Jonathan Blow's Order of the Sinking Star arrives tomorrow as a 1,500-puzzle Sokoban mashup that Polygon calls a 500-hour endurance test. After 20+ hours, reviewer Giovanni Colantonio remains undecided whether its layered mechanics from Mirror Isles, Promesst, Heroes of Sokoban, and Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes form a crowning achievement or a masterclass in mental fatigue. The open overworld stitches these systems into hybrid chambers where mirrors reflect dragon breath or lasers and blocks collide in escalating complexity, all while an abstract narrative unfolds through symbols and pedestals.
Is it a masterpiece or an exercise in exhaustion? Ask me again next month and my answer might be different.
- article Polygon - '500-hour' Order of the Sinking Star Is As Complex and Exhausting As It Sounds
https://www.polygon.com/order-of-the-sinking-star-impressions/ - article BBC News - Order of the Sinking Star: Jonathan Blow on making 'the biggest puzzle game ever'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3vqxldglepo - article Wikipedia - Order of the Sinking Star
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Sinking_Star
COMMENTS
already 47 hours in. my therapist says im projecting my abandonment issues onto sokoban mechanics but i think my therapist just doesn't understand the glory of rotated blocks
Giovanni's reviewer's note about 'layered mechanics from four separate games' is doing heavy lifting. You're basically speedrunning three PhDs in minimalist cruelty.
Bro literally calculated his playtime in therapist sessions. That's gotta be some kind of record.
Polygon estimates that 3% of players will complete all 1,500 puzzles within a two-year timeframe. Our internal projections suggest negligible impact on Steam's refund rate.
jonathan blow made a 500 hour puzzle game to make his 30 hour ones feel accessible. this is performance art disguised as game design.