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Choose Order of the Sinking Star if you want a very large, character-led puzzle adventure with four worlds, interconnected mechanics and a more explicit story. Choose The Witness if you specifically want Jonathan Blow’s earlier, more self-directed puzzle experience. The available information does not establish a current price, complete platform list or full feature inventory for The Witness, so check its regional store listing before buying.
The short answer
These games appeal to different kinds of puzzle players even though they share Jonathan Blow’s name. Order of the Sinking Star is presented as a broad adventure: you move through four distinct worlds, control talkative characters, learn world-specific rules and combine abilities as the game expands. Its publisher and platform descriptions advertise more than 1,000 hand-crafted puzzles and hundreds of hours of content.
The Witness is the earlier Jonathan Blow puzzle game in this comparison. It is the better fit when your priority is a focused, discovery-led puzzle experience and you do not need a heavily explained narrative or a large cast of controllable characters. The supplied information does not verify its current price, exact current platform availability or a complete feature list, so those details should be confirmed on the store you intend to use.
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|---|---|---|
| A large adventure with many systems and characters | Order of the Sinking Star | Its official pitch centers on four worlds, multiple playable characters and mechanics that interlock across the adventure. |
| A more self-directed puzzle journey | The Witness | It is the earlier Blow puzzle game; the available material does not describe it as having the same character-driven structure. |
| More than 1,000 advertised puzzles | Order of the Sinking Star | Thekla’s official site and Nintendo Australia listing both use “over” or “more than” 1,000 puzzles. |
| A purchase on a particular console | Check the local listing first | Order of the Sinking Star is listed for Steam, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5, but dates and availability can vary by territory. |
What Order of the Sinking Star is
Order of the Sinking Star is developed by Thekla Inc. and directed by Jonathan Blow. The official site lists an October 8, 2026 release on Steam, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. Nintendo Australia’s listing, however, marks its Switch 2 version “Out now” and gives September 10, 2026 as the release date. Those are different territory or listing contexts, not a reason to assume one universal date. Use your own country’s storefront for the live status.
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The game’s structure is intentionally expansive. The official description calls the puzzles “over 1,000 interconnected, hand-crafted” challenges. Nintendo Australia likewise describes “more than one thousand hand-crafted puzzles,” while a PlayStation Blog hands-on report refers to “900+ levels” and separately says there are over a thousand puzzles. Because the sources may be counting levels and puzzles differently, there is no single settled number to apply to every screen or challenge.
Four worlds and evolving rules
Nintendo’s listing identifies four distinct worlds. PlayStation Blog describes each world as having its own rules, with abilities and puzzle logic that can combine across characters and worlds. That makes progression more than a sequence of unrelated boards: a rule introduced in one place can become useful when another character or environment changes the conditions.
Multiple playable characters
The PlayStation Blog report describes talkative, controllable characters with character-specific abilities. The abilities are part of the puzzle language, so the game’s challenge is not only finding a route through a grid; it is also recognizing which character or power can alter the current problem. The report came from a pre-release demo, so it should be read as an observation of the game’s design rather than a complete inventory of every mechanic in the final release.
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Publisher-described scale
The official marketing also promises hundreds of hours. That is a publisher-described scope, not an independent completion-time estimate or a guarantee that every player will spend that long. Your time will depend on whether you solve optional puzzles, how much experimentation you do and how quickly each rule clicks.
How the puzzle design differs
The clearest documented contrast is structural. Order of the Sinking Star uses grid-based pushing puzzles, world-specific rules and abilities that can be combined. The PlayStation Blog demo also showed an undo mechanic, allowing experimentation without permanently committing to every move.
Grid movement and object pushing in Order of the Sinking Star
In the reported demo, the player moved on grids and pushed objects into useful positions. A push can change the state of the board, block a route or create a new one, so planning often involves predicting the result of several moves rather than reacting to a single obstacle. Undo is particularly useful for testing a hypothesis, observing the consequence and returning to the previous state when the idea fails.
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Rules that belong to a world
Each world is described as having its own puzzle rules. You therefore need to learn the local grammar before judging whether a puzzle is difficult: an object or ability that seems decorative may be the key to the entire area. As characters and abilities are combined, a later problem can ask you to apply an earlier rule in a new context.
What is and is not established about The Witness
The available material identifies The Witness as the earlier Jonathan Blow puzzle game, but it does not provide an authoritative, complete feature list for this article. It would be misleading to assign it a specific puzzle count, current platform list, price or detailed system-by-system comparison without checking a current official listing. The safe distinction is about the documented direction of the two games: Order of the Sinking Star is explicitly built around characters, abilities, worlds and pushing-based grid puzzles, while the evidence here does not support a broader technical inventory for The Witness.
Is Order of the Sinking Star like The Witness?
It is similar in the broad sense that both are puzzle adventures associated with Jonathan Blow and expect the player to discover how their challenges work. It is not safe to treat them as interchangeable. Order of the Sinking Star adds a clearly documented cast, direct character control, world-specific rules, grid-based pushing and an explicit adventure framework. If what you liked about The Witness was the act of making discoveries without a conventional explanation, you may appreciate that spirit here; if you want the same exact puzzle interface or structure, the available evidence does not establish that.
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Story and presentation
Story is another major dividing line. The PlayStation Blog report says Order of the Sinking Star has a more explicit story than The Witness, because its characters are immediately present, talkative and controllable. The same report still emphasizes discovery rather than presenting every answer up front.
More immediate narrative in Order of the Sinking Star
You encounter named, controllable characters who can speak and whose abilities affect play. That gives the adventure a visible cast and a stronger sense of progression through places and relationships. The story is not described as a replacement for solving puzzles; it is layered over the act of learning each world’s rules.
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Discovery remains central
Even with more dialogue, the game retains a discovery ethos. The report’s wording is precise: “While Order of the Sinking Star’s story is more explicit than that found in Braid or The Witness due to its immediate presence of talkative, controllable characters, there’s still a strong ethos of discovery.” In practical terms, expect the narrative to be clearer than a purely environmental mystery while still requiring you to infer how the worlds, abilities and puzzles fit together.
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Which narrative preference should decide your choice?
- Choose Order of the Sinking Star if character presence, dialogue and an unfolding adventure are important parts of your puzzle-game experience.
- Choose The Witness if you prefer to approach a puzzle world with less emphasis on a visible cast and want to judge it on its own documented design rather than on a promised story scale.
Scale, commitment and completion expectations
The numbers point strongly toward Order of the Sinking Star for players seeking a long-term project. Thekla’s site says “over 1,000 interconnected, hand-crafted puzzles.” Nintendo Australia says “more than one thousand hand-crafted puzzles.” PlayStation Blog mentions “900+ levels” and also uses an over-1,000 puzzle description. Those statements should not be averaged into one exact total: a level can contain more than one puzzle, or the sources can simply be using different counting conventions.
| Scale statement | Source and qualification | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Over 1,000 interconnected, hand-crafted puzzles | Thekla Inc. official site, checked in 2026 | Publisher/developer marketing claim; not an independent count. |
| More than 1,000 hand-crafted puzzles | Nintendo Australia listing, checked in 2026 | Publisher-provided platform description; terminology may not match “levels.” |
| 900+ levels, plus over 1,000 puzzles | Corey Brotherson, PlayStation Blog, July 21, 2026 | A pre-release report using two different measures; do not equate levels and puzzles. |
| Hundreds of hours | Official promotional copy | Advertised scope, not a guaranteed completion time. |
If you have limited free time and want a compact experience, do not assume the advertised scale is an advantage. A thousand-plus puzzle claim can represent a substantial commitment, especially if you pursue optional challenges or spend time testing interactions. If you enjoy a game becoming more complex over many sessions, the same scale is a central reason to choose it.
Platforms, dates and hardware details
The official Order of the Sinking Star site lists Steam, Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. Storefront availability remains territory-dependent. Nintendo Australia’s page says the Switch 2 edition is “Out now,” gives September 10, 2026 as its release date and lists Arc Games as publisher. The official site gives October 8, 2026. Check the local store page rather than relying on either date outside its stated context.
| Platform or listing detail | Documented information | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Steam | Listed by the official site | Confirm the live regional store page and current system requirements. |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | Listed by the official site; Nintendo Australia marks it “Out now” | Nintendo Australia gives September 10, 2026; the official site gives October 8, 2026. |
| PlayStation 5 | Listed by the official site | Confirm local availability and edition details on the PlayStation Store. |
| Switch 2 file size | 18.8GB estimated | Nintendo Australia specification; estimated size can change with updates. |
| Switch 2 play modes | TV, tabletop and handheld | Nintendo Australia listing; this is a mode description, not a claim about other platforms. |
| Local play | One-player local mode | Nintendo Australia listing; the game is not being presented here as a multiplayer title. |
Steam community notes dated October 9 and October 12, 2026 mention compatibility and gameplay fixes. Those are platform update notes, not an independent quality rating. If you purchase near launch, check the current build and install available updates before diagnosing a problem as a design issue.
Choose Order of the Sinking Star if…
- You want a puzzle adventure that can occupy many sessions rather than a short set of challenges.
- You enjoy learning different rules in different worlds and then combining them.
- You prefer direct control of characters with distinct abilities over a purely abstract puzzle presentation.
- You want an explicit, discoverable story with dialogue but still expect the game to make you infer connections.
- You play on Steam, Switch 2 or PS5 and your local storefront confirms availability.
Choose The Witness if…
- You are specifically looking for Jonathan Blow’s earlier puzzle adventure.
- You prefer to evaluate a game on its self-directed discovery rather than on a large advertised cast and world structure.
- You do not need a documented count of more than 1,000 puzzles or a publisher-described hundreds-of-hours scope.
- You have checked the current regional listing for its price, platform and edition because those details are not established here.
Buying checklist before you commit
- Confirm the platform. For Order of the Sinking Star, look for the current Steam, Nintendo or PlayStation listing in your territory. Do not infer local availability from the official site alone.
- Check the date shown by your store. The official site and Nintendo Australia listing show different dates, so the storefront tied to your account is the useful authority for purchase timing.
- Check storage on Switch 2. Nintendo Australia estimates 18.8GB. Leave additional room for system data and updates rather than treating the estimate as a guaranteed final install size.
- Decide whether the scale suits you. “Over 1,000” puzzles and “hundreds of hours” describe the advertised scope, not the amount every player must complete.
- Verify current details for The Witness. Its price, platform availability and complete feature inventory are not supplied here and can vary by region and date.
- Install updates. Steam community notes from October 2026 list compatibility and gameplay fixes; an up-to-date build is the fairest basis for judging the game.
Final recommendation by player type
| Player profile | Best starting choice | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Systems-focused puzzle fan | Order of the Sinking Star | Its documented design combines grid pushing, world-specific rules and character abilities. |
| Story-minded adventurer | Order of the Sinking Star | Talkative, controllable characters make the narrative more immediate while discovery remains part of the experience. |
| Player seeking a long commitment | Order of the Sinking Star | Its official descriptions advertise more than 1,000 puzzles and hundreds of hours. |
| Jonathan Blow completionist | Start with whichever you have not played | The Witness is the earlier game; Order of the Sinking Star is the larger, newer project documented here. |
| Buyer sensitive to current price or platform | Check both regional stores first | The available information does not verify current The Witness pricing or a universal platform list, and Order of the Sinking Star has territory-specific date differences. |
For most readers asking which puzzle adventure to play now, Order of the Sinking Star is the stronger recommendation when “bigger, more character-driven and mechanically interconnected” describes the experience you want. The Witness remains the more natural choice when the appeal is specifically Jonathan Blow’s earlier puzzle adventure and a less explicitly characterized form of discovery. Treat the platform, date, price and storage details as storefront questions, and treat the puzzle totals and hundreds-of-hours figure as publisher-described scope rather than guarantees.
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