When choosing between Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen vs Bluey The Videogame, the difference comes down to scale, developer ambition, and gameplay depth. The 2023 original is a brief, 2-hour sandbox designed for toddlers, while the 2026 sequel is a 4-to-5-hour Zelda-lite adventure featuring actual combat, puzzles, and a brand-new storyline written by the show's creator. If you are staring at the Nintendo eShop or a retail shelf wondering which title deserves your money, you need to look past the branding.
The gaming landscape for children's television properties is notoriously hit-or-miss. For decades, publishers have relied on brand recognition to sell undercooked software to exhausted parents. When the first Bluey game launched in late 2023, it fell directly into that trap—delivering a charming but incredibly shallow experience that left older fans wanting more. Fast forward to May 2026, and the franchise has completely reinvented its digital footprint.
Here is the definitive breakdown of how these two titles compare across development, mechanics, narrative, and overall value.
Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen vs Bluey The Videogame: The Core Differences
The most glaring difference when evaluating Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen vs Bluey The Videogame is the pedigree of the studios behind them. This isn't just a sequel; it is a total changing of the guard.
The 2023 release was developed by Artax Games and published by Outright Games. If you are a parent, you likely know Outright Games—they are the factory behind functional but barebones licensed titles like PAW Patrol World and Peppa Pig: World Adventures. They specialize in building safe, inoffensive products for the 4-to-7 demographic. Their take on Bluey was exactly that: a 3D sandbox where you walk around the Heeler house, press a single button to interact with objects, and occasionally trigger a mini-game.
Fast forward to 2026, and the franchise was handed to Halfbrick Studios. If that name sounds familiar, it is because they are the Australian powerhouse behind mobile legends like Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride. More importantly, Halfbrick is based in Brisbane—the exact same city where Ludo Studio produces the Bluey television series.
This geographical and cultural synergy allowed series creator Joe Brumm to step in as the lead writer for the new game, ensuring the humor and heart matched the show perfectly. Halfbrick abandoned the 3D sandbox model entirely, pivoting to a bespoke 2D engine built in Unity that perfectly mimics the crayon-and-marker aesthetic seen in the show's fan-favorite "Dragon" and "Escape" episodes.
Gameplay Mechanics: Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen vs Bluey The Videogame
If you want to understand the mechanical leap between the two titles, you have to look at the target audience.
Bluey The Videogame (2023) is a sandbox with zero fail states. It features 4-player local drop-in/drop-out co-op, making it the ultimate "starter game" for toddlers. You wander around four main locations (the Heeler House, the Playground, the Creek, and the Beach), picking up items and dressing the characters in silly hats. The core gameplay loop relies entirely on simple mini-games ripped straight from the show: Keepy Uppy, Magic Xylophone, and The Floor is Lava. There is no combat, no health bar, and no real challenge.
Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen (2026) is a completely different beast. It is a single-player, Zelda-lite action-adventure game that requires actual platforming and puzzle-solving skills. Players control Bluey as she glides, flies, and skates through hand-drawn environments.
The game balances its mechanics beautifully, breaking down into roughly Exploration 60% / Puzzles 30% / Combat 10%. You start in The Meadow, serving as a Tutorial Zone, before moving through Mid-Game Puzzles in The Old Mine, tackling Slippery Platforming in Snowlands, mastering Gravity Mechanics in Space, and facing the ultimate Boss Fight in The King's Castle.
Furthermore, the 2026 game introduces character-specific mechanics that act as puzzle-solving tools. Mum (Chilli) designs the strange and distant lands, shifting the environment dynamically to create new pathways. Meanwhile, Bingo transforms into her honk-happy alter ego, Bingooose. By collecting "goosefood" scattered throughout the levels, players can feed Bingooose until she lays a silver egg, which is then used to weigh down pressure plates or crack open hidden treasure chests.
The Story and Characters: A True Brumm Narrative
Narrative depth is another area where the two games diverge sharply.
The 2023 game loosely tied its four sandbox areas together with a paper-thin plot about finding pieces of an old treasure map that Bandit and his brothers buried when they were kids. It served its purpose as a vehicle to get the family from the living room to the creek, but it lacked the emotional punch and imaginative chaos of a true Bluey episode.
Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen rectifies this by putting Joe Brumm in the writer's chair. The plot centers on a simple, relatable premise: Bluey is drawing at the table when Dad suddenly yoinks the Gold Pen she needs to finish her masterpiece. Through the power of imagination, the entire family is transported into the drawing to get it back.
Bandit embraces his role as the villain. He declares, "I am King Goldie Horns!" and rides a bicycle to escape through the hand-drawn landscapes. Meanwhile, Bingo transforms into an alter-ego where "Bingooose feeds on goosefood!" to lay silver eggs. Players will face "Trifficult puzzles ahead!" while navigating snowy cliffs and zero-gravity space stations, ultimately declaring "We need the Gold Pen!" to finish the drawing and return to reality. It feels exactly like a premium, interactive episode of the show.
Game Length: Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen vs Bluey The Videogame
For parents spending their hard-earned money, the runtime of a children's game is a massive factor. This was the single biggest criticism leveled at the 2023 title.
At launch, Bluey The Videogame was priced at $40. For that price, players received an experience that could be entirely completed—including finding every hidden sticker and plant collectible—in under two hours. Many parents on Reddit and gaming forums expressed frustration that their children had seen everything the game had to offer in a single afternoon. While the chaotic co-op nature of the game offered some replayability (mostly by kids deliberately glitching the characters into furniture for a laugh), the actual content was incredibly sparse.
When comparing the two, the 2023 release from Outright Games offers about 2 Hours of playtime focused on Sandbox Mini-Games like Keepy Uppy. In contrast, the 2026 title by Halfbrick Studios delivers 4.5 Hours of Action-Adventure gameplay featuring Zelda-Lite Puzzles.
The new game features 10 distinct zones, ranging from lush forests to iconic Australian outback landscapes. If you are simply rushing the main story, it will take roughly three hours. However, finding all the hidden beads, rescuing little lost critters, and fully upgrading Bingooose pushes the 100% completion time closer to the four-and-a-half-hour mark. It is a substantial, meaty adventure that justifies its price tag far better than its predecessor.
Graphics, Polish, and Performance
Visual fidelity and technical stability are crucial for maintaining the immersion of a cartoon world.
The 2023 game attempted to recreate the show's 2D flash-puppet animation in a 3D space using standard polygonal models. The result was visually inconsistent. Reviews frequently pointed out MS Paint-like textures in certain background environments, and the physics engine was notoriously janky. Players regularly found themselves stuck inside headboards, floating above couches, or trapped in the backyard football nets, requiring a hard reset. While a Spring 2025 patch smoothed out some of the worst collision detection issues, the game still feels distinctly budget.
In stark contrast, Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen abandons the standard show aesthetic entirely. By adopting the gorgeous, crayon-and-marker hand-drawn art style, Halfbrick bypassed the awkwardness of translating 2D dogs into 3D space. Running on the Unity engine, the performance is flawless.
The game originally launched on iOS and Android in late 2025 before receiving a full console port on May 28, 2026. Whether you are playing on a PlayStation 5, a high-end PC, or the newly released Nintendo Switch 2, the frame rate remains locked. The transition from a glitchy 3D sandbox to a meticulously crafted 2D platformer is night and day.
FAQ: Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen vs Bluey The Videogame
Is Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen multiplayer? No. While the 2023 Bluey The Videogame featured 4-player drop-in/drop-out local co-op, the 2026 sequel is a strictly single-player action-adventure game focused on narrative progression.
Which game is longer: Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen vs Bluey The Videogame? Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen is significantly longer. It takes roughly 4.5 hours to achieve 100% completion, whereas the 2023 game can be fully completed in under 2 hours.
Are both games available on the Nintendo Switch 2? Yes. Bluey's Quest For The Gold Pen launched natively on the Nintendo Switch 2 on May 28, 2026, taking full advantage of the new hardware. The 2023 game is playable on the system via backward compatibility.
Which game is better for a 4-year-old? If your child is brand new to gaming, the 2023 game is the better starter title. It acts as a sandbox with zero fail states and allows parents to pick up a controller and help at any time. The 2026 game requires actual platforming and puzzle-solving skills, making it better suited for ages 7 and up.
Sources
- Halfbrick Studios Development Updates & Console Announcement Trailer (February 2026)
- Nintendo eShop Data: Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen Switch 2 Launch (May 2026)
- Outright Games: Bluey The Videogame Patch Notes & Player Data (2023-2025)
- Wikipedia: Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen Release History