Jordan Mechner
jordanmechner.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2008
Jordan Mechner, creator of Prince of Persia and Karateka, shares his game development journals, books, and graphic novels.
What HN saysHN commenters link it for his development journals and books on making Karateka and Prince of Persia, recommending them as history even outside game development.
84HN people shared it
59linked it in comments
33stories submitted
1.7Kstory points
5 months agolast shared
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Most-shared posts
- 1The Making of Prince of Persia (& Karateka)12 people · 4 points · first shared 2014 · discussion on HN
- 2Development Journal for Price of Persia10 people · 65 points · first shared 2009 · 14 comments on HN
- 3The Making of Prince of Persia Hardcover – Jordan Mechner's 1980s Journal6 people · 3 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 4The Making of Prince of Persia ebook5 people · 2 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 5Journals4 people · first shared 2024
- 6Prince of Persia source code documentation [1989] [pdf]3 people · 73 points · first shared 2009 · 15 comments on HN
- 7Jordan Mechner: How Prince of Persia started3 people · 6 points · first shared 2008 · discussion on HN
- 8Homepage3 people · first shared 2012
- 9A 30th anniversary note to Prince of Persia fans2 people · 448 points · first shared 2019 · 96 comments on HN
- 10The Making of Prince of Persia (2011) [pdf]2 people · 302 points · first shared 2016 · 70 comments on HN
- 11A platform-jumping prince – History of Prince of Persia's 1990s Ports2 people · 191 points · first shared 2025 · 39 comments on HN
- 12The Making of Prince of Persia2 people · 60 points · first shared 2009 · 9 comments on HN
- 13Making of Prince of Persia now available as an ebook2 people · 45 points · first shared 2011 · 14 comments on HN
- 14Video Game Design Tips from creator of Prince of Persia2 people · 9 points · first shared 2009 · discussion on HN
- 15"Breaking into Making Games" - Interview with Adam Atomic2 people · 1 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
Someone · 2026-06-12
That, and more, is available from Jordan Mechner’s site https://www.jordanmechner.com.
Prince of Persia info at https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/library/#pop
buildsjets · 2026-06-12
Prince of Persia was great, but since it came out in 1989 and my family got our Apple //e in 1986, I spent a lot more hours playing the author’s previous rotoscoped platformer from a few years earlier, Karateka.
https://youtu.be/wKqk9kosCs4?is=awtDYponzgbjyA52
https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/games-movies/karateka/
Smalltalker-80 · 2026-06-12
Yes, specifically buying options for the book are on this page: (recommended) https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/journals
delis-thumbs-7e · 2026-02-14
This was amazing piece, thank you for posting.
His graphic novel also loiks great: https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/replay/
rendx · 2025-08-31
Mentioned in the article, the journals by original game designer Jason Mechner are a great piece of history, about growing up, finding one's own path. Recommend, even if you're not into game development!
https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/the-making-of-karateka/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Mechner
"Reading them transports me back to that place and time. We all knew this was an exciting new industry, but I don't think we had any clue what it was going to turn into during our careers. There were no schools, no books, no theories covering what we were doing. Everyone was just figuring it out on their own. Following Jordan's creative path is a great example of how to go with your own gut instinct. It's also a great inspiration, showing how persistence and determination can lead to unexpected and wonderful results." -- Will Wright
solardev · 2022-08-23
I didn't know there was a hardcover. Thanks for sharing! It used to be one of my favorite games and this would be a great sometime read.
For anyone else looking, it's $23 from Stripe: https://press.stripe.com/the-making-of-prince-of-persia (sadly it's only available from Amazon)
You can also get the ePub version for $8: https://www.jordanmechner.com/books/journals/?lang=en_EN
orlandohill · 2021-05-27
The creator of Prince of Persia, Jordan Mechner, has recently adapted the ancient Persian tale, Samak the Ayyar.
Samak, a rogue with the skills of a ninja and the ideals of a knight, leads his band of ayyars in a thrilling adventure of secret missions, battlefield heroics, love and intrigue. A masterpiece of Persia’s thousand-year-old oral storytelling tradition, Samak the Ayyar is a vivid glimpse into the enchanting world that inspired Prince of Persia.
http://jordanmechner.com/samak/
ystad · 2020-12-11
Good luck. Enjoy the process.
Would recommend reading Jordan Mechner's Journal on the Making of Prince of Persia
https://jordanmechner.com/store/the-making-of-prince-of-persia/
henrikschroder · 2019-10-14
If you liked this story, and haven't yet checked out Jordan Mechner's journals from the mid-80's when he developed Prince of Persia, I highly recommend that you do: https://www.jordanmechner.com/backstage/journals/
fancy_pantser · 2017-08-13
There was a site, gamepitches.com, that wanted to archive these types of documents but it only existed for a few years. Here's a Wayback Machine link to the document archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20150406082704/http://www.gamepitches.com/…
Some classic design documentation is available for Karateka and Prince of Persia by the creator: http://www.jordanmechner.com/backstage/journals/
Gamasutra postmortems are a good resource for modern games. They don't usually have design documents but they often talk about their plans and how they had to change during development: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/postmortem/
vanderZwan · 2017-05-17
Not uncommon at the time though - Jordan Mechner did something similar. His journals are absolute treasures, by the way:
http://www.jordanmechner.com/backstage/journals/
EDIT: Well, maybe I speak too soon. Chahi and Mechner don't exactly represent the average developer - they both are polymaths and were capable of combining their broad interests in amazing and creative ways.
dejv · 2016-02-22
It's behind you - the making of a computer game: http://bizzley.imbahost.com/ is great
There is also diaries for Making of Prince of Persia and Karatek. http://www.jordanmechner.com/backstage/journals/
Both highly recommended, I reread it three times already.
phodo · 2016-01-26
Here are a couple of additional things to read if you liked those:
* Jordan Mechner - of Prince of Persia / Karateka [1]
* Ready Player One - fiction - but in the same vein [2]
[1]
Jordan's website w general links: http://www.jordanmechner.com/
The Making of Karateka - 1982- 1985 : http://www.amazon.com/Making-Karateka-Journals-1982-1985/dp/1480297232…
The Making of Prince of Persia - Journals 1985-1993: http://www.amazon.com/Making-Prince-Persia-Journals-1985/dp/1468093657…
[2]
Ready Player One - http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/0307887448
foobarge · 2015-08-18
Yes - a recommended read. In a similar vein: http://www.jordanmechner.com/backstage/journals/
wallflower · 2014-12-25
Re: Prince of Persia.
If you've never spent twelve hours straight reading a development journal - Jordan Mechner's is one of the best.
http://www.jordanmechner.com/backstage/journals/
voltagex_ · 2014-08-04
My favourite example of digital archaeology from recent years is http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2012/04/source/ - saving the Prince of Persia floppies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnEWBtCnFs8
moconnor · 2014-05-04
I can really recommend Jordan Mechner's Karateka and Prince of Persia journals for a look into game development in the 80s.
Every time I read one I come away energized with the same passion for creating something unique.
Edit for link: http://jordanmechner.com/ebook/
bbq · 2012-08-18
Similarly, The Making of Prince of Persia is a great read: http://jordanmechner.com/old-journals/
Also available as an ebook: http://jordanmechner.com/ebook/
jasonlotito · 2012-04-17
And, just as a reminder, there is a wonderful book. It's from the journal Jordan Mechner kept at the time. It's an excellent read.
http://jordanmechner.com/ebook/
thirdhaf · 2012-04-17
Of course, you need only go to the horse's mouth. [1]
It's been posted before but Jordan, the creator of both Karateka and Prince of Persia, has a wonderful series of journals documenting his travails with video games and the movie industry. [2] As part of this he has a detailed description of his trek out to California and a lot of details on technical obstacles that make you thankful to live in the second decade of the third millennium.
[1] http://jordanmechner.com/wp-content/uploads/1989/10/popsource009.pdf
[2] http://jordanmechner.com/
dgant · 2012-03-29
The journals referenced in the article are an excellent read and will likely hit home for those pursuing or considering startups:
http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2011/10/ebook/
morsch · 2011-11-28
See also Jordan Mechner's original development journals: http://jordanmechner.com/old-journals/
Someone else recommended it on HN. Still haven't read it; I'm pretty sure it will be amazing and I'm saving it for a long, boring trip.
shadowsun7 · 2011-10-20
I paid immediately. This is a great book, if you want a preview, go here: http://jordanmechner.com/wp-content/uploads/resources/POP_sample.pdf
maryrosecook · 2011-03-12
This series is fascinating. Loads of stories about weird hacks to make the graphics cleaner, to up the polygon count, to make the animation more cartoonish, writing a dialect of Lisp to define the gameplay.
Related: an article about making Ratchet and Clank using some Jak and Daxter rendering code which Naughty Dog basically gave Insomniac for free. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2842/postmortem_insomniac_games_…
Another great series: Jordan Mechner's diary about making the original Prince of Persia.
http://jordanmechner.com/category/old-journals/
Natsu · 2010-11-14
Another good one:
http://jordanmechner.com/old-journals/page/4/
July 18, 1985
Driving me to the airport, Tomi said:
"I think you should pursue screenwriting. Go for it."
I was surprised and asked her why. She said that Broderbund is a really nice, warm, friendly place to work, but for programmers it’s actually not that great a deal. The older ones, like Chris and David, are starting to get scared, because programming’s the only marketable skill they have, and it’s a young man’s game. The new crop of kids coming up are willing to work harder and cheaper, and don’t have girlfriends or families yet to cut into their working hours. And nobody knows how long the games market will be around, or what it’ll be like next year.
I never would have thought of it quite like that.
cousin_it · 2010-04-14
I used to think the same way. The turning point for me was reading Jordan Mechner's development log for the original Prince of Persia. It's long, but worth it:
http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2009/11/the-making-of-prince-of-persia/
Basically, after the game was finished they spent two years expecting a word-of-mouth breakthrough which never came, then tried traditional marketing and had a huge success.
hypertexthero · 2025-02-28
Here’s two:
Jordan Mechner’s 20 tips: https://www.jordanmechner.com/downloads/library/20tips.pdf
Liz England’s blog: https://lizengland.com/blog/2014/04/the-door-problem/
slyu · 2024-04-28
Similar observations from the history of video game making. Historical archives like the making of Prince of Persia illustrates the art of constraint
https://github.com/jmechner/Prince-of-Persia-Apple-II https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/journals/
02sth · 2024-04-08
I really enjoyed: https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/journals/
mtlynch · 2021-12-28
He published a book containing his journal entries from the time as well:
https://jordanmechner.com/store/the-making-of-prince-of-persia/
My notes about it:
https://mtlynch.io/book-reports/making-of-prince-of-persia/