The Witness Reviews

The Witness is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
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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9 / 10
Feb 27, 2019

The Witness is an intelligent, expertly crafted puzzle game with ceaselessly satisfying gameplay. It becomes bafflingly complex, yet the free-roaming nature of the island means that you'll never be stuck for long. In addition, the way in which it communicates new elements is nothing short of masterful. All in all, Jonathan Blow's latest is an enormous triumph.

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4.5 / 5.0
Sep 30, 2018

t’s a pure puzzle game and is happy to be a puzzle game, though with simplistic controls, excellent environment, and well developed puzzles. It’s worth checking out even if you aren’t a major puzzle fan.

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Unscored
May 13, 2018

Part of me felt I should enjoy The Witness, that solving it would be its own reward, or that I could not truly say I disliked it until I had unraveled it thoroughly. These are all ridiculous justifications for playing a game I knew early on I disliked. It is such a strong compulsion within the videogame community to compel yourself forward with critically acclaimed games that even your own opinion stops mattering as much for whether you play a game or not. It isn’t about what you think, or what other people think, it’s what you think other people will think.

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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.

Review in Polish | Read full review

Recommended
May 10, 2017

An engaging title that will encourage you to think outside the box and look at it from some very obtuse angles. It won't take too long to complete but you won't breeze through it either. No DLC that I have heard about so far but there's enough to keep you occupied. Thought provoking, challenging and above all else entertaining in it's own way.

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Mar 24, 2017

There is not much to say; and in no way is that a mark against The Witness. On all accounts The Witness exceeds as a puzzle game; in a visually satisfying and perfectly challenging way it presents puzzles for the player to solve. I want to rant and rave about all the puzzles I solved, I want to convene with others and pick their brains over the challenging ones, I want to describe in vast detail the great variety of challenges The Witness presents. But all of this would do a disservice to The Witness; a truly marvelous game which, to the curious problem solver, simply must be played. I wish there were more to add but there is no story, there is no soundtrack, there is no combat, there is no antagonist, there are no upgrades, there is nothing except line puzzles. And in that regard The Witness is a perfect game.

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9.5 / 10.0
Feb 17, 2017

The Witness is as devious as it is brilliant and not for the easily distracted.

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Liked-a-lot
Feb 2, 2017

Putting many unanswered questions aside, The Witness is one of the most interesting games of the last decade. The world is designed beautifully and with an incredible amount of hidden details. Although the riddles can become annoying at some points, you definitely should visit the mysterious island.

Review in German | Read full review

Unscored
Sep 29, 2016

Blow didn’t just meet expectations; he avoided them entirely, delivering a game that hides deceptive depth in its colourful environment.

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8.5 / 10.0
Sep 26, 2016

I found The Witness to be a fascinating idea that shows an incredible sense of scope. Solving the game's myriad puzzles almost always delivers an incredible sense of satisfaction - an impressive feat when you consider just how many there are to tackle. The island is a truly interesting place to explore and the vast majority of the puzzles work incredibly well with one another and the environment to create a unique if methodical experience that I can easily recommend to fans of puzzle and exploration video games.

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8.2 / 10.0
Sep 25, 2016

The Witness is a haven for those that love puzzles being a special world for them to explore.

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9.5 / 10.0
Sep 23, 2016

They really don't make 'em like this any more. The Witness is an amazing game that you'll love to hate for its challenge, cursing it, wondering why you made the purchase, and then something will click for you, and it'll become one of the best games you've ever played.

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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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9 / 10.0
Sep 19, 2016

Brennan Dyal lives in Baltimore, and actually likes it. When he's not playing games, he's disappointing his teammates on the basketball court, or going to Popeye's in disguise so they don't ask "Weren't you just here yesterday?"

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Ken McKown
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Sep 16, 2016

The Witness is an example of superlative game design. Carefully crafted and mentally challenging. Everyone should dive into this world, it is the perfect game for several players to sit on a couch and solve. It will make your head hurt, it will tease your brain more than any game before it, but it also delivers satisfaction in solution better than anything else before, and perhaps after it. Play this game.

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95 / 100
Sep 15, 2016

The Witness is a fantastic experience that everyone should play and love. Great looking graphics are walking hand in hand with fun and challenging puzzle gameplay.

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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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Sep 12, 2016

This Xbox One version of the Witness stands shoulder to should with its PC and PlayStation 4 counterparts, delivering the same content we saw in those releases with a comparable visual fidelity.

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9 / 10
Sep 11, 2016

A remarkable open world puzzler that never loses faith in the intelligence of the player.

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