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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsJonathan Blow’s “biggest puzzle game ever” is Order of the Sinking Star, a puzzle adventure from his studio, Thekla, Inc. Its official materials describe more than 1,000 interconnected, hand-crafted puzzles across four worlds whose mechanics eventually combine. That scale is the game’s own promotional framing—not a verified industry record.
What game is Jonathan Blow talking about?
Blow is discussing Order of the Sinking Star, which he directs and Thekla, Inc. develops. The game’s official site describes a narrative adventure with more than 1,000 interconnected, hand-crafted puzzles. Its Steam listing describes four distinct worlds, each with its own mechanics, characters, and stories, that eventually collide and combine their puzzle systems.
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Steam’s description calls it “the largest and greatest puzzle game ever made.” That is promotional language from the game’s listing, not an independently verified record. The substantiated scale claim is narrower: the developer advertises more than 1,000 puzzles, and the store listing describes four worlds.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →How does Blow say the puzzle systems fit together?
Blow says the idea of combining distinct worlds was central from the beginning. He looked for mechanics that would interact and create new situations, rather than treating the worlds as unrelated collections of puzzles. As he told MonsterVine: “I knew from the beginning that the core idea of the game was combining these worlds. So, I was on the lookout for mechanics that I felt would come together and dovetail nicely to create new, interesting situations.”
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That approach makes the four-world structure more than a setting detail: according to the Steam description, the puzzle systems eventually combine. The available descriptions do not establish exactly how or when each mechanic enters play, so the practical shape of that progression is best left to the game rather than inferred from the marketing summary.
What does Blow consider good puzzle difficulty?
Blow draws a line between difficulty that makes a player think about a puzzle’s central idea and difficulty that obscures that idea or adds generic, tiring work. He told MonsterVine that “bad difficulty” includes making the idea too hard to see or requiring effort—such as mentally navigating an invisible maze—that is not distinctive to the puzzle’s concept. In his view, difficulty is worthwhile when it is tied to what makes that particular puzzle interesting.
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The principle echoes a broader point Blow has made about puzzle design: a puzzle game should be “about something,” and what it is about should be worthwhile, as he put it in a PC Gamer interview. This is a statement of design philosophy, not a guarantee that every player will find the game’s puzzles easy to read or enjoyable.
How much was cut and reworked?
Blow told MonsterVine that the team cut somewhere between half and two-thirds of the puzzles it designed, and that almost every puzzle that remained was reworked. Those figures are his interview estimate, not an independently audited production count. They do, however, show how he describes the process: the advertised puzzle total is not simply a tally of every early idea the team tried.
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Does the game let players explore in any order?
Blow says players can move among the four areas, while the team holds advanced puzzle concepts behind earlier versions so exploration does not immediately expose players to ideas they have not yet encountered. In his words, “you have a lot of freedom to explore” without running into puzzles the team considers players unprepared for.
That is a balance between open movement and managed learning, not a promise of completely unrestricted progression. Blow’s older description of The Witness—“All you ever need in order to open the door is the right idea”—offers context for his interest in idea-led progression, but it does not prove that Order of the Sinking Star uses the same structure.
When does Order of the Sinking Star come out, and where?
As of October 7, 2026, the official site lists an October 8, 2026 release for Steam, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5. Steam labels its date as planned, and the Nintendo US store listing also gives October 8 for Switch 2. These listings establish the announced date and platforms, but do not confirm that the launch has already happened.
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