B
Braid
braid-game.com
Time-manipulation puzzle platformer; an Anniversary Edition with commentary was released in 2024.
$4M+ lifetime by 2014
diff ~/p/jonathan-blow ~/p/lucas-pope
Jonathan Blow vs Lucas Pope
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
Jonathan Blow vs Lucas Pope at a glance
Both Jonathan Blow and Lucas Pope are bootstrapped. They overlap in Indie Game Makers. Jonathan is based in Boulder, United States, Lucas in Saitama, Japan. Jonathan started in 2004 and Lucas in 2010. Jonathan Blow has 5 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Lucas Pope's 4. On X, Jonathan has about 160K followers and Lucas about 100K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Jonathan Blow: Boulder, United States
- Lucas Pope: Saitama, Japan
- Started
- Jonathan Blow: 2004 (22 yrs indie)
- Lucas Pope: 2010 (16 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Jonathan Blow: Not public
- Lucas Pope: Not public
- Products listed
- Jonathan Blow: 5
- Lucas Pope: 4
- Product status
- Jonathan Blow: 5 active
- Lucas Pope: 4 active
- X followers
- Jonathan Blow: 160K
- Lucas Pope: 100K
- Style
- Jonathan Blow: bootstrapped
- Lucas Pope: solobootstrapped
- Courses & resources
- Jonathan Blow: 2
- Lucas Pope: —
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
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.
Papers, Please
papersplea.se
Dystopian document thriller in which you play a border inspector in the fictional country of Arstotzka.
R
Return of the Obra Dinn
obradinn.com
1-bit mystery game where an insurance investigator deduces the fate of every crew member of a lost merchant ship.
Mars After Midnight
play.date
Playdate-exclusive game about running a support group for Martians.
T
The Republia Times
dukope.com
Short free browser game about editing a newspaper under a censoring regime, a precursor to Papers, Please.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
JaiC++custom engine
No stack shared publicly.
How they build
- 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.
- Build a game around one strong, unusual mechanic and polish it deeply.
- Use distinctive, constrained visual styles to make a small game memorable.
- Share development openly through detailed devlogs.
Learn from Jonathan and Lucas
- [youtube] Jonathan Blow on YouTube
- [youtube] j_blow on Twitch
No courses, books or communities listed.
Jonathan Blow vs Lucas Pope FAQ
Who makes more money, Jonathan Blow or Lucas Pope?
Neither Jonathan Blow nor Lucas Pope has publicly reported a revenue figure that IndieMakerList tracks, so it's not public.
Who has built more products, Jonathan Blow or Lucas Pope?
Jonathan Blow has 5 products listed (including Braid, The Witness and Order of the Sinking Star); Lucas Pope has 4 products listed (including Papers, Please, Return of the Obra Dinn and Mars After Midnight).
What tech stack do Jonathan Blow and Lucas Pope use?
Jonathan Blow uses Jai, C++ and custom engine. Lucas Pope hasn't shared a stack. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Jonathan Blow and Lucas Pope based?
Jonathan Blow: Boulder, United States. Lucas Pope: Saitama, Japan.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Jonathan Blow or Lucas Pope?
Jonathan Blow started in 2004 (22 years indie); Lucas Pope started in 2010 (16 years indie).
Are Jonathan Blow and Lucas Pope bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Jonathan Blow's profile and Lucas Pope's profile.
Jonathan Blow vs Derek Yu
Jonathan Blow vs Eric Barone