I Saw Jonathan Blow’s New Game, and My Head Already Hurts

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Jonathan Blow’s presentation of his new game, Order of the Sinking Star, quickly became mind-bending. Blow is known for taking basic puzzle ideas and making them incredibly complex – you’ll definitely need to take notes! This new project seems to follow that same pattern, and fans of his previous games, like Braid and The Witness, will likely find it was worth the wait.

Jonathan Blow, known for games like Braid and The Witness, has started a new studio called Thekla, Inc. Their first project is a game called Order of the Sinking Star. This is the first time Blow is working with a publisher – Arc Games (previously Gearbox Publishing), the company behind Fellowship and Remnant 2, will be publishing the game. A short gameplay reveal debuted at The Game Awards, and recently, we got a more in-depth look at the game’s design process with Jonathan Blow himself explaining the puzzle design.

At its core, Order of the Sinking Star is a straightforward puzzle game. You navigate characters through a grid to complete objectives, typically reaching an exit or a designated space. With over 1,000 levels, the way you accomplish this changes constantly, keeping the gameplay fresh and challenging.

The game Order of the Sinking Star features four unique areas to explore. Each area presents players with a different set of puzzle-solving rules. For instance, one area lets you switch between character classes, each with special skills like moving blocks or swapping places with objects or enemies. Another area uses mirrors and reflections to create new paths and solve puzzles.

Even within its four main sections, Order of the Sinking Star is surprisingly intricate. The puzzles start simple but quickly become very challenging. Each section feels like a complete game on its own, and having four of them makes the overall experience even more complex. As you’d expect from a Jonathan Blow game, there are plenty of hidden depths to discover.

The game gets incredibly interesting when the Order of the Sinking Star begins combining different worlds. Suddenly, character classes with unique skills find themselves in strange new environments – like a world of mirrors – and things that used to work one way, such as light-based paths or stone-skipping puzzles, start interacting in unexpected ways. This kind of wild combination is exactly what you’d expect from Blow, the game’s creator, and his fans will likely love it.

It’s difficult to quickly explain what Order of the Sinking Star is all about. The recent presentation only offered a brief glimpse of the game, which actually features a larger story and a definite conclusion. Considering the developer’s reputation for challenging players to think deeply, he’s taking a risk with Order of the Sinking Star.

After I finished presenting, I wasn’t sure what questions to ask. Jonathan Blow, known for creating thought-provoking games, seems to have done it again with his new work. While it doesn’t immediately grab you, Order of the Sinking Star clearly demonstrates a careful design, gradually teaching players how its worlds function.

I asked Blow if the puzzles had more than one solution. He explained that while players might find different approaches, his goal isn’t to mislead them. Instead, he wants players to fully grasp the rules of each puzzle, learn how to solve it, and then build upon that knowledge with increasingly difficult challenges.

Although Order of the Sinking Star isn’t scheduled to come out until 2026, even this early look feels promising. Jonathan Blow emphasizes that he doesn’t want to deliberately frustrate players, though his games are known for being intellectually challenging. I only got a short preview, but based on that, you’ll definitely want to have a notebook handy – this game seems like it will require a lot of thought and note-taking!

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2025-12-12 05:05