Description

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For Jonathan Blow, a puzzle is never just a puzzle - it’s a communication from the designer to the player about the game’s universe. In this episode, I share the philosophy and design process of the brains behind Braid and The Witness.

More on Blow’s philosophy:

IndieCade: “Jonathan Blow & Marc Ten Bosch - Designing to Reveal the Nature of the Universe” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGSeLSmOALU

IndieCade: “Jonathan Blow, Marc Ten Bosch & Droqen - Empuzzlement” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ul_ZfzfHRek

Shivmoo: “Game City Jonathan Blow Braid Talk” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwsi7TEQxKc&feature=youtu.be

A MAZE: “Berlin 2014 - Masterclass with Jonathan Blow” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LDJt9zS8ko

Gamasutra: “Jonathan Blow: The Path to Braid” http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132180/jonathan_blow_the_path_to_braid.php

Gamasutra: “The Witness: Modeling epiphany” http://gamasutra.com/view/news/218953/The_Witness_Modeling_epiphany.php

GrabItMagazine: “How To Design Deep Games with Jonathan Blow” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0m0jIzJfiQ&feature=youtu.be

GameSpot: “Break Room Interviews: Jonathan Blow” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OV2rYM6mRo&feature=youtu.be

GDC Vault: “Jonathan Blow - Truth in Game Design” http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014982/Truth-in-Game

Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance):

Braid (Number None, 2008) The Witness (Thekla, Inc, 2016) Oracle Billiards (Jonathan Blow, Unreleased) Galstaff (Jonathan Blow, Unreleased)

Music used in this episode:

Greenhouse (The Swapper, Carlo Castellano) Adventure (Fez, Disasterpeace) Flower Girl (Gravity Ghost, Ben Prunty) Terraforming (Gravity Ghost, Ben Prunty) I just like to sleep under the stars (Gravity Ghost, Ben Prunty)

Other credits:

Simon Carless: “IGS 2007: Jon Blow - ‘Indie Prototyping, Braid, & Making Innovative Games’” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4903fcskqY

JustJack: “Oracle Billiards Game” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKl8CM1Cft4

tvdays: “1980 RUBIKS CUBE IDEAL TOYS” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxU7e0qHk4o

Contribute translated subtitles - https://amara.org/v/C3BFd/

My Notes

Transcript