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Inside Alexander Bruce's Philosophy — Doubt conventions down to their reasons
A study of Alexander Bruce, author of Antichamber, based only on his interviews and GDC talks: a philosophy of doubting conventions down to their reasons, an obsession with removing death and menus, candid failures and pivots, the dilemma of when to stop iterating, and his acknowledged influences.
Jonathan Blow on Puzzle Design: Difficulty That Reaches the Player vs. Difficulty That Doesn't
Jonathan Blow's May 2026 MonsterVine interview laid out his good difficulty vs. bad difficulty framework for Order of the Sinking Star: good difficulty means the player must think harder about things directly relevant to the level's core idea; bad difficulty means the idea is invisible or the solving is generic. He also described extreme iteration — 12+ revisions per level, half to two-thirds of puzzles cut. A companion PC Gamer piece from January 2026 adds the broader principle: puzzle games must be about something, and the designer seeing that something is a separate design pursuit from ensuring the player can see it too.
