Thekla, Inc., led by director Jonathan Blow, developed Order of the Sinking Star, and Blow is also the designer behind Braid and The Witness. If you're looking up the Order of the Sinking Star developer because you enjoyed those games, the connection is the creator and his puzzle design work. This adventure brings together ideas from several puzzle designers across more than 1,000 interconnected, handcrafted puzzles.
Who made Order of the Sinking Star, and what are their other games?
Thekla, Inc. developed Order of the Sinking Star under Jonathan Blow's direction; Braid and The Witness are the earlier games associated with Blow.
The company credit and the director credit answer different parts of the question. You may recognize Blow's name first, but this is a team project with contributions from multiple puzzle designers.
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Developer | Thekla, Inc. |
| Director | Jonathan Blow |
| Publishers | Arc Games and Gamirror Games |
| Earlier games associated with Blow | Braid and The Witness |
How is Order of the Sinking Star connected to The Witness and Braid?
Order of the Sinking Star shares Jonathan Blow as its creator with Braid and The Witness, and its development grew out of the period following The Witness's release.
Its design foundation draws on four other puzzle games. The idea was to combine several designers' systems, then explore what happens when their worlds and mechanics meet. If you're coming from The Witness, that gives you a useful way to read this game's ambition: several puzzle systems feed into an interconnected adventure.
| Foundational game | Designer | Core idea and corresponding guide |
|---|---|---|
| Heroes of Sokoban 1, 2, and 3 | Jonah Ostroff | Heroes with distinct movement and pushing mechanics. Start with order of the sinking star heroes of hauling. |
| Mirror Isles | Alan Hazelden | Swapping places with reflections across islands. See order of the sinking star mirror isles walkthrough. |
| Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes | Alan Hazelden | Throwing stones into water to create stepping paths. See order of the sinking star skipping stones. |
| Promesst 1–3 | Sean Barrett | Grid puzzles involving a cave and mysterious beams of light. Continue with order of the sinking star the promise. |
Those foundations form the beginning of the game; combining their worlds creates further possibilities. Other design contributors include Zach Polansky, Patrick Traynor, and Marc ten Bosch, associated with Enigmash, Patrick's Parabox, and Miegakure respectively.
What programming language does Order of the Sinking Star use?
Order of the Sinking Star was developed using Jai, the programming language Jonathan Blow created.
The project also uses a custom engine. Building both the language and the engine let Blow tailor the technology to the game he wanted to make. For you as a player, Jai explains part of the development story; the puzzle design experiment and the programming project developed together.
How long was Order of the Sinking Star in development?
Order of the Sinking Star was in development for nearly a decade following the release of The Witness.
It began as an experiment in combining puzzle designs and using a custom programming language, then grew into a roughly ten-year adventure and programming project. That timeline covers more than puzzle creation: Jai and the custom engine were also part of the work.
You now have the key distinction: Thekla made the game, Blow directed it, and several designers helped shape its puzzle systems. When you're ready to move from the game's background to solving its puzzles, head to the order of the sinking star walkthrough.