Order of the Sinking Star is an upcoming puzzle video game developed by Thekla, Inc. and published by Arc Games. It is the third game directed by Jonathan Blow after Braid (2008) and The Witness (2016). It was developed using Jai, a programming language developed in-house by Blow and his studio. The game is scheduled for release on Windows, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 on October 8, 2026.

Gameplay

Order of the Sinking Star has four different sets of puzzle mechanics which combine over the course of the game.^[1] Many of the mechanics are inspired by Sokoban-style games including Heroes of Sokoban (Jonah Ostroff), Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes & Mirror Isles (Alan Hazelden) and the Promesst series (Sean Barrett) (which were inspired by Corrypt and Game Title by Michael Brough).^[2][3] Early puzzles in the game work on a 2D plane, but later puzzles are 3D.^[4]

The mechanics can start off simple yet lead to unexpected consequences. For example, in the "Mirror Isles" world, a character can use a single mirror to teleport their reflection and change places with it. However, it is possible to use more than one mirror to cast more than one reflection, thereby making clones of the character that all move at once.^[4] Blow said that like The Witness, there are multiple levels to the game's puzzles, first with the basic Sokobon mechanics, followed by how they combine, with a final abstraction level that Blow did not reveal prior to release.^[5]

The reveal trailer stated that Order of the Sinking Star has more than 1000 puzzles; director Jonathan Blow has stated that the game has more than 1400 puzzles.^[4] Blow stated that the game can take up to 250 hours to complete at a normal pace, and more than 500 hours to solve all puzzles.^[6] However, the player need not complete all puzzles to reach the end of the game's story.^[5]

Development

When announced, Order of the Sinking Star had been in development for nearly 10 years.^[3] Thekla created a game engine for the game, which was itself created using a programming language developed by the studio.^[1] Thekla has plans to release the programming language and engine with parts not related to game for free after it is released.^[1] At the moment, the programming language is available only to a few hundred users in the closed beta.

Thekla enlisted the help of other Sokoban-styled video games for some of the puzzles. They include Alan Hazelden (Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes, Mirror Isles), Sean Barrett (Promesst), Jonah Ostroff (Heroes of Sokoban), Patrick Traynor (Patrick's Parabox), Zach Polansky (Enigmash), and Marc Ten Bosch (Miegakure).^[7]

In December 2025, Hazelden made a series of statements on social media both praising the game and lamenting that Blow's beliefs were not aligned with his own, specifically citing Blow's support for Donald Trump, negative views on diversity, equity and inclusion, and opinions on COVID-19 vaccinations.^[8] Ostroff and Barrett followed up with statements of agreement on their respective social media accounts.^[9][10] Hazelden announced that he would be using his profits from the game to fund and uplift less privileged creators.^[11] After the game's demo was released and appeared to be missing credits from these contributors, Thekla said that all contributors will be acknowledged in the full game's credits as well as in information provided to MobyGames and press outlets.^[5]

Release

The game was announced at The Game Awards on December 11, 2025.^[12] The trailer revealed that the game will feature over 1000 puzzles and will be released in 2026.^[3]

In June 2026 it was announced that a PC demo would be globally available for one week as part of Steam Next Fest, starting from 15 June 2026 at 10am Pacific Time.^[13] At the conclusion of Steam Next Fest, it was announced that for a limited time the demo would continue to be made available.^[14]

Notes and references

External links

• Official website