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Jonathan Blow
American game designer (Braid, The Witness) and programmer (Jai language)

Jonathan Blow, an American game designer and programmer, is renowned for his independent video games Braid (2008) and The Witness (2016). After studying at the University of California, Berkeley, he pursued game development, co-founding the Experimental Gameplay Workshop. His success with Braid funded Thekla Inc. and The Witness. Frustrated with C++, Blow began developing a new programming language called Jai, now in beta release. Known for creating artistic, challenging games with custom game engines, Blow was featured in Indie Game: The Movie and is vocal about industry matters.

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Early life

Jonathan Blow was born in Southern California in 1971.1 His father worked as a defense contractor for TRW, and his mother was an ex-nun.2 He is the fourth of five siblings, having two brothers and two sisters.3 Blow was raised as a Christian and said his family regularly attended church.4 Blow went to middle school in Northern San Diego County.5 While there, he attended a fifth-or-sixth-grade computer class where the VIC-20 home computer provided him with his introduction to programming and computers.67 When his parents noticed his interest, they bought him a TRS-80 Color Computer, on which Blow learned to program in BASIC, often using exercise books from RadioShack.89 In high school, he programmed games on a Commodore 64.1011 Some of the games he programmed were inspired by Indiana Jones and Pac-Man.1213

In 1989, Blow attended UC Berkeley as an undergraduate, double-majoring in computer science and English.14 He started as a physics major but switched to computer science because he "just felt called in that direction".15 He was a member and president of the Computer Science Undergraduate Association, as well as the eXperimental Computing Facility, an undergraduate computer-interest organization.161718 During college, Blow wrote some science fiction, which he published under a pseudonym.19 He spent five years at UC Berkeley20 but dropped out with less than one semester to go.21 He said; "I was really depressed about being at school, I didn't like it. I didn't have a good time."22

Career

1994–2000: Career beginnings and Wulfram

After leaving UC Berkeley, Blow worked at a "really boring" enterprise software company for six months,23 before taking a contracting role at Silicon Graphics, where he ported Doom and Doom II to a set-top box.24 In early 1996, Blow co-founded the game company Bolt-Action Software, which was based in Oakland, California, with Bernt Habermeier, whom Blow had met in the eXperimental Computing Facility.252627 An artist later joined the company,28 and they created Wulfram, a 3D action-strategy game for up to 32 players where players took control of heavily armed hovertanks.2930

At its height, Bolt-Action Software had 14 employees. It folded in 2000 due to the dot-com crash.31 In a 2020 interview, Blow said he was convinced 1996 was the most difficult time in history to start a video game company because of the transition from 2D to 3D titles.32 A number of components of the game were challenging to implement, but Blow learned from the experience—he said; "we went broke, and I was burned out for several years after that from working hard ... but that's how I became a good programmer".33

2001–2004: contracting work

After Blow closed his first studio, he worked as a contractor for game studios with large budgets. Games he worked on include Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, Deus Ex: Invisible War and Thief: Deadly Shadows.34 In 2002, Blow co-founded the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the Game Developers Conference, which showcases game prototypes that include new mechanics or that are new video game genres or mediums.3536 Around this time, he wrote The Inner Product, a monthly technical column for magazine Game Developer.3738

During this time, Blow moved to New York City, where he was introduced to an IBM research project about servers based on cell processors.39 Blow pitched them a proof of concept of a physics-intensive, online, multiplayer game about giant robots attacking a town.40 Blow and Atman Binstock did most of the programming for the game;41 Blow wrote the client-side code, graphics, and gameplay, while Binstock wrote the physics engine to run on the server from scratch.42 After submitting their final report to IBM, the team took the game to Electronic Arts, whom Blow said were not impressed.43

Blow's other contract work included particle effect programming on Flow on the Sony PlayStation 3;4445 code review following MTV's purchase of Harmonix;46 and programming on the music-action iPod game Phase.47 Blow said of this part of his life; "I was just stumbling forward like people do sometimes, and doing the best that I knew how to do, which at that time was programming".48

2005–2008: Braid

Main article: Braid (video game)

Blow created a prototype for a 2D puzzle-platform game involving time manipulation in December 2004. Five months later, he began work on turning the prototype into a proper game, and by December 2005 the first version of what would be known as Braid was completed.49 Much of the work was done part-time because Blow also did consulting work and martial arts training.50 Blow felt the graphics and art style of the first version of the game "looked extremely amateur",51 and hired David Hellman to create all of the game's art.52 For the story, Blow drew inspiration from some of his favorite books and films such as Invisible Cities and Mulholland Drive.53 The game's narrative is told through textual exposition between worlds, environmental art, and gameplay, and has been interpreted in many different ways.54

In mid-2007, Blow signed with Microsoft to release Braid via its distribution platform XBLA. Blow felt time spent meeting the XBLA certification process would have been better spent polishing the game, but he noted Microsoft was "very hands-off" with game design, and that "the final game is exactly what I wanted to put there".55 Blow estimated he spent more than $180,000 of his own money to develop Braid.56 Braid was released in August 2008 to universal acclaim,57 was "an immediate sensation",58 and made Blow a millionaire.59 Braid was one of the earliest indie games to grace seventh-generation consoles.60

In 2010, Blow co-founded funding organization Indie Fund together with some other successful independent game developers.61 Blow appeared in the documentary film Indie Game: The Movie, in which he discusses his experiences developing and releasing Braid.62 In 2014 Blow stated sales of Braid had earned more than $4 million, which he used to fund The Witness (2016).63

2009–2016: The Witness

Main article: The Witness (2016 video game)

Blow's next project was The Witness (2016), a first-person game in which players solve puzzles by drawing paths. Blow wanted to create a game using non-verbal communication; the puzzle rules are never explained with words but the puzzles themselves teach the player the rules. Blow felt solving puzzles in this way could generate epiphanies for players, and tried to design the game so the player experiences "miniature epiphanies over and over again".64 Blow estimated solving every puzzle in the game would take more than 80 hours.65

Work on The Witness began in 2008. Blow created prototypes of several game ideas before choosing the one he liked the most, despite it being a 3D game which he "absolutely didn't want to do".66 Throughout development, Blow hired developers full-time and founded the company Thekla, Inc., of which he is president.676869 The Witness was revealed to the public in 2010, when three people were working full-time on the game.70 Blow hoped to release The Witness in 2013 as a launch title for the Sony PlayStation 4, but the goal passed as the scope of the game increased.71 By 2015, the core team had grown to eight.72 At the time, it was very rare for a small, independent game studio to spend more than seven years on a game.73

The game was released on Windows and the PlayStation 4 in January 2016. Blow reported that the first week sales revenue of The Witness totaled over US$5 million, and was one of the top downloads on illegal BitTorrent websites.7475 The game received critical acclaim,7677 several BAFTA and Game Developers Choice Awards nominations,7879 and appeared on 'Best of the decade' features from IGN,80 Polygon,81 NME,82 CNET,83 and National Post.84

2017–present: Jai programming language, untitled Sokoban game, and Braid, Anniversary Edition

Towards the end of development of The Witness, Blow became frustrated with C++, the programming language Thekla used to create the game.[60] Blow considered the language to be over-complex, noting; "C++ is a powerful language in some ways ... but it makes [software development] a lot harder than it should be".[60] In September 2014, Blow delivered a talk on his Twitch channel about the possibility of a new programming language designed for game development.85 He evaluated alternative systems-level programming languages such as Go and Rust, but ultimately expressed the desire to create a new language.86 Blow estimated a new programming language designed for game development could reduce typical development time by at least 20% and make programming more enjoyable.87 He also said the language would be relatively easy to create compared to creating a game like The Witness.88

In 2014, Blow began designing the language, which is codenamed Jai, and started creating a compiler for it.[60] The first year and a half of work on Jai was part-time because Thekla was shipping The Witness.89 In mid-2016, he began full-time work on the language, a game engine written in Jai, and a Sokoban-style puzzle game for the game engine.9091 In 2023, Blow described the game as "the biggest single-player puzzle game that anybody's ever made",92 and estimated that it would take over 400 hours for a player to complete.93

Among other things, Blow hopes the language will improve the experience of game programming and allow programmers to build more functionality with less code.[60] By working on the Sokoban game, its engine, and Jai at the same time, Blow is able to test the language's design and adjust it early in its lifetime.94 As of August 2023[update], the Jai compiler is in a beta release.95

In August 2020, Thekla announced Braid, Anniversary Edition, a remastered edition of Braid.96 Blow said the remaster will be faithful to the original, saying Braid will not get any "Greedo shoots first" changes (a reference to a change made to Star Wars).97 The game was to include more than 15 hours of developer's commentary.98 Thekla originally planned to launch the game in early 2021,99100 but it was pushed back, and eventually released on May 14, 2024 for multiple platforms. Blow was frustrated with the weak reception to the launch, saying Anniversary Edition "sold like dogshit" and that Thekla could not afford to pay any of its employees.101

Long-term project

In 2013, Blow began making a prototype for a single-player game that was not a puzzle game.102 In 2018, Blow said the game had 40–50 hours of playable content. He intends for Thekla to make the game using the game engine being developed for the Sokoban game, once it has matured. He plans to work on the game for 20 years, releasing it in installments. Each installment will make the game larger and more complex.103 Blow noted one of his goals for the project is to expand his design abilities.104

Artistry

In his youth, Blow liked playing text adventure games by Infocom; his favorite was Trinity, which Blow said "affected me in a relatively deep way in terms of the way that I think about games".105 In college, his favorite game was Netrek.106 Early in his career Blow frequently played Counter-Strike.107

Blow's games are known for being artistic, challenging, and not following industry trends. In a retrospective on Braid, GQ noted the game was released at a time when the market was dominated by violent and repetitive first-person shooters, yet "made an earnest effort to make an artistic statement" that went beyond this trend.108 The puzzles of Braid have been described as "tough"109 and "formidable".110 Time described The Witness as "categorically defiant", and described its reception as being "widely quantified as a game created by a genius for geniuses".111

Blow's games have higher budgets and longer development times than most independently funded games, and have custom game engines. Braid was built with a relatively large budget for independent games at the time,112 while The Witness—which was largely funded with the profits of Braid—cost close to six million dollars.113 The development times for Braid and The Witness were very rare for independent games at the time.114115 Blow created a custom game engine for both games, which in the case of The Witness took a large amount of development time. He noted that when development of The Witness began, off-the-shelf engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine were not sufficiently capable to build the game. Blow also noted that he tries to make games which stand the test of time, so owning his own engine means he can continue to provide the game to people in contrast to off-the-shelf engines that come with no such guarantee.116117 Braid artist David Hellman said Blow was not stressed about time or budget, and that for him "the game always came first."118

Blow said when he makes a game, he tries to make something he would want to play and be interested in.119 He wants to understand the world from many perspectives,120 and tries to uncover and understand truths about the universe through game design.121 Blow enjoys exploring the permutations of a simple idea.122 He described an ideal player of his games as someone who "is inquisitive and likes to be treated as an intelligent person".123 Blow hopes the design skills he developed by working on complicated games have made Jai better designed than most languages.[60]

Blow founded Thekla because he wanted creative freedom rather than out of aspiration to run a company.124 He used almost all of the profits of Braid to independently fund The Witness, noting that by doing so he had total creative freedom and thereby would not have to adjust the game to please the whims of a publisher.125 The team which worked on The Witness said Blow gave them a lot of autonomy when working on the game.126 Blow does not schedule development time for games at Thekla, noting; "we don't do it like Electronic Arts. We don't pick a quarter and ship the game. We're just trying to make the best game."127

Public image

Blow has been characterized by VentureBeat as having a "reputation for doing outstanding work",128 and is known for voicing his opinions about the gaming industry.129 He has been described as a "prickly genius",130 and as the game industry's "most cerebral developer, but also as its most incisive and polarizing internal critic".131 Commenting on his criticism, Blow said "I honestly say what I think about games, and I honestly say if I think something is good or not, and why".132 Stephen Totilo of Kotaku said Blow's criticism is not targeted towards individuals or specific games but industry trends.133

Blow thinks there are individual elements of storytelling which work well in games, including mood, character and setting;134 but considers games to be a terrible medium for storytelling in general.135 As of 2016, he considered the quality of storytelling in games to be significantly lower than that in literature.136 In 2018, he said many contemporary games include designs that are self-sabotaging and weaken the structure of the game they are in, despite such designs existing nearly a decade earlier, indicating stalled progress in the medium.137138 He does not consider microtransactions to be inherently unethical,139 but thinks many games made for phones are "just pretending to be games in order to have a microtransaction button or show ads".140 He considers social network games evil,141 and noted while SimCity and FarmVille appear superficially similar, SimCity is a creative activity that involves problem solving while FarmVille is about retaining the player's attention for as long as possible.142

According to Blow, games have the potential to have a much-bigger role culturally143 and help define the human condition.144 While Blow strives to make his games meaningful,145 he has noted games with relatively empty gameplay, such as massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) which keep players hooked with fake rewards, may be causing real harm to people.146

Despite being seen as a role model for independent development,147 Blow is uncomfortable with being described as an indie developer: he feels the indie game scene has changed into something in which he does not belong.148149 In 2019, he said the independent development scene had changed in that it was easier to make and release a game than ever before, but that in terms of game-design "progress has not been as large as people assume".150 Blow noted Stephen's Sausage Roll, a game he thought in 2017 "may be the best puzzle of all time",151 was rarely discussed in development circles, indicating a stagnation of the development scene.152 The comments attracted social-media attention, which Blow found troubling, noting; "The job isn't to be in a community; the job is to make a good game."153

Blow considers much of current software to be of low quality. He noted in a 2020 interview "I think we're now in a situation where everybody in the world is flooded with low quality software, and everybody wishes that they had higher quality software."154 He considers most of what programmers currently do to be wasteful, describing programming in 2021 as dealing with unnecessary complexity.155 He has a low opinion of modern C++, describing it in 2020 as a terrible language,156 and was partly motivated to create Jai in order to improve the quality of life for programmers.[60]

Personal life

Although several of Blow's hobbies are well-known, Blow has been described as being "intensely private".157 Blow began kung fu training when he began working on Braid, doing 15 hours a week towards the end of development.158 Through the training he learned meditation practices that helped him with game development, noting "I don't know if I would have finished Braid if I wasn't doing kung fu."159 He practiced tai chi during early development of The Witness.160 Blow is an avid dancer, and went out dancing several nights a week during the development of The Witness.161162 He discovered that dancing helps him generate ideas, and during the 1990s took a notebook to clubs to write down programming ideas that would come to him on the dance floor.163

Works

Video games

Only games where Blow has had a major role in development are included below. For example, works in which he is credited under Special Thanks are omitted.

YearTitleRoleRef.
1998164WulframDesign, programming165
2001Oddworld: Munch's OddyseeProgramming166
2003Deus Ex: Invisible WarAdditional programming167
2006FlowAdditional programming168
2007PhaseProgramming169
2008BraidDirector, programming, design, writing170
2016The WitnessDirector, programming, design171
2024Braid, Anniversary EditionDirector, programming, design, writing, voice172

Films

YearTitleRoleNotesRef.
2012Indie Game: The MovieHimselfDocumentary173

Notes

Citations

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jonathan Blow. Wikiquote has quotations related to Jonathan Blow.

References

  1. Clark 2012, p. 43. - Clark, Taylor (May 2012). "The Most Dangerous Gamer". The Atlantic. Vol. 309, no. 4. pp. 40–51. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928/ ↩

  2. Clark 2012, p. 43. - Clark, Taylor (May 2012). "The Most Dangerous Gamer". The Atlantic. Vol. 309, no. 4. pp. 40–51. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928/ ↩

  3. Machkovech, Sam (September 17, 2015). "The man and the island: Wandering through Jonathan Blow's The Witness". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2023. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/the-man-and-the-island-wandering-through-jonathan-blows-the-witness/ ↩

  4. Adam Ruins Everything 2017, 1:12:02. - Conover, Adam (January 18, 2017). "Episode 18: Game Designer Jonathan Blow Unpacks 'The Witness'". Adam Ruins Everything (Podcast). Maximum Fun. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2022. https://maximumfun.org/episodes/adam-ruins-everything/indie-video-game-designer-jonathan-blow-unpacks-witness/ ↩

  5. Noclip 2017, 4:45. - O'Dwyer, Danny; Jayne, Jeremy (producers) (April 2, 2017). The Witness Documentary. Noclip – Video Game Documentaries (YouTube video). Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSdvIRkkDY ↩

  6. Clark 2012, p. 43. - Clark, Taylor (May 2012). "The Most Dangerous Gamer". The Atlantic. Vol. 309, no. 4. pp. 40–51. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928/ ↩

  7. Noclip 2017, 4:45. - O'Dwyer, Danny; Jayne, Jeremy (producers) (April 2, 2017). The Witness Documentary. Noclip – Video Game Documentaries (YouTube video). Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSdvIRkkDY ↩

  8. Noclip 2017, 5:12. - O'Dwyer, Danny; Jayne, Jeremy (producers) (April 2, 2017). The Witness Documentary. Noclip – Video Game Documentaries (YouTube video). Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSdvIRkkDY ↩

  9. Tone Control 2014, 4:02. - Gaynor, Steve (February 15, 2014). "Jonathan Blow". Tone Control (Podcast). The Idle Thumbs Limited Liability Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.idlethumbs.net/tonecontrol/episodes/jonathan-blow ↩

  10. Clark 2012, p. 43. - Clark, Taylor (May 2012). "The Most Dangerous Gamer". The Atlantic. Vol. 309, no. 4. pp. 40–51. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928/ ↩

  11. On the Metal 2020, 5:45. - Cantrill, Bryan; Frazelle, Jessie (January 26, 2020). "Jonathan Blow". On the Metal (Podcast). Oxide Computer Company. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://oxide.computer/podcasts/on-the-metal/jonathan-blow ↩

  12. Clark 2012, p. 43. - Clark, Taylor (May 2012). "The Most Dangerous Gamer". The Atlantic. Vol. 309, no. 4. pp. 40–51. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928/ ↩

  13. Noclip 2017, 6:11. - O'Dwyer, Danny; Jayne, Jeremy (producers) (April 2, 2017). The Witness Documentary. Noclip – Video Game Documentaries (YouTube video). Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSdvIRkkDY ↩

  14. Machkovech, Sam (September 17, 2015). "The man and the island: Wandering through Jonathan Blow's The Witness". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2023. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/the-man-and-the-island-wandering-through-jonathan-blows-the-witness/ ↩

  15. Dahlen, Chris (August 27, 2008). "Game Designer Jonathan Blow: What We All Missed About Braid". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2022. https://www.avclub.com/game-designer-jonathan-blow-what-we-all-missed-about-b-1798214678 ↩

  16. Blow, Jonathan (June 22, 2011). "How to program independent games". Thekla Inc. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2022. http://the-witness.net/news/2011/06/how-to-program-independent-games/ ↩

  17. "Join the CSUA". UC Berkeley Computer Science Association. 2022. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.csua.berkeley.edu/join/ ↩

  18. Keur, Scott (February 8, 1998). "Interview With Wulfram Development Team by Scott Keur". The Multiplayer Online Games Directory. Archived from the original on July 3, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19980703082307/http://www.mpogd.com/interviews/wulframinterview.html ↩

  19. Blow, Jonathan (September 27, 2010). Games and the Human Condition (YouTube video). Retrieved April 23, 2022. I used to when I was early in college, you know I wrote a little bit of science fiction and got some stuff published, it's under a pseudonym so you can't look it up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqFu5O-oPmU ↩

  20. Machkovech, Sam (September 17, 2015). "The man and the island: Wandering through Jonathan Blow's The Witness". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2023. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/the-man-and-the-island-wandering-through-jonathan-blows-the-witness/ ↩

  21. Noclip 2017, 7:54. - O'Dwyer, Danny; Jayne, Jeremy (producers) (April 2, 2017). The Witness Documentary. Noclip – Video Game Documentaries (YouTube video). Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdSdvIRkkDY ↩

  22. Tone Control 2014, 3:11. - Gaynor, Steve (February 15, 2014). "Jonathan Blow". Tone Control (Podcast). The Idle Thumbs Limited Liability Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.idlethumbs.net/tonecontrol/episodes/jonathan-blow ↩

  23. On the Metal 2020, 1:05:46. - Cantrill, Bryan; Frazelle, Jessie (January 26, 2020). "Jonathan Blow". On the Metal (Podcast). Oxide Computer Company. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://oxide.computer/podcasts/on-the-metal/jonathan-blow ↩

  24. Machkovech, Sam (September 17, 2015). "The man and the island: Wandering through Jonathan Blow's The Witness". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2023. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/the-man-and-the-island-wandering-through-jonathan-blows-the-witness/ ↩

  25. Machkovech, Sam (September 17, 2015). "The man and the island: Wandering through Jonathan Blow's The Witness". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2023. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/the-man-and-the-island-wandering-through-jonathan-blows-the-witness/ ↩

  26. Keur, Scott (February 8, 1998). "Interview With Wulfram Development Team by Scott Keur". The Multiplayer Online Games Directory. Archived from the original on July 3, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19980703082307/http://www.mpogd.com/interviews/wulframinterview.html ↩

  27. On the Metal 2020, 1:14:50. - Cantrill, Bryan; Frazelle, Jessie (January 26, 2020). "Jonathan Blow". On the Metal (Podcast). Oxide Computer Company. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://oxide.computer/podcasts/on-the-metal/jonathan-blow ↩

  28. Keur, Scott (February 8, 1998). "Interview With Wulfram Development Team by Scott Keur". The Multiplayer Online Games Directory. Archived from the original on July 3, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19980703082307/http://www.mpogd.com/interviews/wulframinterview.html ↩

  29. Keur, Scott (July 24, 1998). "Wulfram Goes Open Beta !!". The Multiplayer Online Games Directory. Archived from the original on February 4, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/19990204042038/http://www.mpogd.com/news/july28.html ↩

  30. Keur, Scott (1998). "Wulfram Review". The Multiplayer Online Games Directory. Archived from the original on July 3, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19980703094551/http://www.mpogd.com/action/wulfram/wulframreview.html ↩

  31. Machkovech, Sam (September 17, 2015). "The man and the island: Wandering through Jonathan Blow's The Witness". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2023. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/09/the-man-and-the-island-wandering-through-jonathan-blows-the-witness/ ↩

  32. On the Metal 2020, 1:15:44. - Cantrill, Bryan; Frazelle, Jessie (January 26, 2020). "Jonathan Blow". On the Metal (Podcast). Oxide Computer Company. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://oxide.computer/podcasts/on-the-metal/jonathan-blow ↩

  33. Tone Control 2014, 20:00. - Gaynor, Steve (February 15, 2014). "Jonathan Blow". Tone Control (Podcast). The Idle Thumbs Limited Liability Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.idlethumbs.net/tonecontrol/episodes/jonathan-blow ↩

  34. Tone Control 2014, 31:55. - Gaynor, Steve (February 15, 2014). "Jonathan Blow". Tone Control (Podcast). The Idle Thumbs Limited Liability Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.idlethumbs.net/tonecontrol/episodes/jonathan-blow ↩

  35. Tone Control 2014, 27:28. - Gaynor, Steve (February 15, 2014). "Jonathan Blow". Tone Control (Podcast). The Idle Thumbs Limited Liability Company. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://www.idlethumbs.net/tonecontrol/episodes/jonathan-blow ↩

  36. "Experimental Gameplay Workshop at GDC 2022 Celebrates 20th Anniversary". Game Developers Conference. Informa PLC. February 11, 2022. Archived from the original on February 11, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022. https://gdconf.com/news/experimental-gameplay-workshop-gdc-2022-celebrates-20th-anniversary ↩

  37. Blow, Jonathan (2014). "Articles from The Inner Product". Number None. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved April 23, 2022. http://number-none.com/product/ ↩

  38. Clark 2012, p. 44. - Clark, Taylor (May 2012). "The Most Dangerous Gamer". The Atlantic. Vol. 309, no. 4. pp. 40–51. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928/ ↩

  39. On the Metal 2020, 30:00. - Cantrill, Bryan; Frazelle, Jessie (January 26, 2020). "Jonathan Blow". On the Metal (Podcast). Oxide Computer Company. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2022. https://oxide.computer/podcasts/on-the-metal/jonathan-blow ↩

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