BODY: Ten years after it first surfaced as a prototype, the puzzle epic from the studio behind The Witness finally has a home on Japanese consoles. Thekla, the developer founded by Braid and The Witness creator Jonathan Blow, has confirmed that Order of the Sinking Star will arrive on Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 in Japan sometime within 2026.
The PC version launches worldwide via Steam on October 9, 2026, with the console editions following at an unspecified date later in the year. Pricing for the Japanese releases has not yet been announced.
At its core, Order of the Sinking Star is a sprawling puzzle adventure spanning four distinct worlds, each with its own mechanics, cast, and story. Players guide a rotating ensemble of heroes โ a queen, a thief, a warrior, a mage, and a talking ship โ each with unique abilities used to solve Sokoban-style spatial puzzles. The studio bills the game as containing more than 1,000 "living puzzles," a phrase describing challenges that evolve and build on earlier mechanics as players progress rather than repeating fixed formulas.
Thekla is leaning heavily on the design philosophy that made The Witness a landmark, emphasizing player freedom: puzzles can be tackled in any order and left mid-solve to return to later. A playable demo is planned for Tokyo Game Show 2026, giving domestic players an early hands-on look ahead of launch.
The insider take
In Tokyo, Blow's name still carries serious weight among the puzzle-and-indie crowd โ The Witness was a critical touchstone here, and Thekla's decade of quiet development has only sharpened anticipation. The Switch 2 confirmation matters more than it might elsewhere: Japan remains a stubbornly handheld-first market, and a portable-friendly release is exactly what a slow-burn, "solve one more room" puzzler needs to find its audience. Expect the TGS 2026 demo line to be a long one.
Originally reported by AUTOMATON (Japanese).