The Grounds
The Grounds is a large area in Blue Prince which comprises all surface-level locations that are outside of the house. The main location, simply called The Grounds, is centered around the fountain area directly in front of the house. From there, players can access the Private Drive to the east, which leads to the Campsite. A barricaded doorway and a dark tunnel filled with crates are found down the stairs to the south, and to the west, a gate blocks passage to a path by the creek.
All locations in the Grounds other than the main Grounds location itself are shown as being in "The Grounds" in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The Grounds are immediately accessible from the start of the game via the Entrance Hall, but a number of locations and other areas in The Grounds are initially closed off, accessible only after progress is made in the game.
Main Grounds
The main and central location of the Grounds simply shows "The Grounds" as its in-game location, with no other information. This location is easily accessed by exiting south from the Entrance Hall and leads to most other areas in the Grounds. This section of the Grounds is seen at the start of every day, in the brief cutscene introduction that plays as the camera moves into position in the Entrance Hall. As the area directly south of the house, it provides a good view of its front side, including the small clock tower that gives the time of the day. To the west, a gate blocks passage to a path by the creek. The #Fountain is found in the center.
The main section continues down the stairs to the south. A barricaded passage can be found embedded in the cliff face, and a strange square marble platform looking out over the mountain. The Grounds eventually lead to a dark tunnel filled with crates, which cannot be crossed.
The west gate
The area leading to the tunnel
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for behind the west gate.
The gate on the west side is initially sealed, but can be opened by finding a way into the other side and opening the lock from that side. See West Path for details of how to access the area and what lies in it.
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for finding something in the tunnel.
The tunnel is very dark, but contains a pair of torches that can be lit up using an ignition tool. Lighting up either torch lights up the tunnel enough to see the contents, and will have both lit up the next day even if only one was lit.
The tunnel contains a Foreman's Logs entry, and the Tunnel floorplan.
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for beyond the crates.
Once the experiment data packet unlocked from the Satellite Dish is unlocked, one of the new experimental effects is to permanently remove a crate from the tunnel.
- After 23 crates are removed, a File Cabinet Key can be found.
- After 36 crates are removed, a door leading to Unknown (The Grounds) can be found.
- There are 40 crates in the tunnel; continued activation of the experimental effect does nothing.
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for the square platform.
The square platform is normally unusable, but when a gasline valve is used, one of the four corners gets a blue flame that lights up.
Once all four are activated, the platform acts as an elevator to The Precipice.
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for the barricaded wall.
The barricaded wall is a weak wall which can be broken with a Power Hammer. Doing this leads to the Sealed Entrance. Note that this door can be opened from either side; the Sealed Entrance is also accessible from the other side.
Fountain
The main Grounds' central feature is its fountain, referred to as such even though it does not discharge or move water.
While approaching the fountain and holding one or more coins, a prompt appears that allows the player to "make a wish". Doing so discards 1
by dropping it into the fountain, with no clear benefit or other consequence. No more than one "wish" can be made per day.
The fountain
Prompt to make a wish
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for the fountain.
The fountain has an associated water level in the Pump Room. The fountain's water level may be set anywhere between 0 and 12, with 12 being its initial level, and controls the amount of water in the fountain.
While the water level is any value less than the maximum of 12, the fountain undergoes several changes:
- The fountain water becomes translucent, revealing a spiral staircase that leads underground.
- All previous "wish" coins can be found scattered across the staircase, at seemingly random locations. Thus, the "wish" is essentially a means to store one coin for a future day.
- A section of the fountain's stone container vanishes, allowing access into the well itself.
- No wishes can be made.
The coins can appear in a large number of positions, up to around a dozen steps deep or, equivalently, approximately as far down as water level 9. Coins that are still underwater can be picked up. Although there are more than 50 possible spawn locations for coins in the fountain, only 50 are ever used at a time. This means that any wish coins that spawn in excess of 50 loop back around to the start, overlapping with previously spawned coins.
If the water level is raised back to 12, the coins temporarily vanish until the water level is lowered again, at which point they reappear in the same positions. The only aspect of the wish coins which is tracked between days is their quantity; coins which are not picked up generally appear in different positions on future days.
If you've found a new clue, you know what to do.
Is there a maximum number of coins that can be spawned by the fountain?
While the water level is 8 or lower, it is possible to descend far enough into the fountain to reach the Well. The water continues to block descent into the well until it is completely drained, requiring a water level of 0 to make further progress.
Coins found in the fountain after draining it to water level 10
The base of the Well at water level 1
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for beyond the Well.
The water level also limits access from the Reservoir back into the Well, flooding the room. A water level of 0 to reach the basement door. However, the water on this side of the door stops rising after it reaches a level of 2.
Trying to reach the Well from the Reservoir at water level 1
Trying to reach the Well from the Reservoir at water level 2 or higher
Private Drive
The Private Drive is a narrow location that serves to connect the main Grounds location to the eastern Campsite. The Private Drive has only a few notable features, including a birdbath, a heavy metal door built into the cliff face, and an additional large sealed estate gate that veers off north in the opposite direction to the Campsite.
While the boundary between the main Grounds and the Private Drive is clearly delineated by the large open estate gate separating them, the boundary between the Private Drive and the Campsite is more nebulous.
The gate leading to the Private Drive
The metal door found along the Private Drive
Paths leading off the estate and to the campsite
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for past the metal door.
The metal door leads to Blackbridge Grotto once it is opened by solving the puzzle in the Laboratory. See its page for more details.
Campsite
The Campsite is a woody location that contains Simon's tent, cooking utensils and other camping equipment. The tent can be interacted with to bring up a screen advising the player on how to call it a day from the blueprint menu, with additional advice on how to access the menu if the player has not yet acquired the blueprint from the Entrance Hall.
The Campsite also contains a heavy mechanical door set into the rocks with black and yellow hazard stripes, and a small padlocked gate leading into an orchard.
The campsite
Interacting with the tent
Interacting with the tent before acquiring blueprints
The heavy metal door
The orchard gate
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for a puzzle-related secret.
The music sheets point to a hidden feature of The Grounds. Refer to the puzzle page for more on how to solve it.
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for puzzle answer and reward.
The campsite contains an area with trees, and among these trees there is a pair of small rocks. Between these two rocks is a hidden dig spot which contains the Conservatory floorplan.
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for past the metal door.
The metal door leads to the Gemstone Cavern once it is opened by pressing the switch in the Utility Closet.
Spoilers Within
This section contains spoilers for inside the orchard.
Once the code to the orchard, 1128, is found and input, the gate opens and the orchard can be entered to reach the Apple Orchard.
Additional information
Beyond the Estate
This section contains datamined information about an overhead view of the Grounds. It may contain spoilers for various stages of the game.
