The Witness Reviews

The Witness is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
4 / 10
Feb 14, 2016

I really wish that I could have enjoyed The Witness in the way so many others seem to. I tried, really I did. I attempted to see what was so "mindtwisting," "transcendental," or how it provokes "natural epiphanies." I just couldn't though. All I saw were endless line puzzles which felt like endless padding, like the creation of the island itself was as far as the developer got in planning and then realized they had to have some sort of driving mechanism to justify it. The depressing thing about it all is that it's such a waste. The island is a lovely place, and its oversaturated colors give just the right touch to a world that is vaguely fantastical. If Blow had put some variety into the puzzles, preferably using the excellent environment to its fullest, and actually telling a story instead of the lazy minimalistic mess that we got, this title could have been a Myst for a new generation. Instead, it's a dull, frustrating, pointless hike through a lovely, colorful, dead place. If you're looking for the same effect on the cheap, I recommend a box of crayons, a puzzle book, and a nice coloring sheet. You can use the money you have left over to get a game worth your time.

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USgamer
Top Critic
Jan 25, 2016

It's easy to fall in love with The Witness, and even easier to have your heart broken by the callous indifference of Jonathan Blow's beautiful island. A healthy challenge is good for any game, but the puzzles on display here offer few inroads to understanding for those who can't think exactly like their creator.

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Geeks Under Grace
Adam Mueller
4.5 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2020

While others may chalk this game up to be a masterpiece, I find The Witness to be a headache—in more ways than one.

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5 / 10.0
Feb 17, 2016

You'll either love or hate The Witness as it will either make you feel smart or stupid. If you don't love puzzles and deep philosophical thoughts, perhaps avoid this one.

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6 / 10.0
Feb 5, 2016

When The Witness can give the player just enough of a push, it communicates these ideas in beautiful ways. When it leaves the player to their own devices, or throws too many rules into a single area or panel, then its philosophies and ideas wind up lost in translation.

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Jan 31, 2016

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.

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6 / 10
Jan 29, 2016

Despite occasional pangs of belittlement, The Witness refuses to release its hold on me. Although there are aspects of the game that I clearly dislike, part of me longs to be immersed within its fascinating world. It feels strange, therefore, to try and put a score on this review, given how each individual will react differently to it. That term may be overused but if you were to spend just an hour or two with the game, you would know it to be true. Unique, divisive, and fiendishly clever, there are bound to be those who love it and those who absolutely hate it. Then there are those, like myself, who fall somewhere in between, able to appreciate Thekla's achievements but frustrated at how The Witness continues to build a wall around itself, as if guarding a secret from its players.

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Jan 25, 2016

As brilliant as it is infuriating, The Witness' ingenious puzzles all too easily have their shine worn away by length and a constantly extending complexity.

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6.5 / 10.0
Jan 25, 2016

The Witness, at the end of the day, revolves around one's ability to interpret and solve complex puzzles. The island is gorgeous and memorable while the gameplay itself is as smooth as silk, but there's no way around the constant need to solve the next puzzle. It is the ultimate stonewalling challenge rewarded only by rare success.

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7 / 10
Apr 6, 2016

I fell in and out of love with The Witness so many times throughout my time with it that by the end I was as confused about my thoughts as I was about the plot.

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7 / 10
Feb 5, 2016

Its insistence at not providing answers and straying away from the safety of regular rewards can be off-putting. The Witness wants to be more than a game filled with puzzles, but Blow's singular vision lets it down.

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70 / 100
Jan 25, 2016

I admire a lot about The Witness. It is a beautiful game. It is a clever game. It is a big game. But all of its elements, mazes, exploration, and philosophy didn't really come together to express some greater theme. Unless I was meant to question why I hurt my brain to solve a series of difficult mazes for no real award.

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7 / 10
Jan 29, 2016

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.

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Metro GameCentral
Top Critic
7 / 10
Jan 25, 2016

A colossal achievement in puzzle gaming, with a very cleverly conceived setting and story, but the lack of variety and reward becomes stifling.

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7.5 / 10.0
Sep 22, 2016

Even though The Witness can become a bit of a slog at times with an obscene amount of puzzles - which border or repetitive - and the ability to easily lose your bearings, it's definitely one you should at least dip your mind into, if only for an hour.

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7.5 / 10.0
Jul 16, 2017

The Witness is a brainchild of Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid. It's praised for being more of an art price than a game. That's not good. The Witness might look interesting, might have a story that we ought to figure out by ourselves, it might even be on of the best. The only thing is that it's a nice puzzle game and nothing more.

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Jan 30, 2016

The Witness might be one of the best games ever made, but there's no denying it's also infuriating in equal measure.

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Feb 12, 2016

The Witness is at once beautiful, intricate and alluring whilst being obtuse, unsympathetic and draining. It's not for everyone and few will see all it has to offer. It can punish as much as it rewards. Yet there is little else like it in the field of games, or indeed anywhere else, and whilst these small blemishes may prevent The Witness from being an outright classic, it remains a peerless example of videogame form.

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Sep 13, 2016

If you like puzzle games and haven't played The Witness, now's the perfect time. If you're curious at all about it, definitely give it a try. If you know you do not care for puzzle games or something as slow-paced as The Witness, be sure to steer clear for your own sake.

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8 / 10.0
Feb 3, 2016

Thought provoking and challenging, The Witness is a game that really depends on the player's perspective to reach full enjoyment.

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