Puzzle genre fans, it’s time to dust off your thinking caps and clear your calendars.
Arc Games and Thekla, Inc. have officially confirmed that Order of the Sinking Star—the colossal, highly anticipated puzzle adventure led by legendary game designer Jonathan Blow (Braid, The Witness)—is launching on October 8.
The mind-bending journey will be landing across PC (via Steam and Steam Deck), PlayStation 5, and the Nintendo Switch 2.
A Decade in the Making: The “Game Design Supercollider”
In development for nearly 10 years following the critical acclaim of 2016’s The Witness, Order of the Sinking Star is positioning itself as a generational milestone for the puzzle genre.
Rather than relying purely on a single set of mechanics, Blow and his team at Thekla have described the game as a “game design supercollider.” The title collides ideas from several brilliant indie puzzle games and designers into one grand, sprawling ecosystem.
The game builds upon mechanics inspired by celebrated titles such as:
- Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes & Mirror Isles (Alan Hazelden)
- Heroes of Sokoban (Jonah Ostroff)
- Promesst 1–3 (Sean Barrett)
- Design contributions from Patrick Traynor (Patrick’s Parabox), Marc ten Bosch (Miegakure), Zach Polansky (Enigmash), and community members.
When these distinct mechanics interact and overlap, players will witness simple early 2D rules evolve into breathtaking 3D challenges and deep layers of abstraction.
Key Features to Expect:
- Over 1,000 Hand-Crafted Puzzles: Featuring well over 1,400 challenges total, completionists can expect up to 250 to 500+ hours of unique, mind-bending gameplay.
- Unlikely Playable Heroes: Control an ensemble cast including a queen, a thief, a warrior, a wizard, and even a talking boat—each possessing unique abilities that alter how you interact with the environment.
- Four Interconnected Worlds: Explore diverse realms—such as The Mirror Isles, The Promise, and Hearty Heroes of Hauling—at your own pace with non-linear, open-ended progression.
- An Entangling Mystery: As characters meet and mechanics collide, a rich narrative unfolds around a secret cult known as the Order of the Sinking Star.
“By creating a kind of game design supercollider, we were able to bring together ideas from some of the most brilliant puzzle designers in the industry… We can’t wait for players to step into this world and discover just how deep and complex it really is.” — Jonathan Blow, Founder of Thekla, Inc.
Mark Your Calendars
Whether you’re looking to flex your brainpower on the desktop or take the brain-teasers on the go with the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch 2, Order of the Sinking Star is shaping up to be an unmissable adventure for strategy and puzzle lovers alike.
You can wishlist Order of the Sinking Star today on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and Nintendo eShop ahead of its October 8 release!
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