American game developer Jonathan Blow is set to release The Order of the Sinking Star on Thursday, a massive puzzle game containing roughly 1,500 puzzles and an estimated 500 hours of gameplay, built over a decade using a custom programming language and engine.
Ten Years of Development on Nightmare Mode
For a decade, a small team led by Jonathan Blow has worked on what the creator believes is the biggest puzzle game ever made. Blow, widely recognized as a pioneer of the modern indie game movement after releasing the puzzle-platformer Braid in 2008, is bringing his latest project to players a decade after his previous release, The Witness.
Rather than relying on pre-built software such as Unity or Unreal Engine, Blow took on the considerable challenge of writing his own programming language, Jai, from scratch. He then paired that language with a custom engine to build the game. A game engine packs graphics rendering, physics simulation, and scripting into a single software environment for creators. For Blow, building his own engine meant he could craft something tuned and authored very specifically to his vision.
Reflecting on the grueling decade-long build, Blow added: But it’s also been rewarding in a certain way. Because otherwise, what else are you in the industry for?
Combining Mechanics in a Game Design Supercollider
The Order of the Sinking Star features roughly 1,500 puzzles across four overhead worlds. The gameplay mechanics are drawn from four pre-existing free puzzle games by other designers, built with their permission and described in the game’s promotional blurb as a game design supercollider where separate ideas are smashed together.
For instance, one world uses mechanics from Alan Hazelden’s free 2014 game Mirror Isles, allowing players to use mirror reflections to swap places across islands. When combined with another Hazelden game, Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes—where players throw stones into water to create paths—entirely new puzzle opportunities emerge.
Blow admits his design choices rarely follow standard business logic.
“Some people decide what to make based on what’s practical or what makes business sense… It’s never been the way that I think.”
Jonathan Blow
I sort of make bad business decisions in a sense…because I let the design dominate that process. But then because we did that, we always have something unique,
Blow said.
Industry Skepticism Toward Artificial Intelligence
While artificial intelligence has swept through modern software development, Blow kept the technology completely out of his pipeline for the new project. He views AI as an interesting advancement and technological achievement, but remains skeptical of claims surrounding productivity gains.
Addressing claims of tenfold productivity increases, Blow questioned the output: If you’re saying you’re ten times as productive and it’s been 3 years, you should have been able to do thirty years of work. So where’s this output of 30 years of work?
He also warned that heavy reliance on automated tools could leave future creators unable to program or learn the foundational mechanics of code. Without knowing the underlying fundamentals, the supply of capable programmers may fall short.
Public Friction and Industry Culture
Blow has built a reputation for outspoken critiques of industry norms, previously calling social media titles like Farmville evil
and labeling World of Warcraft quest design unethical
.
Tensions within the independent developer community also surfaced publicly. In December 2025, fellow developer Alan Hazelden posted on Bluesky to distance himself from Blow, writing that Blow was dismissive of diversity efforts and pro-MAGA. Blow has not responded publicly to those criticisms, choosing instead to focus entirely on development.
What the players want from developers is good games,
Blow noted, adding that creators should avoid arguing about political stances.
