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The Binding of Isaac
bindingofisaac.com
Dark roguelike shooter about a child escaping into his mother's basement, expanded as Rebirth and Repentance.
3M+ copies of the original…
diff ~/p/edmund-mcmillen ~/p/jonathan-blow
Edmund McMillen vs Jonathan Blow
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
Designer of Braid and The Witness, creator of the Jai language, head of Thekla
@Jonathan_Blow United States
Edmund McMillen vs Jonathan Blow at a glance
Both Edmund McMillen and Jonathan Blow are bootstrapped. They overlap in Indie Game Makers. Edmund is based in Santa Cruz, United States, Jonathan in Boulder, United States. Edmund McMillen has 5 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Jonathan Blow's 5. On X, Edmund has about 379K followers and Jonathan about 161K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Edmund McMillen: Santa Cruz, United States
- Jonathan Blow: Boulder, United States
- Started
- Edmund McMillen: —
- Jonathan Blow: 2004 (22 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Edmund McMillen: Not public
- Jonathan Blow: Not public
- Products listed
- Edmund McMillen: 5
- Jonathan Blow: 5
- Product status
- Edmund McMillen: 5 active
- Jonathan Blow: 5 active
- X followers
- Edmund McMillen: 379K
- Jonathan Blow: 161K
- Style
- Edmund McMillen: bootstrappedserial maker
- Jonathan Blow: bootstrapped
- Courses & resources
- Edmund McMillen: —
- Jonathan Blow: 2
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
S
Super Meat Boy
supermeatboy.com
Brutally hard, fast platformer co-created with Tommy Refenes as Team Meat.
1M+ copies by Jan 2012
Mewgenics
store.steampowered.com
Cat-breeding tactics roguelite co-created with Tyler Glaiel.
1M+ copies in first week
The End Is Nigh
store.steampowered.com
Post-apocalyptic precision platformer made with Tyler Glaiel.
B
Braid
braid-game.com
Time-manipulation puzzle platformer; an Anniversary Edition with commentary was released in 2024.
$4M+ lifetime by 2014
T
The Witness
the-witness.net
Open-world first-person puzzle game on an island of line-drawing panels.
$5M+ gross in first week
Order of the Sinking Star
orderofthesinkingstar.com
Narrative puzzle adventure with over 1,000 interconnected block-pushing puzzles, built in Jai by Thekla.
Jai
youtube.com
Systems programming language for game development, designed by Blow since 2014 and in closed beta.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
No stack shared publicly.
JaiC++custom engine
How they build
- Put your own fears and personality directly into your games.
- Hard games are fine if they are fair and fast to retry.
- Small side projects can become the biggest hits.
- Games can explore deep ideas, and design should respect the player's intelligence.
- Self-fund your work so you keep full creative control.
- Software has become needlessly complex; programmers should understand and simplify their tools.
- Spend as long as it takes to make the game right rather than shipping something compromised.
Learn from Edmund and Jonathan
No courses, books or communities listed.
- [youtube] Jonathan Blow on YouTube
- [youtube] j_blow on Twitch
Edmund McMillen vs Jonathan Blow FAQ
Who makes more money, Edmund McMillen or Jonathan Blow?
Neither Edmund McMillen nor Jonathan Blow has publicly reported a revenue figure that IndieMakerList tracks, so it's not public.
Who has built more products, Edmund McMillen or Jonathan Blow?
Edmund McMillen has 5 products listed (including The Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy and Mewgenics); Jonathan Blow has 5 products listed (including Braid, The Witness and Order of the Sinking Star).
What tech stack do Edmund McMillen and Jonathan Blow use?
Edmund McMillen hasn't shared a stack. Jonathan Blow uses Jai, C++ and custom engine. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Edmund McMillen and Jonathan Blow based?
Edmund McMillen: Santa Cruz, United States. Jonathan Blow: Boulder, United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Edmund McMillen or Jonathan Blow?
Edmund McMillen's start year isn't listed; Jonathan Blow started in 2004 (22 years indie).
Are Edmund McMillen and Jonathan Blow bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Edmund McMillen's profile and Jonathan Blow's profile.
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