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On March 11 2026, Nippon Ichi Software ported their 2018 Vita puzzle-platformer title The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince to Steam. This game promises the player a short and simple experience with a charming storybook artstyle. While this title had previously received an English translated port to PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch in February 2019, this is the game’s first time being ported to PC platforms. So, does this title still hold up nearly a decade after its release, or should gamers turn their eyes to other games in the NISA catalogue? Let’s dissect the game piece by piece and make the decision for ourselves.
The main gameplay loop of The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince consists of guiding the Blind Prince to the end of each stage. In order to do this, the player must take control of the Liar Princess and escort him by hand across various obstacles. Each stage consists of a series of puzzles that you need to solve in order to safely get the prince to the end, as a single hit from an enemy or too high a fall will kill the prince instantly.
The process of escorting the Prince typically involves guiding him across pits, jumping along various platforms while grasping his hand, or defeating enemies by transforming the Liar Princess into her wolf form to defeat them.
Sometimes the player will even need to tell the prince to blindly walk forward on his own as you run along a different path and keep him out of danger at the same time. Sections like this were often the most enjoyable for me as seeing two characters move along their own paths just feels more satisfying than clearing the way as the Princess before escorting the Prince through it.
Due to the short length of each stage and how briskly the player can travel through them once they’ve gotten a good grasp on the game’s central mechanics, playing through this game can feel like eating chips. There is a constant desire to complete another stage as they’re all just short enough to keep going until you finish the game.
One issue I do have with the gameplay is how the game handles fall damage. If the Prince or the Princess falls from too high, they’ll die, and you’ll need to start over from your last checkpoint. This would be all well and good, but due to how strict the game is with how far you can fall, I would frequently die while going the intended path because I decided to jump to a location instead of walking off the ledge.
Thankfully, the game is very generous with its checkpoints, so that didn’t become too big of an issue during my playthrough. Each of the game’s stages had multiple, resulting in an experience where the player would only need to retry the current section they’re stuck on, instead of needing to repeat multiple challenges in a row if they die.
As the game progresses, the player will encounter a large variety of mechanics that will help spice up the level designs. Flowers that spit projectiles when you hit them, goats that throw both the player and the Prince at an upward angle, stones that tell riddles which you must solve in order to progress; the game is always throwing something new at the player to spice up their journey.
These constantly changing mechanics prevent the game from becoming too repetitive as it goes on. While the Princess and the Prince aren’t able to do much more than jump, these gimmicks allow the player to constantly feel like they’re thinking up new ways to traverse in a way that feels natural.
If there is any complaint I have with the level design in this game, it’s that most of the puzzle mechanics don’t have time to be fully fleshed. Due to the fast-paced nature of the game, where it is introducing a new mechanic for the player to experiment with every three stages, most mechanics stop appearing the moment the player gets a grasp on how they work, as the game has already moved on to the next level design gimmick.
While this does help the game keep a brisk and fast pace throughout an entire playthrough, it does unfortunately, lead to some mechanics feeling undercooked. By the time the game gets to fully show off what types of puzzles it can create with a level’s gimmick, it will already have moved on to the next one.
Next, I would like to spend some time talking about one of the most unique aspects of The Liar Princess and The Blind Prince: The storybook visuals.
The art style of The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince perfectly captures the feeling of a playable storybook. Each of the game’s sprites and environments is beautifully drawn with a distinct style that separates the title from other games in the genre while also making sure every important object sticks out enough to prevent anything from blending into the background.
The character designs perfectly complement this choice of art style as well. The design of the Liar Princess, in particular, hits a great balance of looking like a typical cute princess while still having several key traits that make it clear she is a wolf. Other designs, like the goats without faces and the cute moles that appear on the loading screens, also stood out as charming.
While the game’s sprites don’t have much going for them in the animation department, seeing the faces of both the Liar Princess and Blind Prince turn from fearful frowns to cheerful smiles whenever they hold hands will pull at the heartstrings. Other small details, like the scary face the princess makes whenever she hits the ground, continue to sell the charm of the game’s visuals.
Each cutscene in the game is also portrayed like a storybook, with pages flipping to show various still images. The choice not to have traditional cutscenes with dialogue and instead have them all be narrated like a story fully sells the idea of this being a video game version of a fairy tale. This entire game is a visual treat for the eyes and one worth experiencing yourself.
Overall, if you’re a fan of short puzzle-platformers, then this port of The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is more than worth your time. This game is as good now as it was when it was first released on the Vita in 2018. The Steam version of this game is only $20, a fair price for the short six-hour playtime.
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince
Bottom Line
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince is just as enjoyable on PC as it was on the Vita nearly a decade ago. While the game has some level design shortcomings, the endless charm of its visuals and the creativity on display make this an excellent short-platformer experience.
