A Practice in Journaling with The Blue Prince

Finding Ways to Journal Can be a challenge.

Try practicing as you play an interesting video game

The benefits of journaling have been well documented in psychology. We all know that we should journal but it can be difficult. What do we even write about? Just getting started can be valuable but even then it can be hard. We often don’t feel as though our life is all that interesting. Well lets practice journaling through playing a video game. 

The Blue Prince is a puzzle game where you have inherited a house from your uncle but in order to secure your inheritance you must find the 46th room in the 45 room mansion. The rooms shift and move each day and each room has clues that lead back to other rooms. Each in game day of exploration is different than the day before. At the end of each in game day you are given a small breakdown of what you found and what you learned.

To successfully complete this game, keeping notes is important. You can turn this game into a more immersive experience by writing a daily journal for each in game day you finish. If you were truly in the game keeping a journal of your thoughts and observations would make sense and there is enough that is interesting happening that the entries almost write themselves. The journal entries for each day can be simple; they can all start with “Today I found…”

Even without journaling alongside the game you will want to keep notes. For those who have played games such as Myst or Riven Blue Prince will feel much the same. It is a game that rewards you for paying attention and persistence.  

My family have been playing this game together and find it greatly enjoyable for all of us to work at keeping notes and keeping track of the clues we find. This is a great gaming experience and has much to offer to help reinforce writing and encouraging keeping a journal.