{"id":1588633,"date":"2026-05-26T03:28:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T03:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/GVeEJvNyAiQCbc6eS6z7i7"},"modified":"2026-05-26T03:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T03:28:24","slug":"i-do-think-blow-misunderstood-what-the-game-is-about-derelict-star-made-jonathan-blow-rage-quit-but-its-the-most-fascinating-indie-platformer-ive-played-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/i-do-think-blow-misunderstood-what-the-game-is-about-derelict-star-made-jonathan-blow-rage-quit-but-its-the-most-fascinating-indie-platformer-ive-played-for-years\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I do think Blow misunderstood what the game is about’: Derelict Star made Jonathan Blow rage quit, but it’s the most fascinating indie platformer I’ve played for years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A couple of weeks ago on X, someone reposted Braid and The Witness creator Jonathan Blow into my feed. He was sounding off about a new indie action-platformer called Derelict Star<\/a> that I hadn’t heard of, but which has quietly gained an audience among movement platformer enthusiasts since its release in early April.<\/p>\n

Blow was not impressed. <\/p>\n

“The intro level made me rage quit, unfortunately,” he wrote<\/a>, before veering into sarcasm. “‘Haha here are a bunch of jumps that are hard in an uninteresting way like every other game, but we are going to give you controls that are clunkier than any other game, and we won’t polish them\u2026'”<\/p>\n

“No time for that,” he added. “If there is something more interesting about the game it should not be gated behind stuff like this.”<\/p>\n

My interest was piqued, mostly because I know Jonathan Blow likes platformers. He’s made one after all. I once watched him play and commentate on the design of 1001 Spikes<\/a>. What kind of platformer could get his knickers in such a knot? I wishlisted Derelict Star and promptly forgot about it.<\/p>\n

But then a few weeks later someone suggested in an email that I try Derelict Star because I love N++<\/a>, and that recommendation tipped me over the edge. I bought it, I’ve sunk around six hours into it, and, well, look: Jonathan Blow is entitled to his opinion, but he is cosmically wrong about this one. Derelict Star is a gem.<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: gate)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jetpack Joyride<\/h2>\n

Derelict Star follows the travails of an unnamed astronaut whose spaceship has run out of power enroute home. To escape a lonely death they must pillage power cells from an abandoned freighter. Naturally, these power cells are not stored in a convenient room right near the entry. <\/p>\n

It’s essentially a metroidvania consisting of around 500 discrete screens, with visuals resembling the imaginary Pico-8 console; its chunky pixel art seems to sit on a threshold between the Atari 2600 and 8-bit eras. While it looks gorgeous, the clarity of each pixel’s right angles also feels like a practical consideration, because in this precision platformer you need <\/em>to be able to see them.<\/p>\n

Derelict Star is the most gloriously and pedantically fine-tuned movement platformer I’ve played in recent memory. It hits the same notes that kept me glued to games like N++ and Baby Steps<\/a> for months. To traverse each screen, the player-character only has their legs, their jetpack, and\u2014hopefully\u2014a growing understanding of how speed and momentum can help them reach heights, or weave through obstacles that initially look impossible. <\/p>\n

The first lesson I learn is how high my jetpack can take me from a standing position, which is piddling. But if I run and then trigger my jetpack, I can gain a massive amount of air. When I run I gradually build more and more speed, resulting in higher and higher jumps, but I have to be careful: If I hit my head on a ceiling I’ll wash out and take a plunge, like so:<\/p>\n