Order of the Sinking Star is the next puzzle game from the maker of The Witness

Jonathan Blow's next puzzle game will take players to a giant island, but more than one character is along for the ride.

Nearly a decade has passed since Braid creator Jonathan Blow introduced players to The Witness. It was an ambitious piece of work that tested minds across a mysterious puzzle-filled island. At The Game Awards on Thursday, Blow introduced his newest project under his Thekla developer label. While it shares some similarities with The Witness, Order of the Sinking Star goes to some exciting new places. I recently had an opportunity to take a first peek ahead of Thursday's award show reveal.

Like The Witness before it, Order of the Sinking Star takes place in a vast, mysterious world. However, the similarities end there. For starters, this game features a third-person overhead perspective. While this is a puzzle game at heart, it's also one filled with unique faces, stories, and challenges. Rather than explore the world as a single character, Order of the Sinking Star uses many different ones, each with their own distinct mechanics that introduce new ways to solve puzzles.

At the start of the game, players will be able to explore four different worlds, each with its own character class. These classes will all have different abilities and ways to interact with the grid-based board. For example, one world has a warrior character who can push multiple rocks at a time. Is there a rock behind another one? Is there a whole line of rocks? That's no problem for the warrior, who can push them all out of his way. Another area has a thief who pulls objects directly behind them. A different area has a wizard, who can swap places with any enemy character that they lock eyes with. These different classes will all find solutions in their own way, but their abilities can also act as drawbacks. To name one example, that wizard who can teleport around with a simple gaze? He does that compulsively, so it's possible to teleport one time too many and wind up with an unsolvable puzzle.

As the game goes on and players solve more puzzles, the characters will start to meet in the middle and their worlds and stories will begin to converge. This will also introduce puzzles that will utilize more than one mechanic. Classes will need to combine their abilities in order to solve increasingly difficult rooms and escape safely. It's important to remember both a character's skills and drawbacks; otherwise, someone can get mauled by a beast or fall into a death trap.

While The Witness could feel obtuse with its approach to puzzles at times, players should be able to grasp Order of the Sinking Star a little more easily. Class abilities are fairly straightforward, as are the puzzle objectives. The game's mechanics not only allow for varied puzzle design but also the potential for multiple solutions. With that said, it's a Jonathan Blow game, so expect the puzzles to get tougher as the game goes on. As was the case with his previous games, players will be rewarded for patience and persistence. As the game's worlds collide, they'll also be rewarded with a greater narrative that explains more about where they came from.

Look for both Thekla and publisher Arc Games to reveal more about Order of the Sinking Star in the months ahead. It is currently targeting a 2026 release on PC.

This preview is based on a developer briefing held via Discord.