The Witness

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 853 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 557 out of 853
  2. Mixed: 148 out of 853
  3. Negative: 148 out of 853

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  1. Niksaa
    Apr 11, 2019
    2
    A perfect description for that game is boring. I decided to play it after so many 10/10 reviews from users, but honestly unless you’re interested in solving the same type of fairly easy puzzles again and again you’ll find the game absolutely boring after 1-2 hours.
    Moreover, that “game” has absolutely no background music and your character is glued to the surface which means you’ll walk    A perfect description for that game is boring. I decided to play it after so many 10/10 reviews from users, but honestly unless you’re interested in solving the same type of fairly easy puzzles again and again you’ll find the game absolutely boring after 1-2 hours.
    Moreover, that “game” has absolutely no background music and your character is glued to the surface which means you’ll walk very slowly.
    Graphics are fine, nice but nothing exceptional, it’s not stunning as some would expect and again with no music the overall impression is poor. There is no story going on and you don’t have a certain goal except solving puzzles to open paths to more of the same type of puzzles. The game is obviously over hyped.    … Expand
  2. mageprince2011
    Jan 29, 2016
    0
    Honestly, The game is horrid absolutely horrid. No game mechanics besides badly designed puzzles. No atmosphere just nice graphics. No story whatso-ever. And the game itself can be completed in 4 hours. That's 10 dollars an hour that's insane. for 40 bucks you might as well save that money and buy battlefleet gothic or GTA. this game is horridly overpriced and the creator is a whiny asshatHonestly, The game is horrid absolutely horrid. No game mechanics besides badly designed puzzles. No atmosphere just nice graphics. No story whatso-ever. And the game itself can be completed in 4 hours. That's 10 dollars an hour that's insane. for 40 bucks you might as well save that money and buy battlefleet gothic or GTA. this game is horridly overpriced and the creator is a whiny asshat who is a ginormous snob. Half of these 10/10 reviews are just making a Last Name Pun to Johnathon Blow, people literally have no taste in anything these days and will do anything for the least bit of attention from devs.… Expand
  3. Dawso
    Feb 15, 2016
    5
    Simply put the value for money this game offers is abyssmal. It feels like a well put together phone or tablet game, beautiful world, but one filled with line mazes and puzzles only. Lets face it who wants to pay alot of money for alot of line puzzles that lead nowhere important.
  4. TheDisliker
    Apr 3, 2016
    0
    This is not a thinking man's game. The puzzles are easy to solve and repetitive (very very repetitive), and there is no storyline. A few quotes from famous people are thrown in as flashy garbage, but have no coherence and add no context, as much as you might wish they did. The game itself is beautiful, but ripped off of Myst and totally devoid of any originality, unless you countThis is not a thinking man's game. The puzzles are easy to solve and repetitive (very very repetitive), and there is no storyline. A few quotes from famous people are thrown in as flashy garbage, but have no coherence and add no context, as much as you might wish they did. The game itself is beautiful, but ripped off of Myst and totally devoid of any originality, unless you count sacking the storyline something original.

    I really hate this game because famous quotes/clips don't make something "smart". It's just an easy shortcut to sounding smart, so that you don't actually have to do anything smart yourself. Like coming up with an original game idea, instead of just attempting to crudely copy a known success like Myst.

    Save your $40 for 40 sudoku books, because that's all this game is.

    0/10 for all of the 10/10s saying this game is clever. Also, the ending is god awful.    … Expand
  5. livinghero
    Apr 1, 2016
    7
    Decent game was cool in the beginning but got tired of it towards the end. Got to be very difficult and couldn't wait to beat it and bury it. Kept working through it cause thought there were gonna be some cool secrets and stuff advancing through the game never really found anything interesting about the island. Thought the ending was stupid
  6. MuskelErwin
    Jan 26, 2016
    1
    the game was interesting for like an hour. after that, you only play with variations of the same game mechanic. therefore imho it quickly became pretty boring. visual style is "okay", but nothing special.
  7. inaneHELLRAISER
    Jan 26, 2016
    2
    Do you like stating at boards with dots on them not having a clue what your suppose to do because the mechanics of the game are not explained to you? well then this game is for you! The beautiful minimalist graphics are the one redeeming factor for this game but they are not enough to keep you playing. No direction, boring puzzles, and horribly designed. First disappointment of 2016 andDo you like stating at boards with dots on them not having a clue what your suppose to do because the mechanics of the game are not explained to you? well then this game is for you! The beautiful minimalist graphics are the one redeeming factor for this game but they are not enough to keep you playing. No direction, boring puzzles, and horribly designed. First disappointment of 2016 and boy did it ever disappoint.… Expand
  8. WryMouth
    Jan 27, 2016
    1
    Boring Game with Puzzles, at most cute grafix but nothing special. Wii U could be running this at 1080p. Needs little more options and detail. Play it when its free.
  9. plotlesviolence
    Feb 13, 2016
    8
    OVERALL = 2
    A puzzle game
    PRESENTATION = 8 There's no story or plot, which is fine, since they would only intrude on the gameplay (other reviewers have said there is a plot and I don't know what they're talking about, unless they mean it's the story of a guy solving puzzles). Graphics are gorgeous, with overlapping low-textured shapes that makes everything look painted. No physics    OVERALL = 2
    A puzzle game

    PRESENTATION = 8
    There's no story or plot, which is fine, since they would only intrude on the gameplay (other reviewers have said there is a plot and I don't know what they're talking about, unless they mean it's the story of a guy solving puzzles). Graphics are gorgeous, with overlapping low-textured shapes that makes everything look painted. No physics to speak of, no music.

    GAMEPLAY/MECHANICS = 8
    All puzzles are solved by drawing a line from a starting circle to its corresponding finish line. You can press a button to start drawing anywhere in the game world, which is necessary because many of the hidden puzzles aren't on the obvious puzzle panels. The trick to each puzzle is that your line must obey certain rules, like separating certain shapes on the panel, etc. Typically the challenge is figuring out what the rules are. Often the hint that drives the solution is found in the game world, or you need to be standing at a certain angle to align shapes properly, which is why you can walk around the world (and why only showing you puzzle panels wouldn't have worked).

    DESIGN = 6
    The game is open-world, which is a massive mistake. Often times you will encounter puzzles in the wrong order. In the right order, you get smaller puzzle panels that make it easy to guess what the rule is for a certain type of puzzle, and then the panels gradually get more complex. In the wrong order, you get puzzle panels that combine several rule types you have not encountered yet (especially the central town area, which you get to early on), or puzzle panels so large it becomes impossible to guess what the rule is by trial and error.
    Worse, it is not obvious when a puzzle panel is enforced-ly inaccessible to you. Most puzzle panels have a glowing cable that lights up to let you know that the next panel in sequence is available, but many don't. Sometimes there's a white barrier hinting that you cannot complete the panel, but sometimes there are absolutely no visual clues. So I've spent several hours, combined, trying over and over to complete puzzles before giving up, not knowing if my failure was because I couldn't figure out the rule or if the panel itself was incomplete until another nearby panel was solved. That's a significant design flaw, and better worldbuilding might have cut out 5 out of the 15 hours it took me to beat it.
    That said, I appreciated its singular vision. The Witness never takes detours into minigames with other half-baked mechanics. It is a rarity, a genuine puzzle game that has you use your brain rather than complete fetch quests, and I enjoyed it.    … Expand
  10. 40robh
    Jun 28, 2016
    0
    I had an issue installing The Witness which resulted in every file on my desktop being irretrievably deleted - yep, every pic, video, document. Absolute disaster. The distributor of the game, Steam, were utterly disinterested and even their parent company, Valve, made no effort whatever to try to help resolve the issue and basically told me to stop bothering them. You don't often comeI had an issue installing The Witness which resulted in every file on my desktop being irretrievably deleted - yep, every pic, video, document. Absolute disaster. The distributor of the game, Steam, were utterly disinterested and even their parent company, Valve, made no effort whatever to try to help resolve the issue and basically told me to stop bothering them. You don't often come across customer service this bad these days.
    I'm a reasonably tech-savvy person and if it happened to me, it could happen to anyone.
    My advice - don't touch it with a bargepole.    … Expand
  11. drlowdon
    May 30, 2021
    5
    Created by Jonathan Blow, the man behind the excellent Braid, The Witness allows players explore an open world environment solving puzzles in order to unlock the secrets of the island on which they find themselves.

    The game itself essentially revolves around one type of puzzle in which the player must correctly draw a line, or lines, on a grid. There is an impressive level of variety to    Created by Jonathan Blow, the man behind the excellent Braid, The Witness allows players explore an open world environment solving puzzles in order to unlock the secrets of the island on which they find themselves.

    The game itself essentially revolves around one type of puzzle in which the player must correctly draw a line, or lines, on a grid. There is an impressive level of variety to these puzzles, and they’re all very clever, but for me personally it still wasn’t enough to support a game with a run time of at least twenty hours. Each new type of puzzle is often introduced by what amount to tutorials, with the game allowing players to solve simple examples before upping the complexity. All too often however you’ll find that you need to solve 20-30 of the same puzzle type before being able to move on, and this is made all the more frustrating when the game decided it wants you to repeat the previous puzzle after making a mistake. Once you do solve a set of puzzles and unlock a new area your reward is then a load more puzzles to solve!

    I don’t want to be too critical of The Witness as it’s clear an incredible amount of time and effort has gone into it. I can’t help but feel that a bit of editing to reduce the number of times you repeat each type puzzle, and reducing the overall run time, would have made it a more enjoyable experience however...    … Expand
  12. Whatevers
    Mar 1, 2020
    4
    .So disappointing. Beautiful world, interesting concept, but the game completely falls short. I LOVE puzzle games. Talos Principle is one of my favorites. But this game gets them all wrong. The beauty of the world only emphasizes how much of the game you spend staring at the same screens. Most of the game is separated into sections by puzzle type so you spend hours solving the same type of.So disappointing. Beautiful world, interesting concept, but the game completely falls short. I LOVE puzzle games. Talos Principle is one of my favorites. But this game gets them all wrong. The beauty of the world only emphasizes how much of the game you spend staring at the same screens. Most of the game is separated into sections by puzzle type so you spend hours solving the same type of puzzle over and over until your sick of it and then rarely see it again until the end. The learning curve for each puzzle type can be great; when you can find the "begginers" level puzzles that you are clearly supposed to do first but the game doesn't guide you to. Instead of that triumphant feeling you are supposed to get after a puzzle, most of the time you just feel frustrated like "FINALLY can I move on now?" Many of the puzzles are ridiculously difficult and you must solve them all with no hint system. Some of the puzzles have vague answers that, even when you find them, don't fit perfectly, so they just leave you frustratedly guessing what it's telling you. It's. only 20 hours but I found myself wishing it was shorter. Not to mention there is zero story. When you complete the final puzzle the game just ends. No way to spoil it since there's not story to begin with. About a third of the puzzles really are good, wellplaced, and fun to play, and when the game shines, it REALLY shines. But that's doesn't happen nearly enough. I feel less frustration when playing Dark Souls.,… Expand
  13. ToshLichev
    Apr 15, 2021
    5
    While I respect the ideas and concept of the creators of The Witness and the style and gameplay are fun at first - line puzzles, as complex as they may be, can only take you so far.

    A lot of the logic behind the puzzle solutions is poorly or not communicated at all and while that may be fun for a while, towards the end you start hitting a Souls-like difficulty curve which is represented    While I respect the ideas and concept of the creators of The Witness and the style and gameplay are fun at first - line puzzles, as complex as they may be, can only take you so far.

    A lot of the logic behind the puzzle solutions is poorly or not communicated at all and while that may be fun for a while, towards the end you start hitting a Souls-like difficulty curve which is represented through puzzles which are more or less "the creators of these puzzles can solve them and so should you" levels of obnoxious and hard.

    The Witness is a decent game if you have a ton of free time and enough patience to play it but it fundamentally fails at being a good game. Most of the praise comes from pseudo-elitist journalists who think that if they don't get it - it must be genius. Unfortunately in this case, it's just bad game design.    … Expand
  14. Kithrin
    Mar 18, 2019
    2
    it's pretty, and that's all the positive i have to say. i ended up hating the game. the puzzles got boring, and frustrating. the fact that you have to figure out the rules yourself, made it frustrating, as you have no idea whether you figured it out right... or got lucky. i am wondering why it's so expensive (got it free from PS+) but it's retailed at 40, almost an unheard of priceit's pretty, and that's all the positive i have to say. i ended up hating the game. the puzzles got boring, and frustrating. the fact that you have to figure out the rules yourself, made it frustrating, as you have no idea whether you figured it out right... or got lucky. i am wondering why it's so expensive (got it free from PS+) but it's retailed at 40, almost an unheard of price from an indie company.

    i'm giving up on it.

    BTW, why in the HELL is it scored so high?    … Expand
  15. bergcamp101
    Aug 17, 2020
    5
    I don't like, when people call it a good puzzle game, or people compare it to the Myst. The Myst!! This is just casual game with the squares. There is absolutely no plot. All puzzles are completely the same. You can play this or you can just buy a journal with bunch of Sudoku puzzles.
  16. C571987b
    Mar 29, 2021
    0
    Όλο βλακειες βάζει η sony δωρεάν..Οκ,το πιάσαμε,το φθηνό κρέας το τρώει ο σκύλος
  17. Alan89
    Apr 5, 2021
    1
    I am a hardcore gamer, raised in the 80s. You can tell, I have seen some s***.
    But man! This game is the most boring game I ever played! My score for this game is 1 instead of 0 just because of this cool introduction tunnel. You want some indie emotional s***? Get Limbo, Inside or AAA Death Stranding
  18. Godlovesme5
    Apr 28, 2021
    1
    I enjoyed the puzzles and the world. But if you are a story lover this game is pointless! I was disappointed about the ending, I wanted the stone people to come to life and there to be a super cool story. But no you do puzzles and they give you nothing. If I wanted to just solve puzzles I can easily find an app to do so. So disappointed. I feel like I wasted my life playing this game. AlsoI enjoyed the puzzles and the world. But if you are a story lover this game is pointless! I was disappointed about the ending, I wanted the stone people to come to life and there to be a super cool story. But no you do puzzles and they give you nothing. If I wanted to just solve puzzles I can easily find an app to do so. So disappointed. I feel like I wasted my life playing this game. Also if you had a concussion, post concussion syndrome, sensitive to lights or easily get dizzy this is not the game for you. It hurts the brain. If you want to improve this game have a story, don’t use bright lights and spin stuff around.… Expand
  19. datoneguy246
    May 15, 2021
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a very inventive and interesting puzzle game. The game prides itself in being able to innovate on the same basic mechanic in so many interesting ways. Sadly, there are some puzzles that are just too obtuse and awkward to solve. To give you an example, there's a series of puzzles where you have to stand at just the right specific spot so that the glare of the sun shines on the puzzle, showing the solution. This isn't a puzzle. It doesn't require critical thinking, just aimless experimentation. The Witness has way too many puzzles like this that bring it down.

    Of course, there are so many other incredibly designed puzzles and environments that make up for those mistakes. It isn't a game for everyone, but I enjoyed it.    … Expand
  20. bobbsyw
    Jun 12, 2023
    7
    It's great in parts, but (for me) too difficult/obscure in others, which made it frustrating. There's no way that I would have been able to complete it without looking up the wiki
  21. Bellicose
    May 31, 2021
    10
    If you like puzzle games, this is a masterpiece.

    It may not be fun to watch (for example, like Portal sometimes is), but for the person engaged with it...wow. So much of the fun takes place inside the person playing it. Which -- I mean, I get that sounds obvious, but... I would get up Sunday mornings, make myself some tea, and stare at a grid for an hour, and I LOVED it. For my    If you like puzzle games, this is a masterpiece.

    It may not be fun to watch (for example, like Portal sometimes is), but for the person engaged with it...wow. So much of the fun takes place inside the person playing it. Which -- I mean, I get that sounds obvious, but...

    I would get up Sunday mornings, make myself some tea, and stare at a grid for an hour, and I LOVED it.

    For my money, best puzzle game ever made. I wish I could erase my memory and play it again.    … Expand
  22. mrnice
    Apr 29, 2019
    10
    The Witness goes for a completely different type of game, almost invents a genre: discovering game mechanics. The inclusion of a great hidden challenge level at the end of the game lifts this game from 'great' to 'classic' status. It's a remarkably pretty game as well, playing it feels almost like going on vacation.
  23. DrownedDrone
    Jun 8, 2019
    8
    This is a very nice open-world puzzle game, and probably the toughest one I've manage to stick with till completion, which is, I guess, the best thing you can say about a puzzle-game.

    The game has no text, and no instructions, you have this simple mechanic to interact with the world, which is filled with many puzzles you can try solving at any time. The actual rules of the puzzles are    This is a very nice open-world puzzle game, and probably the toughest one I've manage to stick with till completion, which is, I guess, the best thing you can say about a puzzle-game.

    The game has no text, and no instructions, you have this simple mechanic to interact with the world, which is filled with many puzzles you can try solving at any time. The actual rules of the puzzles are never explained, making some puzzles impossible to solve at start. That's a very neat trick that give the game a "open world" feeling, as you explore the map not only to checklist more puzzles, but also in hope to be rewarded with simple puzzle that will give you tips about how the rules of the puzzles work. Kinda like RPG but instead of monsters to get puzzles and instead of XP you get puzzles and instead of items you also get puzzles.

    The game is lacking any story, which make the game name a bit misleading as I was expecting some crime to be the witness of. I guess it is a different kind of witness. There are some audio logs, most of which contain the same spiritual nonesense you usually hear from people drunk or high on drugs. You can't turn it off once it plays so watch out. None of those I found contain puzzle tips so don't risk playing them just because you are desperate.

    This game will test you your brain, and will require many abilities, like:
    Cold analytical logic, short/long term memory, understanding of complex rules, environment awareness, and not getting strokes of epilepsy (in the end game).    … Expand
  24. Kansler
    Jul 25, 2017
    9
    Jonathan Blow has produced another fascinating game that is ALMOST a masterpiece of game design. However, I think it is just a little bit too frustrating to deserve that coveted title in game history. However, make no mistake, it will be remembered for years to come for all that it does well - since it has gone from "Zero to One" (to quote Peter Thiel's book) - created a market for itselfJonathan Blow has produced another fascinating game that is ALMOST a masterpiece of game design. However, I think it is just a little bit too frustrating to deserve that coveted title in game history. However, make no mistake, it will be remembered for years to come for all that it does well - since it has gone from "Zero to One" (to quote Peter Thiel's book) - created a market for itself - just like only a visionary product can, by simply side-stepping all competition through radical innovation.

    But first, let's look at the only other points of comparison that I can think of. 1) Braid. Blow's previous game shares many design similarities, but it is a fundamentally different sort of game. 2) The Myst series. The only other puzzle game series that relies on player exploration, patience and mystery. 3) The Talos Principle. The "other" contemporary philosophical puzzle game. To sum it all up, I would say that The Talos Principle is more fun to play, but less mind-blowing overall. In general, I adore both The Witness and the Talos Principle, and I would recommend players to play through them both.

    So what does it do well? First, it avoids clichés and creates new ways to think about games - and reality itself. It challenges the player to rethink his own attitude towards challenges and puzzle solving. Those patient and curious players who don't throw the controller down at the first inconvenience, will find something special here. The game will start to invade their sleep. Their whole perceptual apparatus will be taken to places where no other game can take them.

    Secondly, the puzzles themselves are masterfully done and the player is given all the evidence to solve them. It's a fair game. From the simply line puzzles of the beginning to the brain-melting finale, there are a lot of puzzles to solve. Their simplicity might turn some people off, but it also means that the player is forced to really integrate the mechanics into his gut reactions and innermost being. There is sufficient variety and progression in complexity to keep things interesting all the way to the end.

    Thirdly, the game is absolutely beautiful from beginning to end. I played it on PS4 Pro, and the 1440p HDR output made the world come to life. The world is teeming with detail, style and colour, with innumerable little hidden secrets, nooks and crannies that make the world breathe, even without any fauna to populate it. The game world is a single, interconnected tapestry - a home away from home.

    But yes, then there are downsides. Unfortunately, the game is brutally hard and unforgiving by design. The game demands a lot from the player and gives very little positive feedback. It rewards you very slowly, sometimes not at all. This is meant to teach the player a lesson. But it can be a harsh lesson. And not everything can be excused on the basis of a spiritual exercise in patience.

    The Witness has all the aspects of a cult game. This game is definitely not for everybody. It has already found a niche fan base that really loves it, because they have fallen in love with its harsh, brutal, unforgiving challenges that are embedded in its (paradoxically) soothing, meditative world.

    For those lucky and crazy ones who persevere through its strict discipline (and/or design shortcomings), real beauties await. Two cliches can sum it all up: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and the destination is in the journey.    … Expand
  25. wesker2012
    Jul 18, 2016
    6
    The Witness is a hard game to review. On one hand, its beautiful visuals and high quantity of unique puzzles makes one feel compelled to give it a high rating. On the other hand though, the game's brutal difficulty makes one think again. I'm a big fan of Johnathon Blow, his thoughts on game development, and the hard work put into this game. I really wanted to love this game, but I justThe Witness is a hard game to review. On one hand, its beautiful visuals and high quantity of unique puzzles makes one feel compelled to give it a high rating. On the other hand though, the game's brutal difficulty makes one think again. I'm a big fan of Johnathon Blow, his thoughts on game development, and the hard work put into this game. I really wanted to love this game, but I just didn't find it fun after the initial exploration of the island. The line puzzles got tedious and boring. And sometimes you just have no idea what to do, so you can't progress. I think this game would have benefited a lot from some streamlining. Making sure the puzzles were intuitive. It's very frustrating spending up to an hour on a puzzle and still not knowing what you are supposed to do. And this happens too frequently in this game.… Expand
  26. anand5059
    Sep 10, 2020
    7
    First of all, this game is not for everyone. I can say I had enjoyable puzzles and equally frustrating puzzles too. I have seen most people saying its about learning on your own and discovering....but I would have preferred a slight hint if not a complete tutorial at the beginning of each type of puzzle. Believe me, event with a hint this definitely was going to be tough. Its veryFirst of all, this game is not for everyone. I can say I had enjoyable puzzles and equally frustrating puzzles too. I have seen most people saying its about learning on your own and discovering....but I would have preferred a slight hint if not a complete tutorial at the beginning of each type of puzzle. Believe me, event with a hint this definitely was going to be tough. Its very addictive after a time and I tried hard not to look at solution or hints...but failed eventually. Spent around 20 -30 hours may be, have completed around 8 lasers but didn't finish the game completely. Lost the fun over time with too much complexity. Maybe not for me.… Expand
  27. brockcheese
    Oct 12, 2017
    9
    This was an incredible game and defeating the special challenge at the end was completely worth it. Great for any puzzle lovers and really made me think outside of the game.
  28. CurlyJefferson
    Jul 14, 2017
    10
    An intricate puzzle game filled to the brim with challenges both obvious and, at first, nearly inscrutable. The Witness certainly feels like the result of over seven years of hard work; never have I played a game with a world crafted with such painstaking attention to every detail of its world. The puzzles are hard, and become even harder, but with increased difficulty comes increasedAn intricate puzzle game filled to the brim with challenges both obvious and, at first, nearly inscrutable. The Witness certainly feels like the result of over seven years of hard work; never have I played a game with a world crafted with such painstaking attention to every detail of its world. The puzzles are hard, and become even harder, but with increased difficulty comes increased satisfaction after the player solves a particularly challenging series. This game has such a classical approach to design that feels older than it is, and if there were a "video game museum" I imagine that The Witness would sit comfortably at the end of the hall, establishing itself as a hallmark in game design. It is a game not solely, but primarily centered on revelation and discovery. The Witness was my favorite game of 2016.… Expand
  29. HaloFever
    Jan 3, 2017
    10
    Brilliant. Wonderful. Best puzzle game I have ever played.

    The puzzles are the heart of this game and they are put together nicely. Each new puzzle type has a few tutorial puzzles. No in game hints. No verbal or written instructions. The developer has to teach you how to do the puzzles through the puzzles themselves, and they did wonderful work. Everytime I find a seemingly impossible    Brilliant. Wonderful. Best puzzle game I have ever played.

    The puzzles are the heart of this game and they are put together nicely. Each new puzzle type has a few tutorial puzzles. No in game hints. No verbal or written instructions. The developer has to teach you how to do the puzzles through the puzzles themselves, and they did wonderful work. Everytime I find a seemingly impossible puzzle, I then find a new tutorial section and have another epiphany. Even better, nothing requires existing knowledge. My kids were figuring out puzzles with me, and indeed much better at finding environmental clues that my boring old brain would ignore. The beauty of this game is that the tasks build up your competency, so that by the end you feel like a genius and not a frustrated idiot. Best of all, the setting is sublime. Every section of the game is a gorgeous piece of art. Explorers rejoice!

    The funny thing, I'm not much of a puzzle gamer. I even skipped Myst. I am very glad I didn't skip The Witness.    … Expand
  30. adamlandos93
    Aug 6, 2021
    10
    A game that teaches you how to intuit, be creative and develop critical thinking. It's also a game that teaches you that it's okay to not know something. I find these teachings to be invaluable.

    The Witness contains some very basic mechanics, but the way you use those mechanics can get imaginative, tricky and downright complex in all the best ways. Almost all of the puzzles are quite    A game that teaches you how to intuit, be creative and develop critical thinking. It's also a game that teaches you that it's okay to not know something. I find these teachings to be invaluable.

    The Witness contains some very basic mechanics, but the way you use those mechanics can get imaginative, tricky and downright complex in all the best ways. Almost all of the puzzles are quite intelligent too. The underlying narrative, although not the main focus, is pretty intriguing with some extremely interesting philosophical points that make you want to explore more of the mysterious and undeniably beautiful and varied island.

    The exploration aspect of the island is of equally high quality. You constantly find puzzles that you simply can't figure out how to solve or ones that contain unrecognizable symbols. The game teaches you that it's OK to walk away and try it later, once you have more clues as to what the symbols mean. But the most important thing that's happening here is that through different puzzles, you can build intuition that will help with different kinds of puzzles.

    Hence, figuring out what to do with some difficult or alien puzzles also has to do with building up your intuition. This aspect of problem solving is usually reserved for high-level non-gaming stuff, such as college-level courses and it's a delight to find that the gradual building of problem-solving intuition is a major factor in a game. Most games are all about building short-term intuition (which is not as related to critical thinking as long-term intuition) and/or smarts.

    It also teaches different ways thinking, since a good amount of the puzzles require out-of-the-box and abstract thinking. Sometimes it's not about piecing clues together to reach a unique logical conclusion (although this is a part of it too); it's also about developing different ways of thinking so that you can use educated guesses and then test those against newer and more difficult puzzles and then refining the initial guess. It almost sounds like the scientific process behind research!

    It's an intelligent but difficult game. Stick with it and you'll be rewarded. And even if you don't complete it (it's huge), you'll still have experienced one of the most original and creative pieces of art that gaming has to offer. Truly eccentric.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best PS4 Game of 2016
24
#24 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2016
23
#23 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 82 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 82
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 82
  3. Negative: 2 out of 82
  1. GameSpew
    Apr 15, 2016
    80
    The sound from completing a panel is extremely satisfying, and I’ve followed it with a victory dance more times than I’d like to admit.
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  2. IGN Denmark
    Apr 6, 2016
    85
    Built immensely smartly, the puzzle elements are both captivating and creepily addictive.
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  3. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Mar 31, 2016
    90
    A best-in-class puzzler that in no way caters to the lowest common denominator. Punishingly difficult. Extremely rewarding. [April 2016, p68]
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