The Witness

 PC
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Shacknews
    Jan 29, 2016
    70
    The Witness is an intentionally simple game to grasp, but enjoyment almost feels proportional to patience. These puzzles are absolute brain-breakers, so anyone that doesn't have the patience for them will get no enjoyment out of The Witness. I was certainly on the verge of being one of those people, but exploring the sheer beauty of the island and learning more about its central mystery turned out to make returning worthwhile.
  2. High-Def Digest
    Apr 10, 2016
    60
    Video games are unequivocally a form of art. But like all art, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With 'The Witness' I feel like I’m in an art gallery watching a gaggle of admirers who are looking at a piece together, commenting on its style and how it makes them feel. I’m the guy standing off to the side, not with them but looking at the same painting. I can admit that it’s pretty, but it doesn’t really evoke a significant response, and so I shrug and move on to the next.
  3. Games.cz
    Feb 2, 2016
    60
    The Witness is an excellent trainer of a wit and logical thinking. Just don’t expect anything more from this game. Puzzles miss any ideas, they are served without a feeling and -oddly enough- quite illogically.
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

?
  1. Ars Technica
    Jan 25, 2016
    The Witness juggles the seemingly contrary concepts of precision and ambiguity in ways I've never seen a game, nor a book or play or film, ever do—and that, more than the beauty or the puzzles or the clever twists, makes it one of the most impressive video games I've ever seen.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Jan 28, 2016
    When you are struck by an elegant solution in the game, you not only get the thrill of your achievement, but you can also sense a faint echo of the larger epiphanies that have driven humanity forward. The Witness draws a line from your singular consciousness to a collective spirit—in a limited fashion, of course. For a game, the limits make all the difference.
  3. Wired
    Feb 11, 2016
    The Witness is a sterile, lifeless videogame. It revels in the idea of knowledge, fascinated by how it’s earned and what it signifies. But it seems uninterested in players and their accomplishments, and with that lack of interest comes a lack of the human touch necessary to make sense of the knowledge it offers...The Witness is like the island on which it takes place: a machine, to the core. Anything within it that seems lifelike is superficial.

Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PC Game of 2016
37
#37 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
63
#63 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 699 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 440 out of 699
  2. Mixed: 127 out of 699
  3. Negative: 132 out of 699
  1. Thilus
    Jan 29, 2016
    4
    This game was way too over-hyped. All based on the fact that on screens (and in real life) it looks very pretty. But on contrary to what we'reThis game was way too over-hyped. All based on the fact that on screens (and in real life) it looks very pretty. But on contrary to what we're looking in a one-night-stand, it's the inside that counts. And the inside of this game is shallow and uninteresting, just like the one-night-standee might turn out to be.

    Some 10/10's want to us to think that there's something more behind this whole walking around the island and solving hundreds of maze puzzles. Nope. There are no little story pieces, just some random quotes from famous thinkers, like Albert Einstein. It doesn't give us any background, they're just quotes.

    Then there are the puzzles. At first I thought: "Oh, a maze puzzle, cool." Then I was: "Oh, that was a clever one. I feel smarter by solving this one." But after the 100th puzzle I was thinking: "is that all there is? I'm going to solve hundreds of puzzles to get several ray guns shoot that big thing on the top of the mountain?" Well, I looked it up and it turns out it's exactly that. Apparently you wander the island for hours and hours, solving one maze puzzle after another until you reach the end (which I didn't manage to accomplish, mind you) that makes all the puzzle solving completely futile. Neat. Why not buy a paper Sudoku booklet for like $.99 then, instead of spending $40 on a game which very principle is exactly the same - to get you thinking real hard.

    I won't go any lower than 4, because the game looks pretty. We had a one-night-stand together, but in all seriousness, I don't want to see it ever again.    … Full Review »
  2. KillingArts
    Jan 26, 2016
    10
    If you like puzzle games and are up for a challenge, The Witness is your game. A beautiful island full of hundreds of little puzzles awaitsIf you like puzzle games and are up for a challenge, The Witness is your game. A beautiful island full of hundreds of little puzzles awaits you. And although all puzzles look pretty similar, if you see them on screenshots, there is a lot of variation. Also, while there is no traditional story, there are little story pieces to be discovered, scattered around the world. The Witness may not be a game for everyone, but it most certainly is one for me. ;)… Full Review »
  3. fredhorrigan
    Jan 27, 2016
    4
    I heard you just walk around and solve maze puzzles.

    I thought there was more to it than that, but there really isn't so I checked it out,    I heard you just walk around and solve maze puzzles.

    I thought there was more to it than that, but there really isn't so I checked it out, but there really isn't.

    You wander around these okay looking but ultimately bland and soulless environments looking for the next maze puzzle to complete. The maze puzzles get somewhat more complex as the game goes on and every now and then there's so extra trick to them like having to look at the environment and/or look at them from different perspectives but most are extremely simple and all boil down to tracing a line from point A to point B.

    Also the worst part about the praise this is getting from journos isn't how it's being treated like it's good, it how it's being treated like it's art.

    Not worth $40, not worth spending time on unless you have absolutely nothing to do.

    Soulja Boy please save us from this indie hell.    … Full Review »
See all user reviews »