Jonathan Blow's The Order of the Sinking Star Launches with 1,500 Puzzles After Decade-Long Development
On Thursday, October 8, 2026, American game developer Jonathan Blow, celebrated for the 2008 indie hit Braid, will unveil his latest project, The Order of the Sinking Star. This marks his first release in ten years since The Witness and boasts approximately 1,500 puzzles, requiring around 500 hours for completion. Blow claims it to be "the biggest puzzle game ever made." The game originated from a design experiment and features four overhead worlds inspired by mechanics from four free puzzle games. Additionally, Blow developed a custom engine and his own programming language, Jai. He has expressed skepticism regarding the role of AI in game creation. In December 2025, Alan Hazelden parted ways with Blow, who opted to concentrate on game development.
Key facts
- The Order of the Sinking Star is released on Thursday, October 8, 2026.
- The game contains roughly 1,500 puzzles and is estimated to take around 500 hours to complete.
- Jonathan Blow's previous game, The Witness, was released a decade ago.
- The game is built on mechanics from four pre-existing free puzzle games by other designers, used with permission.
- One world is based on Alan Hazelden's 2014 game Mirror Isles, where players use mirror reflections to swap places across islands.
- Blow created his own programming language, Jai, and a custom engine for the game.
- In December 2025, Alan Hazelden publicly distanced himself from Blow on Bluesky, calling him "dismissive of diversity efforts" and "pro-MAGA."
- Blow is skeptical of AI and said it was "not part of the pipeline at all" for the game.
Entities
Artists
- Jonathan Blow
- Alan Hazelden
Institutions
- Braid
- The Witness
- The Order of the Sinking Star
- Mirror Isles
- Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes
- Farmville
- World of Warcraft
- Bluesky
- Unity
- Unreal Engine
- Indie Game: The Movie
- BBC
Locations
- United States
- United Kingdom