# The Witness by Jonathan Bow, creator of Braid.



## Sunray (Jan 28, 2016)

He's created a puzzle game called The Witness, which came out yesterday, it's on steam and consoles. 

IGN have given it 10, they have only ever given 10 to 6 other games.  I checked, as I've never seen a ten in their reviews. 

The Witness (PC)


I quite like a good puzzle game, I think at up to 100 hours it breaks some kind of record for a puzzle game.


----------



## tommers (Jan 28, 2016)

Yeah,  it's supposed to be very good


----------



## tommers (Jan 28, 2016)

Bought it.  It's very pretty.  Only played a bit but you can only interact with the puzzleboards and they are all mazes with various rules attached.  I was expecting something a bit more "myst", where you would just have a room with some stuff in - rather than a board with an obvious puzzle on it.  Maybe it will change later on.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Jan 29, 2016)

tommers said:


> Bought it.  It's very pretty.  Only played a bit but you can only interact with the puzzleboards and they are all mazes with various rules attached.  I was expecting something a bit more "myst", where you would just have a room with some stuff in - rather than a board with an obvious puzzle on it.  Maybe it will change later on.


You'd hope so - the intro video on Steam is much the same. For a 10/10 game, I'd expect it to get much more interesting soon...


----------



## Crispy (Jan 29, 2016)

tommers said:


> Bought it.  It's very pretty.  Only played a bit but you can only interact with the puzzleboards and they are all mazes with various rules attached.  I was expecting something a bit more "myst", where you would just have a room with some stuff in - rather than a board with an obvious puzzle on it.  Maybe it will change later on.


It does. The puzzles start getting integrated with the scenery in interesting ways.

And yes, it's "draw-the-line" puzzles, but there's hundreds of them and they're very good draw-the-line puzzles. I was up late last night with gridded paper, cutting out and arranging tetrominos to solve a particularly tricky one. It's a great game. Right up my street.


----------



## mauvais (Jan 30, 2016)

Bought this, enjoying it so far. Like a prettier, so far less interactive version of Talos Principle.

If you haven't got it yet, ignore Steam in favour of the Humble Store. Two quid less and you get to give 10% to a charity, e.g. MSF


----------



## Crispy (Jan 30, 2016)

So in the "symmetry" section, they do the most horrible thing



Spoiler



They get you used to controlling two rotationally mirrored lines, and then *make the "other" line invisible*. The sick sick bastards.



It's not _hard _as such, it just requires constant agonising concentration. I feel like my brain is being sharpened on a cold steel.

Completing the treetops though, that made me feel like the smartest motherfucker on the island


----------



## mauvais (Jan 31, 2016)

I can't understand the Tetris bit.

Edit: think I've figured it out, wasn't what I expected


----------



## Crispy (Feb 1, 2016)

Oh wow. Oh WOW. *WOW.*
If you've discovered it, you'll know what I mean.


----------



## mauvais (Feb 1, 2016)

Crispy said:


> Oh wow. Oh WOW. *WOW.*
> If you've discovered it, you'll know what I mean.


Do I have to complete the game to find whatever this is?


----------



## Sunray (Feb 2, 2016)

mauvais said:


> Do I have to complete the game to find whatever this is?



KInda the point of any game, no?


----------



## Crispy (Feb 2, 2016)

mauvais said:


> Do I have to complete the game to find whatever this is?


Don't know, I haven't completed it yet 
It feels optional.


----------



## mauvais (Feb 2, 2016)

Sunray said:


> KInda the point of any game, no?


You don't have to do every puzzle in this game to reach the ending, but once you do reach it, you would have to start again to do the bits you missed.


----------



## mauvais (Feb 2, 2016)

Crispy said:


> Don't know, I haven't completed it yet
> It feels optional.





Spoiler



There's the cinema, but I'm not sure if that's your 'wow'


----------



## Crispy (Feb 2, 2016)

mauvais said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> There's the cinema, but I'm not sure if that's your 'wow'


No, not that. Although that is cool. 



Spoiler



James Burke!



It's bigger than that.


----------



## mauvais (Feb 2, 2016)

Crispy said:


> No, not that. Although that is cool.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The, err, credits? Accessible from near the beginning with a new game.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 2, 2016)

mauvais said:


> The, err, credits? Accessible from near the beginning with a new game.


Not that either. I'm not saying another word. You'll know when you see it them


----------



## mauvais (Feb 2, 2016)

Gaaaaaaaah!


----------



## mauvais (Feb 2, 2016)

I don't know what your wow threshold is 

Spoiler warning added - people may not want to read this:



Spoiler



The environmental (non-board) puzzles are very cool.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 2, 2016)

My wow threshold is obviously quite low then


----------



## mauvais (Feb 2, 2016)

They really are good - and clever. I didn't clock they were a thing at all, about seven sections in, until I went looking for an answer to

second weaker spoiler:



Spoiler



'what are these stacks of tyres about' (obelisks).



I think I have puzzle fatigue though so I'm blase about everything now.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 2, 2016)

Oh well if you googled it then you deserve a high wow bar, you big cheat you 

I found them when I wondered what was behind you in the very starting corridor. Saw the forced perspective and it was like fireworks went off in my brain.


----------



## mauvais (Feb 2, 2016)

I'm trying not to look too many things up so that I get the pleasure of doing it for myself, but I did initially get confused by the details of a couple of mechanics, so I've looked at a few hints or solutions.

I've the Ship and the Jungle still to do I think, plus all the extra stuff.

I'm belatedly coming round to your 'wow' just because of how they're everywhere and I barely noticed.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 2, 2016)

Oh shit I haven't even gone near the ship.

Can't figure out the sun temple at *all*
(don't hint!)


----------



## mwgdrwg (Feb 4, 2016)

It's Jonathan B*l*ow, btw.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 4, 2016)

Excellent essay/article: Thoughts on The Witness


----------



## stdP (Feb 4, 2016)

Nicely put. I've been humming and hahing about picking this one up (loved Braid as spatial/temporal puzzles are always a hoot, ref. Portal and Antechamber*) but... well I think I might have to wait this one out. From the article it sounds like this is waaaay more a logic puzzle than anything else, I get bored of those incredibly quickly and the preface immediately reminded me why I find puzzles like sudoku so bloody interminably yawnsome.

<goes back to designing his supply fleet in From the Depths>

* Crispy, if you weren't aware of that one I think it's the kind of game you'd enjoy I think


----------



## Crispy (Feb 4, 2016)

It shits all over sudoku from a great height.

I found antechamber too abstract, and the visuals too garish. Nice ideas, but not enough fun for me.


----------



## mauvais (Feb 4, 2016)

I decided to explore my way towards the ending.

Some of the puzzles in there are borderline genius in terms of progression. You'll know what I mean when you see them.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 8, 2016)




----------



## mauvais (Feb 8, 2016)

I think you need to wait for it to get dark.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 8, 2016)

mauvais said:


> I think you need to wait for it to get dark.


Nah, just stand in the right place so you only see the reflection of its own shadow.


----------



## Crispy (Feb 12, 2016)

I have now lit all eleven lasers and have started my assault on the mountain. Damn it gets tricky quick(y).


----------



## fen_boy (Feb 18, 2016)

Damn those jungle puzzles, I'm tone deaf.


----------



## mauvais (Feb 18, 2016)

Yeah, I couldn't do them.

On a different note, have you noticed any locked doors or inaccessible tunnels?


----------



## fen_boy (Feb 22, 2016)

I'm still really enjoying it, but I'm finding some of the puzzles work better than others. 



Spoiler



The ones where you have to position the light source just right to catch a reflection on the screen - I thought those were great at first, but after the 30th one in a dark room with a single light bulb they just became an annoying trial and error process try to work out exactly where to stand to get the reflection. The filtered light ones I thought were great.


----------



## fen_boy (Feb 22, 2016)

Also 



Spoiler



is the sun moving?


----------



## Crispy (Feb 22, 2016)

fen_boy said:


> Also
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No


----------



## wtfftw (Feb 25, 2016)

http://kotaku.com/the-weird-things-people-do-while-playing-the-witness-1761144296


----------



## wtfftw (Feb 25, 2016)

I'm playing with Chemistry. I think I'm dreaming in puzzles.

Not really read the thread in case but I might now I see spoiler tags.


----------



## wtfftw (Apr 12, 2016)

right. We're on round two now for all the black tower* environmental shit. I really can't be arsed with apples and I'm not looking forward to all the sun glare shit. I do think he should release tonnes of the 'proper' puzzles as a DS game. 




*monolith sez Chem.


----------



## Geoffrey (Apr 18, 2016)

Really enjoying this after getting it yesterday.  My wife and I had a brain busting 4 hour session playing it last night.  Only just clicked that the environments play a big part in progress as we were winding it up for the night.  Pens and notepad out, loads of diagrams drawn and fervent conversations about the puzzle rules made for an entertaining evening.  Looks like it could get quite exhausting though!


----------



## Geoffrey (Apr 18, 2016)

wtfftw said:


> right. We're on round two now for all the black tower* environmental shit. I really can't be arsed with apples and I'm not looking forward to all the sun glare shit. I do think he should release tonnes of the 'proper' puzzles as a DS game.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I agree, the grid based puzzles would be ideal on the DS and the stylus great for control.


----------

