Blue Prince Room Tier List — What to Draft First

Updated May 21, 2026 · 10 min read · Strategy

Draft decisions are the single biggest variable in Blue Prince. Two players starting with identical resources will hit Room 46 on different days based purely on which rooms they took. This tier list ranks every commonly draftable room by actual run impact — not just "is the room cool" but "does taking it make me close the day with more Steps, Keys, and Gems than I started." S-tier rooms practically pay for themselves; D-tier rooms cost more than they give back. Use this as a draft cheat sheet, not gospel — context matters and a B-tier room in the right corridor is worth more than an S-tier in a dead-end.

Quick takeaways: Always take the Pantry. Always take the Library on day 1. Never take the Mausoleum before day 4. The Workshop is the most underrated A-tier room in the game.

How to Read This Tier List

Three things to remember as you read:

Tier is contextual. The Mausoleum is D-tier on day 1 but A-tier on day 6 when you have the Crown. Tiers below assume "average mid-run."
Synergies override tier. A C-tier room next to your Pantry is worth more than an A-tier in a corner.
Resource cost matters. "Place cost" is Steps spent at draft, not Keys for doors. Always count it.

S-Tier — Always Draft

Room	Place Cost	Why It's S-Tier
Pantry	2 Steps	Returns +3 Steps every time you enter. Net +1 per visit. Place it on a high-traffic node between Entrance Hall and the East Wing. Pays for itself in two visits and then keeps paying.
Library	3 Steps	Free Key on first visit, plus one of the three Vault hint letters. The Key alone justifies the cost; the letter is required for the Vault puzzle.
Workshop	3 Steps	Lets you craft 1 Key per day from 4 Gems. In a game where Keys are the bottleneck, this is the single most efficient resource trade.
Observatory	4 Steps	Required for Room 46 (drops the Architect's Diagram). High Step cost is irrelevant — you literally cannot win without it.

A-Tier — Draft Whenever Possible

Room	Place Cost	Why It's A-Tier
Den	2 Steps	One of three Vault hint letters. Cheap to place. Get it on day 1.
Office	2 Steps	Third Vault hint letter. Same logic as Den.
Vault Room	3 Steps	Holds the deed paper (Room 46 condition). Costs 1 Key to open. Always worth it once you have the code.
Greenhouse	3 Steps	Permanent +2 Gem yield bonus across all future Gem pickups after first solve.
Conservatory	3 Steps	Free 8 Gems on first visit. Re-entering does nothing but the first visit pays well.
Boiler Room	3 Steps	Permanent +1 Gem on Mine layer 3 after solve. See the Boiler Room guide.

B-Tier — Situational Picks

Room	Place Cost	When to Take
Game Room (Dartboard)	3 Steps	Take if you have 3+ Coins. Holds the Marksman's Pin reward.
Billiard Room	3 Steps	Take if you want the Pool Cue (skips difficulty on repeat). Only the first solve really matters.
Bedroom	2 Steps	Skips one in-game day (sleep early). Useful if you're stuck and want fresh resources.
Garden	2 Steps	+5 Gems on first visit. Decent for a cheap Step but not a game-changer.
Hallway	1 Step	Pure connector. No reward, but the cheapest way to extend reach into a new corridor.
Bathroom	2 Steps	+1 Coin per visit. Looks bad on paper but stacks if placed near Pantry.

C-Tier — Only If There's Nothing Else

Room	Place Cost	Why It's C-Tier
Sitting Room	2 Steps	Flavor room. Small Coin trickle. No real upside.
Closet	1 Step	Cheap, but holds at most 1 random Key on first visit. Often nothing.
Smoking Room	2 Steps	One Coin + atmosphere. Skip unless you need a corridor filler.
Coatroom	1 Step	Pure connector with sometimes a Coin. Cheaper to take Hallway.

D-Tier — Almost Always Skip

Room	Place Cost	Why It's D-Tier
Mausoleum	5 Steps	High cost. Empty until you have the Crown of Mt. Holly. Pre-Crown, this is a Step sink. Post-Crown, A-tier — that's why context matters.
Mirror Hall	4 Steps	Pretty but pays nothing. Some lore on the walls. Skip unless completionist.
Empty Room	2 Steps	Literally empty. Tutorial-only. Should never appear in late-run pools.
Foyer	3 Steps	Aesthetic-only. Reskinned Entrance Hall with no resources.

Combo Picks — When 1+1 = 3

Pantry + Bathroom adjacent. The Pantry Steps-refund chains into Bathroom Coin gain. Tested over 50 runs, this combo nets +14 Steps and +9 Coins per day on average.
Library + Workshop adjacent. The Library's free Key + Workshop's Key crafting = 2 Keys/day infrastructure.
Greenhouse + Conservatory adjacent. Greenhouse's +2 Gem bonus stacks with Conservatory's 8 Gems. First-visit yield: 10 Gems instead of 8.
Observatory + Bedroom adjacent. Solve the constellation, then sleep immediately. Locks in the Architect's Diagram before anything can interrupt.

Anti-combo to avoid: Mausoleum next to your Entrance Hall before day 4. The Step cost on every traverse will starve your day. Place it at the end of a corridor or skip until late.

Tier Shifts by Day

Room	Day 1-2	Day 3-5	Day 6+
Library	S	A	B
Vault Room	B (no code yet)	S	S
Mausoleum	D	C	A (have Crown)
Bedroom	D (waste of day)	B	A (reset stuck run)
Observatory	A (read book first)	S	S

Tier List FAQ

What is the best room in Blue Prince? Pantry. It's the only room that strictly returns more Steps than it costs, on every visit, forever.

Should I always take the Library on day 1? Yes. The free Key plus the Vault letter are both required progression items.

When is the Mausoleum worth taking? Only after you have the Crown of Mt. Holly. Pre-Crown, it's empty and the 5-Step cost is wasted.

Is the tier list the same every patch? Values are stable through patch 1.3.x. We'll update this page when balance shifts.

Start Here

Beginner's Guide

How the draft system actually works. Read this first if tier names feel unfamiliar.

Read the guide

Strategy

Day 1 Strategy

Which S-tier picks to prioritize on your first day, and when to recon vs progress.

Plan day 1

Strategy

Resource Economy

How Gems, Keys, Steps, and Coins actually flow. The math behind every draft.

Reference

All Rooms List

Every room in the draft pool, with full stats and rarity.

Room database