The Witness and Braid Creator Jonathan Blow Announces New 250-Hour Puzzle Game, Order of the Sinking Star | The Game Awards 2025

Puzzle games person changed a batch since The Witness deed successful 2016, which showed america caller ways of interpreting crippled environments and connecting the dots. And adjacent successful 2025 we had the likes of Blue Prince shingle up our knowing with the twist of a roguelike deckbuilding puzzler. In the years since, the pb decorator of Braid and The Witness, Jonathan Blow, had been moving connected a caller task with a bigger squad than his erstwhile games — it’s called Order of the Sinking Star, which was revealed astatine The Game Awards 2025. It’s an ambitious task connected insubstantial — Blow said to person 1,000 idiosyncratic puzzles and tin instrumentality up to 250 hours to implicit astatine a mean gait (and upwards 500 hours for completionists), but it’s the mode it layers its gameplay mechanics arsenic you get deeper into the crippled that’s the much awesome part.

I precocious saw an off-hands demo of Order of the Sinking Star, which is simply a grid-based isometric escapade with a branching overworld that encompasses a ample bulk of its idiosyncratic puzzles. Blow showcased a fig of these puzzles successful existent time; it started retired with elemental block-pushing mazes that worked arsenic a little tutorial for however antithetic characters interact with obstacles — specified arsenic the thief who tin lone propulsion objects and the wizard who indispensable swap places with objects successful line-of-sight. However, aboriginal levels began to stack much variables that adhd complexity to the nonsubjective of simply going from constituent A to constituent B.

Mirrors that teleport you (or objects) crossed gaps adjacent to your region from the reflector itself, oregon hostile creatures that volition termination you if you determination to an adjacent artifact connected the grid, oregon beams that tin signifier you done walls; these are a fewer of the things I saw successful action. Each puzzle teaches you however these mechanics enactment by introducing them successful a basal situation without explaining them outright and gets progressively hard arsenic you advancement — reasonably modular stuff. Like Braid, you besides person a rewind instrumentality to determination backmost arsenic galore steps arsenic you want, which makes it easier to experimentation with a puzzle’s variables alternatively of perpetually having to restart a puzzle from the beginning. But it’s erstwhile these mechanics are utilized successful aggregate combinations that trial your knowing of them and physique connected that cognition erstwhile you person to see your moves respective steps ahead.

When mixing successful the circumstantial ways successful which each quality interacts with objects connected the grid, you’ll person galore much layers to see arsenic puzzles grow successful size and complexity. I saw 1 country successful the overworld that asked you to leap done gates connected the grid to power characters and tee up the obstacles for each of them — since the wizard must swap spots with blocks crossed from him, he’ll get stuck down a artifact locked down a gross truthful you person to find a mode to propulsion a caller artifact from crossed the grid to marque definite the wizard get successful the close presumption to erstwhile helium has to teleport. Another twist I saw was having a quality replicate themselves by phasing done aggregate mirrors astatine once, making you power clones simultaneous, which leads to absorbing solutions for definite puzzles.

Zooming retired to a bird’s oculus presumption of the overworld showed conscionable however expansive Order of the Sinking Star volition beryllium — and successful a mode that felt overwhelming. You commencement exploring the puzzles disposable successful immoderate of the cardinal directions, letting you spell arsenic acold arsenic you privation successful 1 absorption and leaving unfastened the enactment to spell successful a antithetic 1 successful lawsuit you get stuck. The overworld itself has puzzles that unlock caller sections of the representation arsenic a mode of progression, creating further layers to the puzzle-solving And possibly you’ll person a eureka infinitesimal successful the process that volition radiance a airy connected erstwhile puzzles to marque much of these pieces marque sense.

The happening I’m hesitant astir is its overwhelming quality being intimidating that it becomes daunting to prosecute with. And retaining the cognition that you’ve built up for consequent puzzles whitethorn conscionable get mislaid implicit clip if you instrumentality an extended interruption from playing. From what I’ve seen, adjacent tracking what you did and didn’t implicit successful the overworld mightiness get pugnacious adjacent though the representation does person glints to item cardinal locations to sojourn and explore.

I asked Blow astir however helium and the squad person thought astir guiding the subordinate and balancing a wide hands-off approach. He said they’re considering implementing a hint strategy oregon a limited-use mechanic to nudge players successful the close direction, but it’s tricky since helium doesn’t privation it to go a crutch. He went connected to notation that the biology plan of puzzle rooms tin beryllium instructive arsenic good and intends to incorporate ocular cues for what’s important to look astatine arsenic you find solutions.

There besides seems to beryllium an underlying communicative with each bid of puzzles wherever antithetic sections of the overworld enactment you successful power of characters from assorted timelines successful the game’s lore. And the ways these timelines intersect and showcase practice betwixt assorted civilizations mightiness person thing to accidental astir what happened to their satellite and possibly person a broader connection astir quality cooperation. So far, it feels akin to The Witness wherever precise small is told to you and the enigma dilatory unravels, but this clip you person chiseled characters with dependable lines who volition interact with each different successful tiny ways arsenic they transverse paths passim the game’s puzzles.

Order of the Sinking Star is besides meant to showcase the proprietary crippled motor and programming connection that Blow has been moving connected successful tandem, and intends for it to beryllium disposable arsenic an open-source instrumentality soon aft the game’s release. As acold arsenic merchandise date, each we cognize for present is that Order of the Sinking Star is acceptable to motorboat sometime successful 2026 connected PC and different platforms astatine a aboriginal date.

Be definite to cheque retired everything announced astatine The Game Awards 2025 for more, arsenic good arsenic the winners database successful full.

Michael is the tech reviews exertion astatine IGN, but regularly contributes to games sum with reviews, features, and news.