Unveiling the Depths: Jonathan Blow Discusses 500 Hours of Gameplay and the Evolution of Ideas in Order of the Sinking Star

At the recent The Game Awards, the creator of Braid and The Witness Jonathan Blow unveiled Order of the Sinking Star, a large-scale puzzle game he has been developing for the past decade. A journalist from TheGamer had the chance to discuss the game’s narrative, varied endings for different players, Blow’s game development philosophy, and more.

Initially, in Order of the Sinking Star, players take on the role of a queen from a distant kingdom. Following a rebellion, she flees with her loyal supporters but is quickly captured and faces execution. At the last moment, she is saved and transported to another world—this marks the beginning of the narrative.

The world of Order of the Sinking Star is designed as a vast map divided into four regions, each featuring its own characters, rules, and mechanics to master for solving puzzles. Access points to these areas are marked by special tiles.

To the north lies a hero’s world reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons: in each challenge, players transform into characters with unique abilities. The fighter can push objects, the rogue can pull them, and the mage can teleport. These skills operate automatically and sometimes lead to unexpected situations—such as a rogue inadvertently positioning an item that traps the player. Fortunately, any action can be undone, making experimentation a safe strategy.

As players progress, the game requires them to use multiple heroes to solve individual puzzles. New challenges arise, such as monsters that kill on contact, although these creatures can be directed to battle one another. The hero region also includes three additional characters: a bard who can charm creatures, a druid, and a priestess who protects allies.

Having grasped the basics, players encounter a more complex world map. Now, puzzles can appear directly on the map, and solving them grants access to new puzzle tiles—forcing heroes to collaborate, creating a true «puzzle within a puzzle.»

Another region is the Mirror Islands. Here, players control a character with a reflection-based teleportation mechanic: they use mirrors to swap places with their clone. Later, players can employ multiple mirrors to generate several synchronized clones.

As you explore the worlds, you unlock new routes on the global map and access special golden puzzle tiles, where mechanics from various regions intertwine. For example, on one side of the screen, a Mirror Island hero operates while on the other appears a teleporting mage. Such challenges can only be cleared by merging their abilities, as each character can only tackle their part of the puzzle, not the entire challenge.

According to Blow, completing all four worlds constitutes just the «first five percent of the game.» After the golden tiles, diagonal paths on the map open, further blending the worlds. In regions like «Heroes and Mirrors,» logic puzzles from the heroes’ realm and mechanics from the Mirror Islands fuse.

And this is not the end. In these areas, players can tackle major «star» puzzles that fill a special meter. By completing seven out of ten, players activate a teleport leading to an island with the game’s climax. To reach the true ending, players need four out of six teleports; for 100% completion, all six are required.

The initial puzzles function in a 2D space, but eventually, 3D challenges emerge at various levels to prevent any sense of monotony. Blow even showcased the entire map, indicating its scale—it promises to be a true Everest for puzzle game enthusiasts.

The developer explained that in each of his games, he discovers a concept he wishes to delve into more deeply.

Following the completion of The Witness, Blow aimed to explore game mechanics further. He became intrigued by why various systems seamlessly work together. He points out that developers often don’t ponder this and simply add new elements, which then unexpectedly integrate and function cohesively.

Instead of starting from scratch or with simplistic ideas, Blow decided to build upon existing, coherent mechanics and combine them. This led to the concept of crafting new puzzles from fully realized systems. He noted that this approach dramatically increased the number of possible variations, resulting in the vast scale of the project. The more original elements, the broader the experimentation space. Developers had to examine all combinations, which proved to be a significant challenge.

Although the trailer mentions «over 1,000» puzzles, Blow specified that there are actually more than 1,400. He acknowledged that the team had to impose limits on themselves, or the game would never be completed. «We could have stopped four years ago,» he states. «But how do you know when it’s time?”

The developer further explained that his projects differ in appearance not because he intentionally seeks to change genres or perspectives. Braid was a 2D platformer, The Witness was a first-person open-world title, and Order of the Sinking Star has a top-down view with a grid. However, all these differences occurred naturally rather than as part of a plan to do something different each time.

This starting point emphasizes puzzle design rather than genre, camera perspective, or style selection. The format of the game is chosen based on what best conveys the idea. In the case of Order of the Sinking Star, a top-down view and «tile» structure proved most suitable for the primary concept of fusing four distinct worlds together and combining their mechanics to create coherent, functioning puzzles.

Blow noted that if he had attempted to implement the same concept in a first-person format, like in The Witness, it would have been nearly impossible. The puzzles in that game are too tied to the way space is perceived, and introducing new mechanics into a similar structure would «break the brain,» as he puts it. This means that the design’s goal dictates the appropriate game format—not all formats are equally suitable for every design challenge.

The game designer stated that he never works from a pre-established list—he doesn’t aim to create a project specifically in the style of Diablo or a platformer, as that approach does not resonate with him. He acknowledges, however, that sooner or later, options for formats will run out. He even hinted at a possible game following Order of the Sinking Star, which might closely resemble one of the puzzles already developed in terms of gameplay perspectives and other aspects.

Blow discussed his approach to balancing difficulty in Order of the Sinking Star. He noted that in puzzles, this aspect is critically important: if challenges are too simple, players breeze through and find no satisfaction. Conversely, if they are overly difficult, gamers may simply abandon the game.

For each title, the approach to difficulty varies and evolves with the developer’s experience. In the case of Order of the Sinking Star, the team realized that due to the project’s vastness, a reevaluation of standard puzzle balancing methods was necessary. In smaller titles lasting 10-15 hours, players enjoy challenging tasks and feel a sense of relief as they conclude the game.

However, in Order of the Sinking Star, if players aim to collect everything and achieve 100% completion, they will need around 500 hours. Blow understands that most gamers won’t complete the game thoroughly; thus, he deliberately avoids making all content overly difficult. The developers’ goal is not to complicate tasks for the sake of complication but to create engaging challenges that maintain interest and provide a sense of progress without excessive stress.

According to the developer, his experience with The Witness influenced puzzle design in Order of the Sinking Star. Blow realized that when challenges are introduced smoothly and players can tackle them at a reasonable pace, ideas are easier to grasp. Slow resolution complicates the understanding of what the game is trying to convey.

Due to the enormous scale of Order of the Sinking Star, the team had to carefully adjust difficulty and eliminate unnecessary obstacles not related to the level’s core idea. Each puzzle is centered around a specific concept. If players get stuck, it should relate directly to the task at hand, not be caused by distractions. Blow and his team continually question themselves: can the level be simplified without losing interest? If so, they make adjustments to ensure the ideas of Order of the Sinking Star effectively reach the player.

This approach has resulted in puzzles in Order of the Sinking Star being more «clean» and «straightforward» compared to previous games by the creator. Additionally, the average quality of the challenges is higher than in Braid or The Witness, reflecting the team’s experience and mastery: the more practice, the more engaging and precise the puzzles become.

Beyond balancing puzzle difficulty, Jonathan Blow meticulously considers how to integrate the story into gameplay. In Braid, he used book-like introductions followed by gameplay, while in The Witness, the narrative was conveyed through audio recordings. Initially, The Witness was intended to have a more complex storyline akin to a Radio Drama like BioShock, but as the project neared completion, Blow decided that the game should adopt a calmer tone and removed superfluous elements.

In Order of the Sinking Star, the narrative is seamlessly woven into the levels: characters and elements of the world interact naturally, and players hear dialogues as they progress. Blow emphasized that scenes should not be overly long so as not to disrupt gameplay. Dialogues develop the story and reveal the characters’ personalities.

One of the game’s central mysteries involves the world and the queen’s actions: why she finds herself in this «training» realm and what is happening there. Full answers are only revealed to those who achieve unexpected endings, although some information is accessible even in the «first» version of the finale.

The team behind Order of the Sinking Star has established a system of multiple endings. The developers aim for gamers to feel satisfied with any level of completion, even if they do not reach an ultimate 100% finish. The primary goal is to create an ending that is intriguing and fulfilling, even for those who do not wish to invest 500 hours into the game. It provides a sense of achievement and reveals enough of the story.

Jonathan Blow noted that there will not be a «bad» or incomplete ending in the game. Unlike The Witness, where the «normal» ending might disappoint players, here, every outcome will feel complete and logical. Exploring the world more deeply can uncover additional details and narratives.

Order of the Sinking Star is set to be released in 2026 for PC via Steam, and it is likely that the project will also appear on other platforms. The text-based localization in Russian is confirmed for Valve’s store.