The Witness

I don’t understand the acclaim for this game. It’s well done, but its main mechanic is the same puzzle over and over again, in endless iterations. There is no variety, no story, and the little bit of Myst-like environmental integration is negligible.

For people who are curious about the port (iPad Pro 10.5”): The controls are tap-to-move with a few details that make the game feel great to control. No issues there. The game looks really good for mobile. It looks low-fi compared to playing on PC, but the art style didn’t really suffer and the resolution is high enough that the game looks good (not native, but close enough). The framerate is rather poor though. I don’t think it ever holds a remotely steady framerate or ever even touches 30fps. From the looks of things, I don’t think there’s much more they could have done to make it run better short of sacrificing a lot more on the resolution and general quality side, so I won’t really complain too much (docked 1 star for it though because I would have at least liked the option for better performance even if it meant tanking the resolution). At least it’s not like the game requires super high responsiveness to play well. TLDR: It’s as good as you could expect a port of a 3D game to mobile could be, and the framerate is sub-30fps. For people who are new to the game: The Witness is a polarizing puzzle game to say the least. I like it a lot, but don’t want to go into much depth because most of what makes the game special for me is in spoiler territory. If you like tougher puzzle games, don’t mind being expected to experiment and explore with no real guide, and like things that are a little pretentious you’ll probably love this. If you prefer easier puzzles, a tutorial for every step of the way, a clear story, and a clear path, this might not be for you. *update Feb. 2024: Some pretty bad graphical artifacting makes this unrecommendable now.

I finished 100% the game on PlayStation last year and am impressed how the experience works on touch platforms. It’s fun to play it all again. For those comparing to Myst, believe me, it will take you a lot of work, let’s say to “completing” the game for you to realize the depth Blow has given us. No pixel is without purpose. But you have to change your POV, literally and mentally. I had some concern about navigation and your fingers obscuring the screen, but I managed to get used to it. However, it could make some of the more challenging parts of the game a bit awkward. Warning, this is a game you cannot look up answers, if stuck - move on, a transcendent experience awaits!

无懈可击，完美的解谜游戏！

Good luck if you’re colorblind or have hearing issues

Definitely a masterpiece

Do not buy boring, but not Ness navigate very awkwardly do not buy

I know a million people have said this, but this is a really good game. Without spoiling anything, this is a game about drawing lines on a grid, and there’s a lot of cool ideas there, despite the simple concept. There are a few minor gripes, such as how long the game takes before it allows you to move in certain spots (experienced players know which moments I’m talking about) but with those exceptions, this is a really good puzzle game. I would not recommend the mobile version though. The tap to move control scheme is not great and the graphics are a bit better on pc and console.

Nice graphics and lots of play time. I didn’t have the patience to work out the harder puzzles without walkthrough help. Ending was disappointing.

This is a five-star game for me that I highly recommend to people, even general non-gamers. That being said, it DOES have a specific viewpoint and flavor that is not like a lot of other puzzle games. I think it needs to be approached with an open mind. The mechanics of the game consist of repeatedly solving puzzles. But the “point” of the game is to experience deciphering the language of the puzzles from first principles, in ways that evoke all kinds of ways we have have and continue to learn about the world. I took that journey and think it really succeeds at that, and love defending that. But this game does not hold your hand. It does not help you get unstuck. It requires patience. It requires some confusion, some assuming, some process of elimination, some introspection, and some flexible thinking… those are features, not bugs, in this experience. Those run counter to a lot of modern games’ features, and do so deliberately. But believe me that, if you feel like taking the plunge, DON’T look up answers or hints… be okay with the fact that you can get really stuck, and believe that you can get yourself unstuck if you reflect and continue to investigate. Outside help robs you, forever, of this game’s “aha!” moments. There are very few experiences like this in gaming. For me, it felt really good to work through and conquer. Play alone or with someone who wants to take that journey too, but progress in this game means taking the challenge seriously. Serious can be fun too. I think it’s extremely fun. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, I respect that. It does cost money, after all. It just disappoints me to hear people write the game off as being “pretentious” because it was crafted as a different kind of challenging experience. I didn’t leave this game feeling like I was toyed with. The rules are not arbitrary… but like so much about experiencing the world, they take some time… and a little faith… to learn to follow.