The Witness

This is one of the best puzzle games and the ultimate one stroke drawing game. Before this game, I can't even imagine there're so many elements can be added to one stroke drawing. Both the quality and quantity of puzzles in the game are amazing. The first run will take 20+ hours, which is huge for a puzzle game.

Although the game has a reasonable learning curve, it's common to enter areas with unknown mechanisms and this could be frustrating at times. In fact, there's no explanation on any game symbols or mechanisms. It will be very painful if you don't get it from the limited hints. There's a guide in the community provided basic explanation without spoiling which is indeed useful.

There're only two achievements in the game. One for completing the game and the other one is a time limited challenge. The time limited challenge is difficult but doable after a few practices, provided you minimize the use of guides throughout the game. Or else, good luck.

In Braid, the developer's previous game, there's an annoying time limited challenge achievements as well. I hated that achievement all the while. But now after this game, I think maybe I can understand where the developer comes from better. Probably one day I will go back and finish that game.

Overall, this is a must play game for any player love strategy or puzzles.

The best puzzle game I have ever played in my life.
Found out about this game through Achievement Hunter's Let's Play of it back in 2016 and I was hooked. I remember beating it back in 2019; only now in 2024 did I come back to this game and realize that there is more that I have missed.
I like how no words explain what you need to do and that the only clues you get are visual-wise.
The entire environment is pretty relaxing to listen to and can help you calm down. I remember closing my eyes during one puzzle to help me concentrate on some puzzles and I felt at complete Zen; such a beautiful feeling.
This game is definitely not for everyone; but for those that can be patient enough to breathe deeply and focus, definitely check out this game.

most of the bad reviews seem to be people who simply dont enjoy puzzle games and thought for some reason they would enjoy this. this game is NOTHING but line puzzles. it does lots of cool things with line puzzle yes, but at the end of the day if doing line puzzles for 10-15 hours + doesnt sound fun to you, spare yourself the frustration and just dont get it.

On the surface it's just a collection of line puzzles but very quickly into the game expands into so much more than that. Gorgeous visuals & art style, sound design, everything feels methodically crafted and placed and begs to be explored and uncovered. Some might feel it's pretentious but the game doesn't force anything unto the player, it's up to you to piece everything together and take out whatever makes sense for you from the whole experience.

The Witness is a game about walking around an island surrounded by puzzles that disfigure rationality and logic. An encounter between various synchronizations. Elements that are often outside are inside. The veracity of the obvious lies in the veracity of V's voraciousness and its transformative goals in the veridical meanings of what does not appear to be. A unique experience that is tantamount to the submersion of the one who created it.

The Witness's deeper message is to make you witness how dumb you actually are
the premise of the game's puzzles is simple. draw line from start to finish. simple enough.
then, the game adds a few small mechanics that transforms the difficulty from dollar store coloring book to interviewing for a coding job at Google. The Witness is the Dark Souls of maze puzzles.
The Witness is the first game i have ever played where i have sat in my desk, staring at the same exact puzzle for 2 1/2 hours in the middle of the night with no solution, asking myself "what do the symbols mean mason?" over and over again.
i covered my hands and felt tears rolling down my eyes as i question my existence, not because of the impossible task laid before me, but because of all the philosophical quotes questioning society and reality scattered throughout the island
as i wipe the tears away, i realize the puzzle has permanently burned into my frontal lobe and the only clear solution i can come up with is to get a lobotomy which triggers the third ending that even the walkthroughs online haven't found yet.
once you play the game and finish it, the world will never look as it were again. you will see the puzzles. you must solve

I appreciate the sense of my brain stretching, and how my knowledge of the mechanics enabled me to explore. I don't know if I've ever experienced a game that gave me a greater sense of logical and spatial challenge.
A note on accessibility: as a partially color blind person I struggled a little with some of the puzzles. There are puzzles that require a sense of hearing.