The Witness

Played this game for the laugh at first ...and it ended up my absolute favorite game. I love how the solution is ALWAYS logical, to such an extend that you KNOW you found the answer even before putting it down. It's like having a conversation with the designer, when you realize "oh THAT'S what you meant, ok i get it!".
Everytime i got stuck, either i had to try other puzzles to learn more rules, or i had to take a break and then got the solution the minute i came back (except once in the whole game, and it wasn't even a hard puzzle haha). BUT now i'm stuck for real at the village zone, the Final Boss. Oh well, maybe one day!

Loved this game so much. Really challenging and engaging puzzles and gorgeous to look at! I get the sense that at 30 hours and 416 puzzles solved there are layers of content I haven't discovered yet...

Great game, especially for puzzle nuts. I'm glad I experienced it. I'm disappointed I wasn't clever enough to spot the puzzles in the landscape.

The Witness is a great self-contained puzzle experience. You are dropped into a world with no explanation, no tutorial, no pop-ups to tell you what to do or where to go. You are left with only your curiosity and your drive to explore. But it's what this game does with that drive that I think makes it so enjoyable.
As you explore the world you begin solving puzzles and unraveling the clues that different symbols in the world hold. The more you learn the more you begin to notice things that you previously overlooked. As time passes you can find so many hidden secrets that give you a strong sense of accomplishment and intrigue. If you are interested in calm, interesting puzzle games with a large exploration component, the Witness is a great option.

I played this game originally back in 2018 and enjoyed its puzzles. I did the standard ending. I came back 7 years later to experience the game again in its entirety with a 100% play through and appreciated the game even more the second time. A must play for puzzle game enthusiasts.

Cool puzzles, awesome visuals and visual moments. Quotes can be a little pretentious, but hey, it's a puzzle game.

a pretty difficult puzzle game with extremely creative and well-crafted puzzle mechanics
there's basically no real story, you're just here to solve puzzles, but that's cool

Cautious recommend. If you look on YouTube, it seems like you’ll mostly see people saying “I didn’t like the witness” or “It’s not very good”, or more often, “It’s good, but it has problems.” All statements I found odd, considering when it came out 9ish years ago, it was one of the most-praised puzzle games of the time. I found it even more odd, because when I started the game, I was incredibly intrigued by the Island and the mysteries it holds. Turns out, it holds puzzles on iPads, and it holds an absurd number of them, and all the YouTube opinions made a whole lot more sense. By the time I got to the end, my intrigue was turned to pure frustration, because the Witness is an excellent game that is stretched to the thinnest degree, and it simply overstays its welcome. By the time I got to the last major portion of the game, I felt like I’d seen enough and was excited to see the end. But it was not the end. It was close to the end, but before I got to the end, I had to do like 30-40 new puzzles, one after the other, like a stack of flash cards. I’d already been tested in basically every mechanic the game has to offer, but it has to hit you over the head with walls with like 5-10 puzzles in a row. It’s not even that they aren’t rewarding or challenging. It’s just that I felt like I should have rolled credits already but the game is holding me hostage. Apart from this frustration, the mechanics themselves are good and it teaches you the different rules in the game fairly effectively. But this game should not be 25-30 hours. It should have graciously stopped at 15-20, and let us just relax with a job well done. My recommendation is: once you’re bored with the game, just quit. There’s no meaningful narrative you’re missing out on, and there’s no epic climactic puzzle to send off with. It’s kind of a meaningless bleh to end. It’s basically a puzzle book stretched out on a nice island aesthetic that doesn’t have much visual coherence or lasting atmosphere. All in all, the game itself is fine and the puzzles are conceptually cool. But that does not a masterpiece make. Also runs really well on SteamDeck. Final score: 7/10.

Let me start by saying that this game is not for everyone. If you watch the trailer and those maze puzzles seem interesting to you, and you think they would remain interesting through a whole game, then you may like this game. This game has many points where it shines: The visuals are stunning, the environments are used to near perfection, the tone is interesting and mysterious when it needs to be, and it feels great when a puzzle finally clicks. On the downside, the puzzles can sometimes be frustrating, this game is not very disability friendly (do not get if you are colorblind or hard-of-hearing), and the mechanics can wear out fast in some cases (looking at you tetris puzzles). This all being said, if it looks fun I think you should pick it up. Just... make sure to get it on sale because the price is a bit high for a game that is mostly you doing mazes.

Incredible game. Though I would not reccomend it to everyone (due to the nature of it being a puzzle game) I seriously think it deserves praise.

Absolute classic game. I've been revisiting it since high school and it's still peak.

This is my favorite game. It will not be for everyone, but for those who enjoy mental puzzles and well designed progression of difficulty and interesting executions and discovery and feel genuine satisfaction when a challenging problem comes together or a neat pattern is found? For them? This is everything. It will hit all the sweet spots.

Just amazing work.

If you DON'T like puzzles... well, it's very pretty, and maybe give it a try since its a really unique presentation that progresses very naturally - so naturally you might find yourself enjoying it ANYWAY... but it's puzzles all the way down. If you hate puzzles, run away. It's all puzzles. Hundreds of them. I mean, it's the most interesting execution of puzzles and connecting them to the world around them and building something out of it all that I've ever seen... but it is all puzzles.

Well, Puzzles and vibes. There's definitely some interesting vibes.

I've played through the whole thing on my console, and I got it again years later to play it on the PC - I enjoyed both times (more than I thought I would for second run - because of the nature of the building rules and the quickness of the challenges, I hadn't memorized nearly as much of the 'breakthroughs' or 'surprises' as I thought I had. Somethings of course weren't quite as "oh wow" the second time, of course, but... still surprisingly solid all the way through.)

And on top of being brilliant - with the layering and the progression and the building of complexity and the discoveries and *everything* - It's lovely.

Lovely. Challenging. Beautiful and a heck of a nice journey. Something really special.

I hope you get into it... there is so (soo!) much to explore. I said it was "just" puzzles above... but for someone who likes puzzles it is more. It's a world of fascinating discoveries, the most "ahh!", "ah ha!" and "oh wow" moments (and maybe a few "holy crap" and "ahhhhhh!" moments) I've ever gone through in one game.

And while I used challenging above... it's not *hard*. It's not painful. Some places are definitely thinkers, some areas require an intuitive leap, but there' s no time pressure, no pressure at all. If something isn't clear - you can always go elsewhere, or just explore, try another area, come back to it later. Or admire the scenery, which can be rewarding in itself.

Well, that's a minor fib - there's one, optional, end area that's very challenging - but it's completely optional and there's no penalty for not getting it, and you can try it as many times as you want (it took me quite a few tries...) - but by the time you get there you'll either have loved the experience or be done with it all anyway, so 99.9% of the game is exactly as I said =)

I wish everybody would get to enjoy it as much as I did. I *know* it's not for everyone... but... it brought me (and my family! we went through it together the first time) so much joy.

It is my favorite game.

I hope you like it!

Wow. This is a long game. After 44 hours, I'm still not done (not looking at hints). There are many hidden puzzles in this game and the scenery is beautiful. If you like line puzzles and nice landscaping with few obvious answers, you will love this game. Otherwise, I can see how this game could be frustrating.

This is a stellar game, but it is not for everyone. You have to enjoy being challenged as it is an extremely unforgiving game.

For me, personally, it's an absolute masterpiece. The experience of walking around an island alone, enjoying the surreal beauty of its nature, and working through the progressively more complex puzzles is simply sublime.

This is one of the greatest puzzle games of all time and a masterpiece of game design in general

You are brain afk wondering around not knowing what to do? Maybe this game can get you exited again. You don't have to think much at the start, just walking around enjoying the scene. After a while you will engage in one of the puzzles. This will cause a chain reaction which can get quite long.

For me a bit too much mystery. There could be a bit more explaining the world to me.

-Really fun puzzle adventure - wow moments where you get a new mechanic for the first time, and the first secret is particularly special

Very good puzzles. Nice to take a break from the physical skills needed for a lot of games and just stretch your brain.

the infinite jest of puzzle games. johnathan blow is really thinking about games as a medium on a deeper level. this isn't a game you want to look anything up for. if you are having trouble you are meant to explore other parts of the island and allow the answers to come to you. the game is about the relationship you have to playing with it. it will change the way you look at the outside world after a deep session.

This game definitely has its fans and haters, and I am a BIG fan! I love nearly everything about this game, and I can't recommend it enough if you like puzzle games! It gets REALLY hard in later challenges so be patient and willing to take breaks!

I found none of the puzzles satisfying to complete, it felt like a chore of understanding the devs intention. I didn't feel compelled to pick it up again. From reading the reviews it sounds like he's insufferable.

I have no intention of grinding through this game to smell the devs farts.

Great puzzle game tainted by the most pretentious game developer trying so hard to be considered “artsy” while sounding like a tool.

One of my favorite games. If you get stuck you can wander to a new area and find another series of puzzles to interact with. The first time I found and solved an environmental puzzle was really something special - I had to sit back for a moment and reconsider everything. I didn't solve all of them but that's OK. I did complete the Challenge which is one of my proudest gaming moments to date. Not from a Steam achievement point of view, but the actual feat itself. Completely recommend!

How many ways can you think of when drawing the line from A to B?
What is it simple grid 1x2? And if it is 5x6? How Many conditions/obstacles/twists can you think to hide the correct path?
The author of the game certainly took his time to create overwhelmingly complex and numerous number of was to do it.
it starts very simple (and logical), but things escalate quickly.
Sadly i had to use the solutions to go through some puzzles (singing birds, temple and flashing lights say hi), while i am proud to solve the final 3d sequence of puzzles myself.
i certainly recommend this game to test your wits, just be ready to get frustrated soon enough,

If an art gallery was a game, this is it. I've never beaten it though, as I'm too stupid to comprehend the more advanced puzzles. This is more of a middle ground for me in terms of opinion, but I'll give it a like.

It's a strange game. I found myself frequently thinking about the puzzles when I wasn't playing it, and the tetris effect in this game is next level.

The game doesn't explain anything explicitly to you, so part of the puzzle is figuring out the mechanics of the puzzles. This is incredibly satisfying when you get it but pretty frustrating when you don't. The open world mitigates this a lot--when you're frustrated, you can go solve puzzles elsewhere. Often what you learn in the process will help you understand the puzzle you got stuck on. Still, the game involves spending a lot of time on really difficult puzzles, so if that's not appealing to you, don't play it.

This game has no filler. No music, no (clear) story, no platforming. It's just a small open world of interconnected puzzles. There's a feeling that everything in the game is placed intentionally, and even after getting the main ending, there's still so much more to do.

I initially didn't buy this game because line puzzles didn't seem interesting enough, but I'm very glad I did.

Superb puzzle game. Openly roam a beautiful island scattered with puzzles.
The learning curve is expertly managed so that I never feel frustrated.
When I'm stuck, I just move on and come back later, as other simpler puzzles are meant to gently hint at how to solve harder ones.

Pretty good. I enjoyed that it doesn't babysit you, and instead leaves you to deduce the rules of the puzzles.
The hidden audio and video logs were a bit pretentious though.

Awesome game. Some of the puzzles are really hard, and I haven't solved all of them yet, but the world is so beautiful and the game is so well done that I intermittently go back into the game to look for more or retry the ones I didn't solve. I think it also changed my thinking and my ability to solve other puzzles. Solving one of the puzzles that was bugging me for a while is so satisfying. I think this game is definitely worth it for anyone who likes puzzles and wants a challenge.

Very "show, don't tell" kind of game. Go in blind and avoid other reviews and the community tab.

some of the best most complex puzzles ive seen, while also having one of the most simplistic and yet meaningful story, this game utilises its environment as both a means for puzzles and to send a message, creating a simple yet rich world that is beautiful to witness.

This is a weird and hard game, but also one of the greatest video game experiences of my life. On paper this game should suck and in some instances it does, but when it's clicking it is untouchable.

You literally need the IQ of Einstein to properly enjoy this game without a guide. It's great if you enjoy puzzles where you need to figure out rules, but I didn't find that or the open world appealing. I bought this because I thought Braid was kinda cool and wanted to see if Johnathan Blow made a better game after the Xbox 360 indie classic, but unfortunately for me, it wasn't. On the plus side, this made The Looker, a parody of The Witness, funnier than it would've been if I hadn't played this.

The game is a fine puzzler with mostly functional progression, but held back by how much a tortured artist Jonathan Blow thinks he is.

Great game if you know what you're getting into. The gameplay is expertly paced, the environment is beautiful but unobtrusive, and the narrative is thought-provoking yet minimal and completely optional. The puzzles can be difficult but I took my time with this game and as a result I never felt so frustrated that I wanted to quit. Often I would stop playing after being stuck on a puzzle for 20 minutes, only to return the next day and see the solution instantly.

This game also rewards exploration and experimentation in a way that I hardly ever see in other games. I almost never explore the limits in games because 90% of the time there's nothing to see, and the player's curiosity is not rewarded. This game is different from that and it was surprisingly satisfying to realize the solution to a puzzle had been trivial since the start, I just hadn't been using all the information available. The puzzles progress in an uncannily responsive way, slowly teaching you the intricacies of each puzzle ruleset organically. It often felt like the developers were watching me play and intentionally changing the next puzzle according to how I solved the current one. It feels like an actual dialogue and really makes it clear that the experience has been painstakingly engineered by a master.

I have no complaints about the narrative. I don't really want a big story in a puzzle game. The puzzles are their own reward and having a bunch of people yapping at me while I'm trying to think would be unbelievably annoying. Everyone has had the experience of a non-puzzle-centric game putting a puzzle section in. They can't help adding obnoxious music that loops every 2 minutes with a side character giving you unhelpful and repetitive hints ("Huh? It looks like this stone moves!") every 30 seconds. Come to think of it, even some bad puzzle games do this. A few messages left by ambiguous pseudo-characters with mostly philosophical monologues are just about perfect to give you something to think about other than 5x5 grids while you're trying to figure out why your childhood of kids menu mazes isn't paying off how to solve a new type of puzzle.

This game can be very difficult. I forced myself to resist the temptation to look up guides until I reached the end of the game, and after reaching both endings I now have very little desire to change that. If you get stuck on a single puzzle, explore around, get out a pen and paper, move to a different area, or call it for the night and pick the game up tomorrow. It's far more satisfying to discover the solution after careful scrutiny of the entire surroundings than to see a screenshot of the exact solution in a guide. It's a puzzle game, the fun is in solving it. I played through the first ~20% with a friend over discord, and having two people solving the puzzles was just as satisfying, and not quite as mentally taxing. A sheet of graph paper will also pay dividends for quickly sketching different solutions for certain types of puzzles.

If you're truly willing to give this one a fair shot, you'll probably enjoy it.

Mind grinding puzzles with a lovely soundscape. This game is peaceful and worth discovering.

A great puzzle game that builds up skills to solve more and more difficult puzzles over time. The scenery is peaceful, and the hidden philosophy messages are thought provoking. It makes you wonder if there is some hidden objective you're working towards.

The Witness is a fantastic puzzle game with an emphasis on changing your perspective. If you've never tried this and you're a fan of the genre, it's worth a fair shot.

this game isn't meant for everyone, but if it strikes for you, it is absolutely amazing.

Puzzles within puzzles - not so much a story, but a puzzle of who you are and what is happening. You have to take your time to enjoy each puzzle, or you will find it an exercise in frustration.

Nice puzzles,nice aesthetics,a masterpiece deserves its place.

Take your time and enjoy the quiet atmosphere. The puzzles are fair and the 100% run is fairly different than a regular run.

The empty island with the trophy and the man reaching for it is one of the coolest moments I've ever had in a video game. There is nothing to interact with there, but everything about the statue and the placement and the island around it adds another layer to the statement it makes about the game as a whole. The game is about witnessing what happens when you play it, and then looking up and using that knowledge in your life around you, and you should not stop playing this game until you understand what I'm talking about. 10/10 would Blow again

not finished the game yet but it has be entranced . this game is enrichment for my brain the same as a puzzle feeder or a snuffle mat for a dog, minus the food reward. gorgeous aesthetics in the world, amazing sound design that makes the world around you sound immersive and peaceful without the use of music to try and oversell the point where it definitely isnt needed.(im very fond of the footsteps as i walk across different surfaces, theyre done in a way that is almost satisfying to listen to lol). some puzzles took quite a bit of time and more guessing than really understanding the mechanics until i was halfway thru that area and its gimmick.. but not in a way that made me enjoy myself less. and discovering that there were environmental puzzles has left me wandering and staring at every tiny branch or shadow in case im missing something. its a very well-made game and i can feel the love that went into it

This game is truly a work of art. In addition to all of the puzzles that can be found throughout the island, there are puzzles hidden all throughout the environment that unveil themselves when looked at with the right perspective. There are also hidden art pieces in the world that can be noticed if looked at from a certain perspective. This is a seriously impressive accomplishment considering just how many perspective tricks are present here.

Hands down my favourite puzzle game of all time. The kind of game you wish you could forget everything about just so you can play it again for the first time.

This game sets out to teach you something about yourself and your capacity to do hard things. Not everyone learns the same way, and so this game isn't for everyone, but personally, I thought it was very successful in what it set out to do. It's one of those rare game experiences where I felt different coming out the other side than I did going in. It has stuck with me for a long time, and I think will for a long time more. The puzzles were challenging, engaging, and deliciously crunchy. Finishing it was bittersweet. It wants you to grow beyond it.

That said, it's not perfect. There are some accessibility issues, and there was one section where the lighting was intolerable. I'm not especially prone to flashing light dizziness, but one area affected me so badly I had to look up what the clue was online because I simply couldn't look at the screen long enough to make it out.

I hope this game eventually gets a remaster that addresses its problems, because the thought that went into the rest of the experience deserves for those other aspects to live up to it.

Exploring the world as well as exploring the puzzle mechanics never feel old, remaining interesting throughout the duration of the game. The way the game requires you to apply what you learned creates a powerful sense of completion after working through some of the more difficult puzzles, and after completing the game.

Im Wootnessing. Wootness me wootness. And then I will wootness you wootnessing me wootness you wootnessing me wootness. Truly.
And thats just about all that I can say on the subject. You might think that I am holding back. That there is something else that I could add to the conversation, but I must assure you that that idea is wrong. This is and always has been everything that I think I could think about when it comes to the idea of this kind of idea. I thought about it longer than I spent spending time thinking about how I would even begin to try and think about how I might say it. And this is the result. Resolute in my statement I would like to add that this did add a good amount of joy to my life. Cant get much more clear than that. Couldnt do it if I tried a hundred more times. And you cant blame me for that. You could try, but It wouldnt amount to much.
And as any good person should, I will say one more thing to tie this back into the initial idea that I put out in this review. It is that I am currently wootnessing. Get wootnessed.

an absolute masterpiece. This game is the epitome of what an "open world" non-linear puzzle game should be. The sense of exploration is out of this world and the puzzles are hands down the best I've ever done in my life.

The game is structured in such a way that you even though you find lots of puzzles early on the solutions will only become apparent once you have gone through the different sections on the map. The game does an outstanding job at teaching how to solve each different puzzle type and I personally never found 1 puzzle too hard.

The end of the game does an amazing job at putting everything you've learnt to the test.

10/10 buy on sale it's worth it