Tonda Ros, the developer behind the acclaimed puzzler Blue Prince, has revealed his enduring love for Mossmouth’s collection of retro-inspired games, UFO 50, amassing nearly 700 hours of playtime. In a recent interview, Ros declared it "easily my favourite game of the last 20 years."
Ros, who began his journey into PC gaming at age seven with the action-adventure title Beast, later discovered classics like Tank Wars, SimCity, and Star Control on a 386 PC. His own game, Blue Prince, took nearly a decade to create, drawing inspiration from Myst, the board game Jewels in the Attic, and the puzzle book Maze: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle. Upon its release last year, it quickly established itself as a modern puzzle classic.
Currently, Ros is providing tech support for Blue Prince while exploring new project ideas, hinting at a smaller scope for his next endeavor. He also shared his current gaming habits and PC library.
Current Play:
Ros is engrossed in Cairn, a "gorgeous rock-climbing simulator/adventure game with some survival elements" from The Game Bakers. He praised its simple, intuitive controls, noting that the sequential control of each limb felt remarkably like actual rock climbing. He compared Cairn’s control scheme to that of Baby Steps, another game with similar thematic elements, highlighting how subtle design differences can lead to vastly different player experiences.
Previous Experiences:
His most recently completed game was Big Walk, a social proximity chat game that he had anticipated for years. Ros described the experience of playing with seven people as amazing, allowing for emergent gameplay where groups could split off and explore independently. He was particularly impressed with the game's ending, stating that it "literally shook me" and that he could not have conceived of a fraction as good a conclusion himself.
Enduring Classics:
The oldest game installed on Ros's PC is Myst, released in 1993. He confirmed that Cyan's entire catalog is installed, but Myst holds a permanent place. He recounted how his first encounter with Myst on a friend’s PC was a transformative moment, leading him to request a computer with a CD-ROM drive. Ros finds the first-person puzzle genre, exemplified by games like Outer Wilds and Obra Dinn, to be underserved, expressing hope that more developers will explore it.
Most Played and Uninstalled:
Excluding his own game and titles from Battle.net, Ros's most played game on Steam is UFO 50, with 691 hours. He described the collection of 50 fictional LX console games as having significant depth, not merely being mini-games. His favorite within the collection is Minnie and Max, a game set in a closet where the protagonist shrinks down. He also highlighted Cinco Paus by Michael Brough as a game he would never uninstall, despite it not being available on Steam.
Essential Software and Desktop Habits:
Adobe Photoshop, which Ros has used daily since 1999, remains his most indispensable non-gaming software. He uses it for everything from painting and motion graphics to web design and game art. He prefers an older, pre-subscription version of the software.
Ros admits his main workstation desktop is typically cluttered due to being constantly occupied by game development software like Unity and Photoshop. However, his dedicated gaming PC, used for couch play, maintains a meticulously clean desktop, featuring only shortcuts to Steam, Cinco Paus, and a specific Kyle Bosman song that inexplicably excites his pet rabbit.
