Bluey, the show, debuted in 2018 and has pretty much become a must-watch (and rewatch) staple for animation-loving kids worldwide. It focuses on an anthropomorphic, and very high-energy, blue heeler puppy named Bluey and her Aussie family. (Bluey and her dad, Bandit, are blue heelers, whereas younger sis, Bingo, and mum, Chilli, are red heelers.)
In 2023, we reviewed the series’ very popular gaming tie-in Bluey: The Videogame. And now, series creator Joe Brumm has teamed up with gamemaker Halfbrick Studios to present a new mobile gaming adventure called Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen. But is this newest button-mashing entry just a case of more of the same?
This go ‘round, Bluey and Bingo find themselves stuck inside on a messy, rainy day. Mum and Dad soon break out the paper and markers and set the girls loose on drawing a creative story adventure at the kitchen table. It turns into a fantasy tale featuring the wand-waving adventurer Bluey and her magical goose sidekick, Bingoose.
However, Bandit—or actually, King Goldy Horns—doesn’t want the girls to draw out a simple happily-ever-after picture. He snatches the much-coveted gold pen (from which all magical golden eggs are created, dontcha know) and dares the heroes to venture forth on a dangerous quest to retrieve it.
Chilli then steps in to offer a bit of help to the betrayed, adventuring pups. She draws out maps to this fantasy land and gives the girls guidance as they explore the strange marker-colored world and all its obstacles and challenges.
Gameplay here is designed specifically for younger hands. It involves scouring the land for collectable beads, solving timed puzzles and the like. If, for example, the girls are able to correctly answer multiple-choice quiz questions, complete some platform jumps with rocket packs and gliders and move objects with their magic wand, they’ll be able to open doors to new areas.
The adventurers must make their way through sandy beaches; snowy mountainsides; crumbling, old mining towns; high cliffs; deep space and a variety of other challenging lands—skating, rocketing, boating and riding bikes as they go.
If the girls are able to work hard and outfox that wily King Goldy Horns at his own game, they may just save the day and find a pathway to a marker-colored happy ending.
Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen is available on the Apple App Store with a free version to try and an option for a one-time purchase of all the levels. Its release through the Google Play store is set for January 10, 2026. The game is due to expand to other gaming systems, including Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC later in 2026.
This is a single-player-only game. Bluey and Bingo travel together, but only one character is ever controllable. This game does not require an online connection other than for downloading.
Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen is designed to be an entry into the world of video games for young kids. The game is easy and creatively colorful, jumping between scenes that are drawn and staged just like the popular TV show and scenes that represent the Heeler girls’ kitchen-table drawings.
Bluey’s Quest regularly introduces new uses for Bluey’s magical wand, such as using it to move large heavy blocks, turning it into a glider or rocket pack and using it as a grapplehook. And while the gaming challenges and puzzles are always fresh, they never feel too difficult for younger players to figure out.
The humor in the game feels very similar to the animated show itself. When Bandit and Chilli are playing their fantasy-world characters, they always perform with a bit of a winking smile to keep the girls (and the game players) in on the parental fun. And even when the quest ends in victory, there’s never any mean spiritedness on any character’s part. It simply feels like a family playing together on a rainy day.
There are some silly exclamations in the game dialogue, such as “Good gravy,” “Biscuits!” and “Why you cheeky …” But the callouts are always delivered in a light and playful tone.
There are “enemy” creatures that bar the girls’ path, such as a giant frog, an oversized seagull and a huge, smelly dunny can. But all of them are goofy and funny and never a threat. Each is cleared through the magical application of one of Bingoose’s eggs.
Players can fail in the challenges and, for instance, miss their landing while gliding between cliffs or fall off a platform into the ocean. But the game always saves the tumbling player with a bubble that deposits them back at the beginning of the challenge.
Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen is a sweet gateway game for younger players just entering the video-gaming fold. It’s fun, family-centered and problem free.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
