Steps

When your steps reach zero, you are exhausted and too tired to continue exploring. At this point, you must call it day.

― Glossary of Terms

The UI icon for steps

Steps are a basic resource in Blue Prince. The player's steps, displayed with a icon in the upper left corner of the screen, represent the number of times the player may enter a room or area on the Estate before they must call it a day. Steps are the associated resource of Bedrooms.

Unlike other resources, steps begin each day at a non-zero amount—initially 50—and gradually deplete during the day as the player travels throughout the estate. When the player's steps reach 0, the screen begins to fade to black. There is a brief window of time, around four seconds, during which the player may continue walking but may not interact with anything. If the player can gain steps as the result of entering an area before this window closes, e.g. gaining 2 through entering the Bedroom, they will gain the steps and the day continues. It is possible for this to happen even after the "call it a day" message has appeared.

Steps do not represent a physical resource item like other resources. However, they still have an associated resource item in the form of food, or more equivalently fruit.

Step allocation

The player starts each day with a base allocation of 50. Several effects can modify this total, all of which can compound with each other.

• [Permanent Addition Spoiler: Apple Orchard] If the Apple Orchard has been unlocked, this number is permanently increased to 70.
• [Game mode Spoiler: Curse Mode] In Curse Mode, the base step allocation is 13 and the Apple Orchard is in ruins, making the permanent increase impossible to attain.
• If the player drafts the Sauna, they will start the next day with an additional 20.

Spending steps

They player will lose 1, each time they walk into a new room or other location. This step loss occurs as the name of the current location changes in the lower right corner of the screen. It does not cost any steps to explore within a single location.

Some effects allow the player to spend steps in other ways.

•  [Outer Room: Hovel] If the Hovel has been drafted today, Special Floorplans will cost steps instead of gems: 3 in place of each in the room's cost.

Some effects cause the player to lose additional steps.

• Each time the Gymnasium is entered, the player loses an additional 2.
• Drafting the Weight Room causes the player to lose half of their steps, rounded down.
• Several experimental triggers and effects cause the player to lose steps in addition to their other effects:
  • One trigger, activated by drafted Red Rooms, causes the player to lose 5 in addition to triggering the experimental effect.
  • One effect causes the player to lose 10 but gain 20.
  • [Satellite Dish Spoiler] One trigger, added by raising the Satellite Dish and downloading the data packet, allows the player to simply look at their blueprint menu to trigger the experiment up to ten times, but 10 are lost per trigger.
  • [Satellite Dish Spoiler] One effect, also added by raising the Satellite Dish and downloading the data packet, causes the player to lose half their steps, rounded down, but gain 4.

•  [Upgrade Spoiler: Parlor] Opening an empty box in the Funeral Parlor will incur a penalty of 30.
•  [Outer Room: Shrine] While the player is cursed, they will lose 1 each time a Red Room or a Bedroom is drafted. Drafting a room which is both a Red Room and a Bedroom such as the Maid's Chamber will cause a loss of 2 in addition to its other penalties.
• [Major Constellation: Spiral of Stars] Activating the Spiral of Stars deducts steps at various word counts. At 15 - 17 words added, it deducts 3; at exactly 18 words, it deducts 30; past that, it deducts steps equal to the three times the maximum rank reached today.

Gaining steps

Simon can get more energy from resting and eating.

Bedroom effects

Many Bedrooms allow the player to gain additional steps.

• Entering the Bedroom gives 2.
• Entering any Bedroom for the first time, after obtaining Sleeping Mask gives 5.
• Entering the Guest Bedroom for the first time gives 10.
• Drafting any Bedroom after drafting Nursery gives 5.
  •  [Upgrade Spoiler: Nursery] A particular Nursery upgrade increases the 5 gain to 8.
•  [Studio Addition: Dormitory] Each time a Drafting room is drafted, entering the Dormitory gives 10.
• Entering the Boudoir after drafting Her Ladyship's Chamber gives 10.

Food

Main article: Food

Fruit and other food can often be found around the house, as items or as dishes. Interacting with most food items immediately consumes them, granting additional steps. Some food items may also provide other benefits.

• Each apple gives 2.
• Each banana gives 3.
• Each orange gives 5.
• Each cupcake gives 10.
• The Shovel can occasionally dig up a turnip, which gives 6.
• After reaching Rank 8, the Dining Room serves one of five meals, which give 20, or 30 if a specific corresponding room is in the house. Unlike other food items, interacting with the main course allows players to examine it without necessarily consuming it.
  •  [Outer Room: Shrine] The Blessing of the Chef, obtained from the Shrine, can add up to five unique dishes to the Dining Room depending on what kind of spreads have been performed today. These dishes are unique to the type of spread that added them and provide bonus resource items when consumed, which are similarly increased by having specific rooms in the house. All dishes give 5.
• The Kitchen sells meals, which grant additional steps.
  •  [Upgrade Spoiler: Nook] The Breakfast Nook contains Bacon & Eggs. Like in the Kitchen, Bacon & Eggs give 10 and add the Morning Room to today's draft pool.
• [Secret Shop Item: Lunch Box] Once the Lunch Box has been purchased from Gift Shop, picking up the Lunch Box in the Dining Room will grant 10 once the player reaches Rank 5. Unlike most food items, the Lunch Box is a special item that remains in the inventory until it is automatically consumed.

Other sources of steps

• The Slice grants 3 when viewed.

Step change interactions

Food bonuses

Certain effects increase the amount of steps gained from eating food:

• If the player has Salt Shaker, all food items grant +1.
• If the player has Silver Spoon, all food items grant twice the steps.
  • Silver Spoon also doubles any other improvements to a food's step value, such as the effects of Salt Shaker and Farmer's Apple.
• Viewing Farmer's Apple causes all apples to grant an additional 3 today. If this constellation is somehow viewed more than once, it can stack multiple times.
•  [Upgrade Spoiler: Cloister] The Cloister of Joya permanently increases the amount of steps provided by the Dining Room main course by 5 each time that a Kitchen, Pantry or Furnace is drafted from it.

Mitigating step losses

Some effects allow the player to avoid step losses:

• Having the Running Shoes will sometimes prevent losing 1 when moving from one room or area to another. This effect is random and triggers more often outside the house.
• The Hall Pass waives the step cost of moving from one Hallway to another Hallway.
• The Stopwatch waives the step cost of all movement, but only for 1 minute.
• The Breaker Box in the Utility Closet can be used to disable the extra step loss from Gymnasium.

Other interactions

• [Major Constellation: Spiral of Stars] Activating the Spiral of Stars with at least 76 added words causes it to prevent any more steps from being gained for the rest of the day. This does not prevent steps from being set to a higher value.

Setting steps

Rather than gaining or losing steps, certain effects set the number of steps to a specific number.

• One experimental effect from the Laboratory sets steps to 40 whenever it is triggered.
•  [Upgrade Spoiler: Nursery] Entering the Nurse's Station with fewer than 10 will increase steps to 20.
• [Secret Shop Item: Cursed Effigy] Obtaining the Cursed Effigy will immediately reduce the player's steps to 13 if it was greater.
• [Steam power: Laundry Room] When the Laundry Room is connected to steam power, it has the ability to swap gems and steps with each other.
• [Major Constellation: Spiral of Stars] Activating the Spiral of Stars with at least 63 words causes it to set the player's steps to 40, after its step loss and check effects.

Checking steps

A small number of effects care about the number of steps the player has, without changing them.

• [Satellite Dish Spoiler] One effect, added by raising the Satellite Dish and downloading the data packet, causes the player to gain 1 for every 30 they have.
• [Game Mode: Dare Mode] A dare in Dare Mode requires always having at least 20. Going below this causes the dare to immediatly fail.