# The Witness (puzzle game) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 6, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336 "2024-08-06T13:19:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/21 "2024-08-15T00:28:27Z")
I need to explore the game a bit more, but I think the puzzles at the quarry might need sound. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/22 "2024-08-15T00:54:44Z")
Yes, sound is important. For multiple reasons. Honestly I wouldn’t read anything about the game including asking people on this message board, until you finish. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/23 "2024-08-15T22:21:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, one other question: Is sound ever important? Sometimes I don’t bother putting on my headphones, and I want to make sure I’m not missing anything that way. Yes, put on headphones or at least have sound “on”. It’s important. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/24 "2024-08-16T01:31:15Z")
OK, gotcha, sound on. Meanwhile, I figured out the puzzle I was stuck on (I was misinterpreting a couple of rules, which make much more sense now), and continued with the treehouse area. I’m now on two different puzzles there, one of which where I’m sure I understand the rules and one where I think I do, and just haven’t solved them yet. I’ve also noticed some other things in the treehouse area: - A timed puzzle, where the time just doesn’t seem to be enough. Either there’s some way to speed things up, or some other puzzle I’ve yet to solve will provide a shortcut. I’m not sure what I think about there being timed puzzles in this game… it doesn’t feel like being quick should be part of the relevant skillset. - A puzzle that it looked like I shouldn’t be able to reach yet, but which I was able to solve by clicking on it from an entirely different platform. Dunno if that was a bug, or what I was supposed to do. It didn’t seem to activate anything else… yet. - Another laser enclosure, that looks like it’d be activated by doing that timed puzzle. - An unfortunate woman who, instead of being petrified, was lignified. But you can only tell from one angle. Which makes it even creepier. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/25 "2024-08-16T02:06:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > A timed puzzle, where the time just doesn’t seem to be enough. Either there’s some way to speed things up, or some other puzzle I’ve yet to solve will provide a shortcut. I’m not sure what I think about there being timed puzzles in this game… it doesn’t feel like being quick should be part of the relevant skillset. Hmmm…I don’t remember a timed puzzle, but my memory is not perfect. What did it look like and how did it behave? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/26 "2024-08-16T11:00:37Z")
On one platform, there was a closed door. On another platform, relatively close to it but with a longish winding path connecting them, there was a trivial single-line puzzle, that opens that door. But as soon as you complete it, the line starts receding, and when it recedes all the way, the door closes again. Actually, there was also one timed element I saw earlier: In the section where the tree branches cast a shadow on the puzzles that make the grid into a maze, there’s one spot where there’s a moving panel that covers the tree branches, so you can’t see the shadows until it’s moved away. That one also moves back after a short time. But there, I think that the timer was just to get the relevant information, and you could still solve the puzzle itself after time was up, if you remembered the path. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/27 "2024-08-16T16:31:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On one platform, there was a closed door. On another platform, relatively close to it but with a longish winding path connecting them, there was a trivial single-line puzzle, that opens that door. But as soon as you complete it, the line starts receding, and when it recedes all the way, the door closes again. Huh. Don’t remember. I certainly don’t remember any tense timing situations. I will say that there is an entire, completely optional, bonus area in the post-game that uses a timer, but I never even attempted it because we were so mentally tired having beaten the main game and all of its standard post-game puzzles. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/28 "2024-08-17T13:12:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, gotcha, sound on. Since you asked about the story or meaning of the game, to the extent there is one, the audio recordings and video clips you can discover are naturally part of that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/29 "2024-08-17T13:25:37Z")
Playing around with the options, I noticed that there was an option to turn on closed captioning, which implies the existence of something to be closed captioned (it doesn’t do it for the mere sound effects I’ve encountered so far in the game). @Mahaloth , you might not remember a tense timing situation because you might have already done whatever-it-was that made it possible before you got to that point (that’s always a possibility in a mostly-open world game like this). I think I might know what it is: You could do that timed puzzle from a position much closer to the door, if it weren’t for some leaves blocking your line of sight. At least some of the leaves are red, suggesting that they’d be ready to fall, given a decent wind. There’s another area of the island that has a windmill. Maybe doing the puzzles there will cause the wind to blow, and blow off the blocking leaves. Meanwhile, I’ve finished almost all of the treehouse area. I got everything except for that timed puzzle, and a variant on the tetris-pieces that I haven’t seen before, so I’ve now gone off to look for a tutorial area for that so I don’t have to figure it out in combination with all of the other mechanics in that puzzle. Even that puzzle might not be necessary, because it led to another puzzle that I was able to do from a distance without actually reaching it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/30 "2024-08-18T09:11:08Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Aren’t there some sound-based puzzles? You would need the sound on for those, at least. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > I need to explore the game a bit more, but I think the puzzles at the quarry might need sound. Okay, I explored a bit more and found the sound-based puzzles, they’re hidden away in dense foliage. I don’t think I did them first time I played. I gave up during that first play after some puzzles just frustrated me too much, but this thread has inspired me to revisit and I’m getting through a lot of the puzzles a bit faster this time. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/31 "2024-08-18T14:07:20Z")
Yes, you are correct. I would keep my ears open all around the game, too. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/32 "2024-08-19T01:15:15Z")
@chronos are you tempted to read spoiler boxes in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/33 "2024-08-19T01:18:38Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > @chronos are you tempted to read spoiler boxes in this thread?. No matter what, there are a few MASSIVE spoiler type things I haven’t even suggested or put into spoiler-boxes. I want Chronos and others to have the chance to find things, including some hidden stuff, on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/34 "2024-08-19T03:28:00Z")
I finished the game previously with ~450 puzzles solved (and all the lasers), but there’s one that I never actually solved on my own. I looked up the solution and I _still_ don’t understand it. The fourth of the central tree puzzles in the monastery / interior of the Zen garden area. You have to line up the branches with the grid, which was easy enough to find. And then there’s a sketch on the ground providing part of the incomplete solution. But… these don’t constrain the solution. You have to ignore some branches and use others. And the sketch could be anywhere. Even after solving it and the path is highlighted, it doesn’t make sense how I was supposed to get that. Was I just supposed to brute force all branch paths along with the position of the sketch? I did actually try several variations but didn’t happen upon the right one, making me think I was on the wrong path somehow. So I tried other possibilities for a while and eventually gave up. Annoying that most puzzles have a single solution that you can determine, or multiple solutions that are all accepted, but seemingly not this one. Unless I missed some other hint somehow. Didn’t seem to be branch thickness… but maybe something else? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/35 "2024-08-19T03:44:12Z")
You’ll have to screenshot the puzzle for us. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/36 "2024-08-19T03:47:12Z")
I was curious so I reinstalled and loaded it up. Regarding what you reference: I’m not sure what you’re talking about since I don’t see any sketch on the ground in the zen garden. Of the 4 interior puzzles, two use the branches as the path and two use the branches as blockers. For one puzzle a part of the branch is broken and lying on the ground. It could fit in two orientations, but one would create a self intersecting solution, which is illegal. Is that what you’re referring to, or another part? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/37 "2024-08-19T03:58:04Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re talking about since I don’t see any sketch on the ground in the zen garden. Ahh, I guess it’s actually a branch. Looked very much like a charcoal sketch on my system, but if I move around a bit I guess I can see a little 3D-ness. The flat shading didn’t help here. I suppose that actually solves it. Since it’s a branch, it can’t overlap the existing branches. And I think that does actually constrain it (assuming the branch hasn’t flipped or rotated). A sketch of part of the solution isn’t so constrained, which is why I was thinking there were multiple solutions. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/38 "2024-08-20T21:25:38Z")
I’m not reading spoiler boxes unless it’s clear that they’re a direct reply to one of my own spoiler boxes. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/39 "2024-08-20T21:56:12Z")
Good, recommended. There are some pretty fun and interesting secrets about the game and it was really fun to learn them as I went. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336/40 "2024-08-21T00:37:45Z")
And I’ve since found a few more interesting things, including what the little paper drawings are for. Which did in fact require sound. But I wasn’t really too impressed by it. I also found a maze drawn in the desert sands by the blazing flames of the Sun, which was kind of cool. And I think I’ve come to the conclusion that the village is sort of a “boss area”, which can have elements from puzzles found anywhere else on the island, and combine them, so it’s probably a good idea to do that area last, after you know how all the other puzzles work. I’ve also now activated two of the lasers, and found the enclosures for four more, and the trailer for the game makes it seem that there are a total of six, so I think I’ve found all of those (even if I still have some figuring out to do on them). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-witness-puzzle-game/1005336.md?page=3)