The Witness is not a game that you can play start to finish. There are about 500 puzzles in the game, of which I’ve completed about 130 over 7 hours. All the puzzles are consist of a light that you must drag through stylized mazes. Jonathan Blow’s exceptional talent is to iterate on a simple game mechanic in a way that few other game designers can. Each area introduces new variations on how to complete the maze puzzles, as well as a different mood and ambience. Some are rich and serene, others are damp and dreadful.
I almost gave up on this game after being stuck on the same puzzle for almost an hour. After a long hiatus, I resumed playing and wandered until I found another puzzle series that I could figure out. Luckily, the game world is very dense and you never have to walk far. It’s incredibly satisfying when you pick apart the solution to an area and hear that deep, satisfying hum of the power kicking on and flowing through the puzzle board. I doubt I’ll complete The Witness anytime soon but I very much enjoy the time spent on the island.
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