156: Filling Buckets with Tonda Ros (Blue Prince)

We chat with Tonda Ros (Dogubomb) one year after the release of his genre-blending room-drafting puzzlebox sensation, Blue Prince. Our discussion covers Tonda's year as the game's representative in the world; his inspirations across digital, analog, and tabletop works; cultivating player appreciation for virtual spaces; managing player hunches through playtesting; balancing lore with puzzle mechanics; comparing game development with filmmaking; and so! much! more! Kind of like the game itself, we just keep going. Audio edited by Dylan Shumway Discussed in this episode: Blue Prince https://www.blueprincegame.com/  Mythic Spoiler https://mythicspoiler.com/ My Perfect Console – Tonda Ros https://www.myperfectconsole.com/episode/129  realMyst https://cyan.com/realmyst/  Digital version of MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle by Christopher Manson https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/1l9urle/website_version_of_christopher_mansons_1985/  "It Seems I Have Found Myself In Another Mysterious House" by Rob Dubbin https://roblemsolving.com/games/2025/04/25/mysterious-house.html The Castles of Mad King Ludwig https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/155426/castles-of-mad-king-ludwig Dominion https://www.riograndegames.com/games/dominion/  Ascension https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/69789/ascension-deckbuilding-game  Blue Prince Soundtrack by Trigg and Gusset https://triggandgusset.bandcamp.com/album/blue-prince-the-original-soundtrack  Jewels in the Attic https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16608/jewels-in-the-attic  Tales of the Crystals https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9755/tales-of-the-crystals The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029120/ The Graduate (1967) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061722/ MIO: Memories in Orbit https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672810/MIO_Memories_in_Orbit/ https://secretlives.games  https://discord.gg/tslog https://www.patreon.com/tslog