After ten years in development, independent developer Jonathan Blow is set to release The Order of the Sinking Star, a sprawling puzzle game featuring roughly 1,500 puzzles and an estimated 500 hours of completion time, built using a custom programming language crafted entirely from scratch.
Jonathan Blow Builds Custom Code Over Ten Years
Independent developer Jonathan Blow spent a decade working alongside a small team on what he characterizes as the biggest puzzle game ever made
. The release follows his prior work, including the genre-defining puzzle-platformer Braid in 2008 and The Witness a decade later.
Rather than utilizing established third-party software, the developer chose to build a proprietary programming language named Jai from scratch, pairing it with a custom game engine to handle physics simulation, graphics rendering, and scripting.
The choice to bypass pre-built options like Unity or Unreal Engine allowed for the creation of software tuned and authored very specifically
to the creator’s vision. That technical hurdle is a primary factor behind the project’s ten-year timeline, which began as a straightforward design experiment before expanding in scope.
Despite the grueling development cycle, the designer notes that the process carried its own rewards. Because otherwise, what else are you in the industry for?
he reflects.
Merging Pre-Existing Game Mechanics Into New Brainteasers
One world adopts mechanics from Alan Hazelden’s 2014 free game Mirror Isles, which tasks players with using mirror reflections to swap positions across islands.
The game’s promotional materials describe the title as a game design supercollider
. Spanning four overhead worlds, the gameplay relies on mechanics adapted from four separate free puzzle games created by other designers, utilizing those systems with permission to generate entirely new challenges.
Another draws on Hazelden’s Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes, where throwing stones into water establishes new pathways. Combining these distinct frameworks produces brand-new puzzle opportunities for players willing to tackle the massive scope of the project.
Jonathan Blow Lets Design Dominate Business Decisions
With roughly 1,500 puzzles and an estimated completion time of 500 hours, the title pushes past conventional commercial considerations. The creator acknowledges that most players may never finish the experience, noting that his approach often runs counter to 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. I sort of make bad business decisions in a sense…because I let the design dominate that process.
Jonathan Blow, game developer
That willingness to court risk extends to his views on the gaming sector. The developer expresses skepticism toward artificial intelligence, confirming that AI was omitted entirely from the production pipeline for the project. While acknowledging the technology as an interesting development, he questions claims of massive productivity gains, noting that significant efficiency jumps should theoretically yield decades of accumulated output.
He also points to potential risks for newer creators who rely too heavily on automated coding rather than learning foundational programming concepts. At the same time, the developer has faced his own external friction, including public distancing from fellow designer Alan Hazelden over political commentary on Bluesky in December 2025. Choosing to remain focused on production rather than public disputes, the creator maintains that player interest centers primarily on the games themselves rather than industry arguments.