players choose. Some rooms are dead ends and some have negative effects that make it harder to get to room 46, but others give players perks and helpful 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 brilliant because it can be that normal length game and leave you feeling satisfied, but it has enough puzzles and mysteries that it can also be a massive 100 hour adventure. It was the latter for me, and is easily one of my most played games of the year. I was completely enthralled by Blue Prince and I recommend it to everyone I can.

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

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

Blue Prince wasn't nominated for game of the year, but it's up for other awards

Blue Prince didn't get the GOTY nod, but it is nominated for other awards at The Game Awards. Blue Prince has been nominated for Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game, though the problem is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also nominated in those categories. It is highly probable Expedition 33 will sweep The Game Awards and Blue Prince won't win either Best Independent Game or Best Debut Indie Game, but the fact that it's nominated at all is still a testament to its quality. Personally, I think so too Blue Prince deserved a nod for Best Art Direction.

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

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

As of this writing, and likely until April 2026 or maybe even beyond, you don't even need to buy Blue Prince to play it in its entirety. 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 Day One game for both Game Pass and PS Plus simultaneously at the time of its launch earlier this year, and it's easily one of the best games to grace both subscription platforms in 2025. If you're already signed up to one of those services, great, but if not, you can sign up for Game Pass Ultimate for $29.99 and check out both Blue Prince and GOTY nominated Clair Obscur: Expedition 33while PS Plus Extra has its fair share of heavy hitters available too.

Blue Prince is not 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 was we took turns running, and whoever was out of turn was in the notebook. We filled an entire notebook full of clues, ideas, and reminders as we played, and it was incredibly satisfying when we reached an “Ah-ha!” moment together. Playing Blue Prince with a partner means sharing the burden of figuring out the game's tricky puzzles and having someone to strategize with when it comes to making a plan to beat the game. Taking turns also alleviates the frustration of having a bad run, as you don't risk having two bad runs back-to-back.

The Game Awards 2025 takes place on Thursday, December 11.