The Witness Reviews

The Witness is ranked in the 95th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
IGN
Top Critic
10 / 10.0
Jan 25, 2016

The Witness has a power and pull that carried me throughout the more than 40 hours it took to complete it for the first time, and that, even now, beckons me back to confront the mysteries I left unsolved. Its graceful combination of tangible goals, obscurity, and freedom creates ample opportunity for small victories and grand revelations alike. For the most part, its themes weave themselves beautifully throughout the gorgeous world and wide variety of puzzles, but even when it breaks subtlety in favor of a more heavy-handed approach to exposition, it never detracts from the truly fulfilling moments The Witness offers in terms of solving its physical puzzles and unlocking its deepest mysteries.

Read full review

Jan 25, 2016

The intricate puzzles and tantalizing secrets of this starkly gorgeous, mystical island are enough to lose yourself in for dozens of hours.

Read full review

Jan 25, 2016

Thus, I highly recommend The Witness. Although I really liked Blow's previous game, I just loved this. I became so absorbed in it, and its beauty complements the way it challenges my mind. I like how simply it begins and how complicated it is at the end but that there's a logical line from those two points. There's just a lot contained within, and I'm still finding more. I want that for others, too.

Read full review

10 / 10.0
Jan 25, 2016

Truthfully, I wish I didn't have to score The Witness. I don't want to set people up for that expectation; I don't want a voice in the back of their head that says "Okay, when does this become a ten?" In a way, that's unfair and detrimental to how the game should be experienced, which is as open-minded and unassuming as possible. Don't go to The Witness. Let The Witness come to you.

Read full review

Jan 29, 2016

The Witness is a masterpiece of video game design. It presents a mysterious and fascinating world to explore, full of puzzles that will confound the player, but also delight them as they figure out the solution. The island setting is both fun to explore and endlessly enjoyable to look at. The game's true achievement though is in how it teaches the player its intricacies, with minimal intrusion and subtle hints, allowing for a great feeling of accomplishment when everything clicks into place.

Read full review

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.

Read full review

VideoGamer
Top Critic
10 / 10
Jan 25, 2016

I'm so caught up inside the world of The Witness that it's hard to think about anything else. It is one of the best games I've ever encountered.

Read full review

10 / 10.0
Jan 25, 2016

First-person puzzler set on an abandoned island is about perspective and perception, logic and learning, and applying an analytical eye to the world

Read full review

Game Rant
Top Critic
Feb 3, 2016

Following on from the massive success of Braid, The Witness is an engrossing and hugely satisfying experience that should solidify Jonathan Blow as one of the very best active game designers.

Read full review

Jan 26, 2016

Some fans of Blow's earlier work seem to have been hoping that the mazes they saw in the trailers are just a veneer for a deeper, mind-blowing experience, but really the world and whatever narrative you can find in it are dressing for an incredibly impressive collection of puzzles. Whether or not you find a deeper meaning at the end, the journey will have been worth it.

Read full review

Telegraph
Top Critic
Jan 25, 2016

The Witness is a game that will genuinely have you punching the air or laughing out loud, just from correctly drawing a line on a grid. If that isn't the mark of a truly special game, I don't know what is.

Read full review

Jan 30, 2016

With the involvement of Jonathan Blow, there's been a lot of chin-stroking and borderline pretentious articles going up about The Witness - understandably, given it's such an arthouse project. But there's no need for that here: the game is very good, and if you've even an inkling you might enjoy solving 600-plus puzzles in a gorgeous island setting, we'd heartily recommend The Witness.

Read full review

5 / 5.0
Jan 28, 2016

The depth of organic interaction, witnessing the world melt seamlessly into itself, makes for a near perfect experience. The Witness is a constant idea just within reach and then, once you grasp it, a new perspective altogether. It won't be quick nor easy to solve, but you can't help but be enraptured by its beauty through every frustration and moment of clarity.

Read full review

Jan 25, 2016

The Witness is not only a masterpiece of game design, but one that truly inspires and amazes, without relying on traditional tutorials or restrictive hand-holding. It's one of the few games that truly respects the intelligence of those playing, rather than guiding them through each and every step.

Read full review

Jan 25, 2016

When I step back and think about The Witness, it is a game that challenged me more than any has before. No matter what though, the challenges were always worth pushing through to find a solution because of the rewards that were hidden behind them. There will be a group of people who love this game for how rewarding it is, and at the same time, there will be a group that loathes it for how frustrating it is. All I know is I fell in the group of the former.

Read full review

GamingBolt
Top Critic
10 / 10.0
Feb 1, 2016

The Witness is perhaps the best example of a puzzle game I have seen yet, and it is also one of the most effective instances of interactive storytelling that I can recall. For this game, I have nothing but the utmost respect.

Read full review

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.

Read full review

9.9 / 10.0
Feb 5, 2016

Not so much filled with "a-ha!" moments. They're more like epiphanies.

Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
Jan 25, 2016

A masterpiece. The Witness is an amazing and clever experience, rich in details and love. The game design is simply elegant and the atmosphere is out of this world.

Review in Italian | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
Feb 1, 2016

The Witness is an outstanding game, one that slowly reveals its brilliance and assumes the players intelligence rather than guides it. It is an absolute must play for puzzle fans.

Read full review