The Witness (2016 video game)
| The Witness | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster art of The Witness; the white border is meant to simulate the game's "maze solving" interface
|
|
| Developer(s) | Thekla, Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | Thekla, Inc. |
| Director(s) | Jonathan Blow |
| Producer(s) | Jonathan Blow |
| Designer(s) | Jonathan Blow |
| Programmer(s) |
|
| Artist(s) |
|
| Writer(s) |
|
| Platform(s) | |
| Release date(s) |
Windows, PlayStation 4
|
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Aggregate score | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | (PC) 87/100 (PS4) 87/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Destructoid | 10/10 |
| Game Informer | 9.25/10 |
| Game Revolution |  |
| GameSpot | 9/10 |
| GamesRadar |  |
| Giant Bomb | |
| IGN | 10/10 |
| PC Gamer (US) | 89/100 |
| Polygon | 8/10 |
| VideoGamer.com | 10/10 |
| US Gamer | 2/5 |
The Witness is a 3D puzzle video game developed and published by Thekla, Inc.The Witness was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in January 2016, for Xbox One in September 2016, for Android, via the SHIELD Android TV, in January 2017, and will later be ported for iOS devices. Inspired by Myst, the game involves the exploration of an open world island filled with natural and man-made structures. The player progresses by solving puzzles, which are based on interactions with mazes presented on panels around the island or hidden within the environment. The player will have to determine the rules of each puzzle from visual clues and audio recordings scattered around the island.
Jonathan Blow, the game's lead creator and director, desired to create a game around non-verbal communication, wanting players to learn from observation and to come to epiphanies in finding solutions and leading to a greater sense of involvement and accomplishment with each success. The game includes around 650 puzzles, though the player is not required to solve them all to finish the game.
Originally announced in 2009, The Witness had a lengthy development period. Blow started work on the title in 2008 shortly after releasing Braid. The financial success of Braid allowed him to hire a larger production team without ceding control over the final product. In order to create the game's visual language, the team developed their own game engine and retained artists, architects, and landscape architects to design the structures on the island. This required a protracted development process, and the game's release was delayed from 2013 to 2016. Original plans for release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were abandoned as the game engine became more demanding, and the team ultimately opted for an initial release on Windows and the PlayStation 4, with support for other platforms following.
...
Wikipedia