Okay, so, imagine this: esports and puzzle games, right? You’d think, nah, they don’t mix. But here I am, totally gobsmacked—because they do. I mean, fast shooters and those mind-boggling MOBAs, sure, they’re the go-tos for nail-biting gaming. But a quiet little brain puzzle? Pffft. Last place I’d look for a spectator sport, but boy, was I off the mark. Enter Blue Prince at this summer’s, um, Summer Games Done Quick (why do they name it like that?). Speedrunners basically turned this game into edge-of-your-seat madness.
So, late Monday, when most folks are snoozing or whatever, GDQ kicked off this annual thing to raise cash for Doctors Without Borders. Cool cause, honestly. Anyway, you’d think Blue Prince would be about who gets to Room 46 the fastest, right? Nope. Left field, my friend. Randringtail and BobbyBurm—cool names, by the way—were racing bingo-style. Yep, heard it right. B Quest Bingo or something. Confusing? You bet.
Picture this—runners get a bingo card styled like Blue Prince’s floor plan. Each square? A mission, like opening the eastern gate or snagging five room upgrades. Ninety minutes to go haywire, check off as much as possible. First to create a path from the entrance to the antechamber wins. Simple, right? Only, not really. Mind-boggling stuff.
Crowd’s going wild—hooting, hollering, the works. Shoutout to Gelly for the commentary. Like a horse race at a chess match on a rollercoaster. Blue Prince, on a chill day, is all about remembering a ridiculous amount of tiny details—those room tricks and secrets. There’s resource management, too, if you can call it that. And then, randomness gets sprinkled on top for good measure. Now, throw speed into the mix. It’s madness. Legit like two chess grandmasters fighting a tornado with calculators.
Want to watch it? GDQ’s YouTube, but heads up—spoilers ahead. I stumbled on a couple of secrets even after clocking in 100 hours of my life. One of those “you can do what in the entrance hall!?” moments. Yeah. The rabbit hole in this game seems bottomless, no joke.
Catch it if you can. Or don’t, live your life.
