Or if I didn’t know that I was supposed to understand what was going on. I wasn’t sure if I didn’t know the rule or trick of the puzzle and therefore should wander until I found something different and new that would lead back to this. But I could not see it then and can barely recognize it now. This image technically has all the information someone needs to solve the puzzle on this screen. I could not manage to solve the first puzzle in the sequence. The troubles started in the Desert Ruins. Then came the symmetry puzzles, which introduced restrictions that complimented the path crossing rules nicely. As were those outside the first section these served to introduce that some grids had rules and paths that had to be crossed. The opening puzzles were a gentle guiding hand, showing the bare basics. I cannot recall the last time a game had me from moment one and then lost me at moment 4. So I’m instead going to speak at length about my response to those puzzles. The issue with talking about the gameplay of puzzle games is that I cannot speak more about them without spoiling the solution, undoing the point of the game. Recordings of the islands, presumed, previous occupants can be found hidden among the puzzles. Each one begetting more puzzles and more rules that combine to transform routine puzzles into mind bending affairs often incorporating elements of the natural environment to present meaning. The Witness is a game in which the player solves a series of puzzles made like geometric grid mazes. It’s competition was Pony Island (PC, Mac, and Linux), Darkest Dungeon (PC and Mac), and FNaF World (PC).

Allowing game’s talents for exploration and player agency to guide the player naturally through the story and the adventure. Not simply delivering a narrative via dialogue but delivering the story and gameplay in a way that only a game can. The whole point of the game was to showcase game and storytelling.

The Witness is the second major release from gaming giant Jonathan Blow, known most however, for his work at the Games Developers Conference. There are people statues and tape recorders with recordings of people talking about god - or something. It’s very pretty and and quite breathtaking. There’s an island covered in puzzles, you solve them.

Darkest dungeon narrator intri