blue.

About

blue. is a single player action game. It was developed by Lucian Hardner and was released on March 21, 2018. It received neutral reviews from players.

Blue. is the part puzzle game, part visual novel, story of a young cubie growing up in a colorful mined out world of gems. Play as Violet through their adolescence, meet their friends and family and learn about the Cubie world. And most of all learn when it takes to succeed in this underground place.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

55%Audience ScoreBased on 69 reviews

story6 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game offers a meaningful and heartfelt narrative exploring transgender identity and gender dysphoria, resonating well with players who relate to its message.
Minimalist graphics and calm, atmospheric music effectively create a melancholic and meditative mood that complements the story.
Short playtime makes it an accessible experience for players interested in thought-provoking and socially relevant indie games.

Inverted and constantly changing controls lead to player frustration, making navigation unintuitive and cumbersome throughout the game.
The slow, unskippable dialogue pacing and lack of indicators for interaction or objectives result in confusion and disrupt gameplay flow.
Technical issues like crashes, lack of a save system, and poor resolution scaling hamper the overall user experience and polish.

story
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
59%
14%
The game's story is generally praised for its intriguing themes and emotional depth, particularly focusing on personal growth and self-discovery. However, several reviewers found the narrative pacing and dialogue delivery cumbersome, with some describing the storytelling as disjointed or clichéd. Overall, while the story is a strong element for many, its impact is somewhat diminished by gameplay and control mechanics that interfere with narrative engagement.
- “Although it has a simple design, it has a great story with a great message.”
- “This game has a quality story that is truly the main basis of the game.”
- “I really enjoyed its story of a little cube trying to find themselves in a world where you only know half of the story.”
- “The game was incredibly hamfisted in its storytelling and the inability to advance dialogue at your own pace made the game boring.”
- “The writing, which should be important in a story-based game like this, isn't anything special.”
- “The story is very disjointed, almost adds nothing to the game.”
gameplay
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The gameplay received mixed feedback, with criticism focused on tedious exploration, unclear dialogue triggers, and a lack of text skipping, which hindered pacing and enjoyment. While some appreciated the integration of gameplay mechanics with the narrative for a simple experience, many found the mechanics frustrating and the world poorly marked, leading to repetitive and unclear gameplay moments.
- “The design and mechanics of gameplay mesh together nicely with the overall narrative for a simple but enjoyable experience.”
- “Some parts hit home, but unfortunately the gameplay killed a lot of my enjoyment with its tedious exploration and unclear dialogue triggers.”
- “Good intentions and message clouded by very poor gameplay, graphics, and UI.”
- “It didn't help that there was no mechanic for skipping text and you had to wait, wondering whether the dialogue was over or not.”
- “Constantly changing the mechanics was frustrating when combined with the fact that it can be unclear where to go; the entire world has no clear marker for 'important' areas, and there are about five areas you have to walk through for a few lines of stuttery dialogue.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The music in the game receives mixed feedback, with some users finding it repetitive and not fitting, while others praise it as inspiring and a strong element of the experience. Overall, the soundtrack seems to evoke varied emotional responses depending on the player.
- “Effort went into this, the background music is inspiring, the art style really helps boil down the ideals to their simple roots.”
- “9/10 for music.”
- “The music is repetitive and they don’t let you skip the cutscenes.”
- “Some of the color choices were too saturated and the music wasn't very fitting and repetitive.”
- “The changing controls and the music really made me feel gender dysphoria.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect is widely criticized for its tedious and repetitive nature, with frustrating back-and-forth navigation and unclear dialogue triggers that hinder enjoyment and disrupt gameplay flow.
- “Some parts hit home, but unfortunately the gameplay killed a lot of my enjoyment with its tedious exploration and unclear dialogue triggers.”
- “Tedious navigation and dialogue progression.”
- “The way they challenge the player is quite tedious, and you have to go back and forth a lot.”
graphics
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The graphics feature a distinctive art style that effectively conveys the game's core ideals, though the overall visual quality and performance are hindered by stutter and poor technical execution.
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a deeply emotional experience, effectively conveying themes of gender dysphoria and personal struggle through thoughtful design choices like changing controls and music. Players appreciate the creator's bravery in tackling such intimate subjects, particularly evident in the impactful early levels.
- “It's heartbreaking at times because you know that the creator has had some of these exact conversations, and that also makes this an incredibly brave project to undertake.”
- “The changing controls and the music really made me feel gender dysphoria.”
- “The first two levels really made me feel for the ideals behind this game.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is hindered by frequent freezes that disrupt dialogue display and prevent saving progress, while slow dialogue progression and inconsistent controls further diminish the experience.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its humor, offering a very funny and enjoyable experience that makes it a great way to pass the time.