Order of the Sinking Star is coming to PS5, hands

The horizon of intrigue, enchantment, and mind‑bending riddles widens as Order of the Sinking Star launches on PlayStation 5 later this year. Created by Jonathan Blow’s indie studio Thekla, the title follows in the footsteps of Braid and The Witness, yet introduces fresh twists that set it apart.

Indeed, Braid and The Witness laid the groundwork for this new adventure, offering not only a wealth of puzzles but also a captivating mix of personalities, a narrative that unfolds organically, and a striking visual style.

Unlike its predecessors, the game’s plot is conveyed more directly through chatty, player‑controlled figures, yet it preserves a core spirit of exploration. In the demo I tested, narrative bits appear in brief, scattered bursts, deliberately taking a backseat to the core puzzle mechanics.

The design purposefully relies on environmental cues to weave a landscape of challenges and branching paths, with characters navigating unfamiliar terrains. The opening scene features the Queen, initially trapped within a bizarre palace that later expands into the broader world. This sequence offers a swift tutorial for manipulating obstacles on a grid and familiarises players with the essential rewind/undo feature, allowing them to backtrack when a puzzle proves too difficult.

The core mechanic is vital, especially with the addition of other characters, each bringing distinct puzzle‑oriented powers. After completing the tutorial, players can choose among three distinct regions. I directed the Queen northward to kick off The Hearty Heroes of Hauling, where the warrior Valens, thief Tif, and wizard Isidore appear. Though initially separated, each can interact with blocks and crystals uniquely—Valens pushes, Tif pulls, and Isidore swaps positions with them when in line of sight.

Choosing a westward path unlocks The Promise, where I assume the role of an explorer navigating a labyrinthine mine, harnessing gem‑powered beams of varying hues to activate abilities. Heading east to the lush Mirror Isles places me in the shoes of a prosperous trader who uses mirrors to swap places with his reflected image, guiding him through a water‑logged archipelago.

As the narrative unfolds through voice‑over and narration, the Sokoban‑style puzzles begin simply but quickly grow in complexity. In The Hearty Heroes of Hauling, the trio eventually converges, forcing me to combine all their abilities to advance. A druid capable of transmuting blocks later joins the party, further raising the game’s intricacy.

There are also monsters. While puzzle enthusiasts can rest assured there’s no traditional combat, goblins that kill a character on adjacent tiles and line‑of‑sight fire‑shooting beasts add layers of challenge. Some gates can only be deactivated after eliminating enemies. Fortunately, monsters can be made to attack one another, and a bard character can charm them with an area‑of‑effect skill. Later, a priestess becomes immune to their attacks, allowing her to shield nearby allies.

Order of the Sinking Star rewards players with a steadily expanding roster of characters, new abilities, and fresh environments as they progress. In the early demo, the Queen had to rely on the skills of other characters to unlock further sections of the overworld, cleverly leveraging my knowledge of their powers to tackle increasingly tough challenges.

Then, after several hours, the game took a dramatic turn that completely reshaped the experience…

Just when the trio of distinct worlds, each brimming with puzzles, and the sprawling overworld with its own set of riddles seemed enough, the real breakthrough arrived: characters from separate realms begin collaborating to solve problems that would be impossible alone. At a pivotal moment, I found myself juggling the merchant and wizard across dimensions, rethinking how to deploy their unique abilities.

This early introduction of character interaction underscores the game’s philosophy, even though the title promises hundreds of hours and a thousand puzzles. While the story unfolds linearly, the player retains the freedom to tackle challenges in any order, allowing progress even when a particular obstacle stalls you.

In the demo, the fourth Southern region—“Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes”—was missing, yet the teaser hints at an even more exhilarating experience. Players will follow a stranded sailor through a landscape of colossal stones, floating lily pads, and rivers she can manipulate, promising a fresh layer of depth and intrigue.

Developed over a decade by a lean team of around twenty, the title boasts more than 900 levels, multiple branching endings, and gameplay that continually evolves. Even after a few hours in the demo, it’s evident that the game offers entire worlds of discovery, and the enigmatic title itself hints at deeper lore waiting to be uncovered.

Fans can look forward to the full release of Order of the Sinking Star on PS5 later this year, where all these elements will converge for a complete adventure.