00:02This video is brought to you by Order of the Sinking Star.
00:06Available now on Steam, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5.
00:15Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at all the details that make Order of the Sinking Star
00:21a must-play game for all puzzle fans.
00:24Who are you? And what are these? Beams.
00:26They're very useful. Watch this!
00:28But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long,
00:31so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:37The Creators
00:41That's a lot of chaos just for us.
00:44Hardcore puzzle fans have likely had Order of the Sinking Star on their radar
00:47since it was officially revealed during the 2025 Game Awards,
00:51and the game's director is one of the biggest reasons why.
00:54It comes from Jonathan Blow, the creative mind behind 2008's Braid, and 2016's The Witness,
01:00two of the most acclaimed puzzle games in the last 20 years.
01:11That would be enough to get any fan excited, since Blow began working on the game around a decade ago.
01:17However, he has also enlisted several other notable independent creators to help him design the many, many puzzles found in
01:23the game,
01:24from Alan Hazelden of A Monster's Expedition to Patrick Trainor, creator of Patrick's Parabox.
01:37The Four Worlds
01:39It's a huge puzzle adventure where you explore a big overworld and drop down into different sub-games.
01:46Order of the Sinking Star takes place in a massive fantasy world, split into four distinct experiences.
01:52From the center of the map, you can go in any of the four cardinal directions and play what is
01:57essentially a different game.
01:59Overall, it's inspired by Sokoban-style games, which typically focus on moving blocks or other objects around a grid-based
02:06area.
02:06However, each of the four worlds gives you a different set of mechanics, as well as a different story and
02:11group of characters to follow.
02:13That's a totally different world, with totally different stuff going on.
02:16The heroes don't know about the Mirror Isles, and vice versa.
02:20Branching out from a common foundation while still including vastly different pieces is a unique way to design a puzzle
02:26game.
02:26The combinatorics are huge, and that generates many, many levels, and that's why there are over a thousand puzzles in
02:33the game.
02:34Unique Characters
02:35These aisles seemed much bigger through the eyes of a boy. I know it's hard, but we must press forward.
02:42There's plenty of variety in each of the game's areas, and how they're designed, as well as how you play.
02:47In the Hardy Heroes of Hauling, you control a group of different heroes who started a moving company, and whose
02:53varied abilities are used to solve different puzzles.
02:56A warrior, thief, wizard, bard, cleric, and druid, all of whom have different puzzle powers.
03:04In the Mirror Isles, a wealthy trader relies on mirrors to move objects and swap places with his own reflection.
03:10Another World has you use different colored light beams for new abilities while navigating a dark mine.
03:15And Another follows a sailor manipulating water currents to make it to safety.
03:20Each of the game's areas are different, yet connected in more ways than one.
03:24You can play these four games in any order.
03:27Bringing everything together
03:28Have you any idea where we are? I was about to ask you the same thing!
03:33Each of the four games found within Order of the Sinking Star begins completely separately.
03:38However, players will eventually come to a point where they start to merge.
03:42As you make it far enough in each direction, the different paths will connect, and the different characters from each
03:48story will meet and interact.
03:50But more exciting, at least from a gameplay perspective, they will begin to solve puzzles together, using their different bags
03:57of tricks to do so.
03:58Having four distinct experiences is interesting enough. To have them combine with one another to create even more dynamic puzzles
04:05is sure to keep players glued to their screens.
04:08I have never imagined such a device that could fuse realities. Not just mashing together terrains, it weaves the very
04:16laws of nature into a composite home.
04:18An impressive voice cast.
04:21When we catch this guy, I'm gonna give him a big piece of my mind.
04:26On top of including a group of diverse games with significantly different characters, Order of the Sinking Star boasts a
04:32stacked voice cast that will help propel their stories forward.
04:36Members of the Heroes of Hauling include Liam O'Brien of Critical Role fame, and Overwatch alums Darren DePaul and
04:43Anjali Bimani, who voice Reinhardt and Symmetra respectively.
04:46It is amazing the way you just zip around.
04:50Well, it did take some doing.
04:53Other exciting names include Emily O'Brien, who played Amelie in Death Stranding, Matthew Watterson, who just played Magneto in
04:59X-Men 97, and Erica Luttrell, who starred as the female variant of Hawks in Star Wars Zero Company.
05:06Fetch! Shall I also scratch my fleas and bark at the parselier?
05:10Forging your own path.
05:12If I'd known that starting a moving company would lead to big adventures, I'd have done it so much sooner!
05:17At the start of Order of the Sinking Star, players can choose which of the four paths to begin first.
05:23And that's far from the only way that it prioritizes playing the way you want to play.
05:28You can easily swap back and forth between each world if you happen to get stuck.
05:32There are also built-in mechanics that are designed to make things less of a hassle.
05:36An undo function resets your last move, and a restart function resets the whole puzzle.
05:41You can also speed up or slow down time.
05:43It's small, but these are nice ways to cater the game more towards your personal pace.
05:48You can play these four games in any order.
05:51An enchanting score!
05:59Music and sound design clearly play huge roles in any video game,
06:04and the names attached to Order of the Sinking Star are certainly promising.
06:08The score is composed by Martin Stig Anderson, known for his work on Limbo and Control,
06:13and Peter Du, Dice nominee for his work on Forgotten Anne.
06:17Sound design is being led by Hans Christian Koch, known for his work in Danish film and TV.
06:23Interestingly, neither the music nor the ambient sounds of the world ever loop in the game.
06:29It's all generated based on a wide variety of factors as you continue to play,
06:33making for a more fluid approach to the game's sound.
06:46A mystery at its core.
06:48You'll find that all this world combining is being done by a mysterious organization called the Order of the Sinking
06:54Star.
06:54As you may have noticed, we have yet to mention the in-universe Order of the Sinking Star that gives
07:00the game its name.
07:01This mysterious organization is responsible for the worlds you find yourself in, as well as how they eventually merge.
07:07However, what their goals are and how they've managed to pull off such a feat is up to the player
07:12to uncover.
07:13While each individual game stands on its own, only players who combine all of them can make it far enough
07:18to reveal those who are pulling the strings.
07:21Seems like a place they want me to notice.
07:24In addition to mixing mechanics for more puzzles, an overarching narrative encompassing every experience is another way to keep players
07:30digging deeper.
07:32The result surprises me constantly, but who has done this?
07:37Under the Hood.
07:39Every puzzle has something unique and interesting to show you.
07:43For Order of the Sinking Star, not only did Jonathan Blow and his team create a new engine for the
07:48game,
07:48but also an entirely new programming language called Jai, which was used to build said engine.
07:54This was reportedly because Blow grew tired of writing in C++ for The Witness.
07:59Although the process contributed to the game's lengthy development period, it eventually allowed the team to program faster.
08:05Thecla, Blow's development studio, also made plans to release both the programming language, Jai, and the game engine for free
08:13following the game's release.
08:15At this point, you travel the overworld to explore all the different ways these worlds can combine.
08:21Replayability.
08:22What surprises happen when the wizard can teleport swap with whatever he sees in a mirror?
08:27What happens when you can mirror a fire-breathing dragon?
08:30What can you do by shining the colored beams on monsters?
08:33As you might expect, with the combination of four games and their mechanics, Order of the Sinking Star offers high
08:40replay value.
08:41When the game was revealed, the trailer boasted having over 1,000 puzzles.
08:46Blow has stated it can take hundreds of hours to beat it, and even 500 hours for completionists who want
08:52to do every single puzzle.
08:53He also stated it can take around 250 hours to beat at a regular pace, or 500 hours for completionists
09:00who want to do every single puzzle.
09:03And yes, there are multiple endings.
09:10Because of its scope, Blow began to think of it as the Elden Ring of puzzle games during development.
09:15However, you can still easily complete the main story without the huge time commitment.
09:19But for those who want as much variety as possible, it seems you're covered.
09:23There are four different component games, and six ways you can combine those games two at a time.
09:29The amount of gameplay is huge.
09:31Are you looking forward to Order of the Sinking Star?
09:34Share your excitement with us in the comments, and we'll see you next time.
09:46This video is brought to you by Order of the Sinking Star.
09:49Available now on Steam, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5.
