I call The Witness to the stand

Last year around this time, Sony/PlayStation launched the "Play At Home" initiative to give people something fun to do while they were staying home to help contain the spread of COVID. They offered two games for free to anyone who wanted to digitally download them: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey. Regrettably, I had already played all of these games (they're excellent!), so I had no need to partake in the initiative - but I truly appreciated Sony's generosity during that tumultuous time.

A couple of weeks ago, I was casually scrolling through my Google newsfeed and was pleased to discover that Sony was bringing back the "Play At Home" program this year as well! Not only did they bring it back - they were also offering more games this time, and all games that I've never played. Two in particular caught my eye: Abzû and The Witness. I haven't had a chance to play Abzû yet, but I started The Witness over the weekend, and I have some thoughts.

To start, The Witness is described as:

You wake up, alone, on a strange island full of puzzles that will challenge and surprise you.

You don't remember who you are, and you don't remember how you got here, but there's one thing you can do: explore the island in hope of discovering clues, regaining your memory, and somehow finding your way home.

The setting is beautiful, with lots of vibrant colors and different environments to explore:

But at its heart, The Witness is, simply put, a puzzle game. And the puzzles look like 500+ variations of "mazes" like these:

"That's it?" you might think. "Doesn't that get boring?" I've only completed about 100 puzzles so far - but at this point, my answer is "no."

Each puzzle has it's own gimmick. (For these purple ones, you have to get from the circular "start" to the extended line "finish" by making a line that separates the white squares from the dark squares.) As you can see, the puzzles typically start out simple to teach you the mechanics, and get progressively harder as you master the concept. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The atmosphere is relaxing, and at its best, each puzzle feels like a big accomplishment - especially the more complicated ones. There have been a number of times when I've found myself thinking something along the lines of, "Haha, game! Thought you could outsmart me, did you? Take that!" And I bask in the radiant glow of my own genius.

But then there are times when I hit a puzzle that I just can't seem to get. I'm not one to give up - especially when I've gotten the last ten puzzles in this area, so clearly I understand the concept, and ok SERIOUSLY what am I doing wrong and why am I not getting this?! I'm not leaving until this is solved. 😠

Oftentimes, it's a matter of looking at the puzzle with a different perspective. When I manage to figure it out on my own, it's hugely satisfying.

There have been a few times so far when I haven't been so lucky, though. I try to reserve "cheating" and consulting Google for dire circumstances only. So far, I've found myself more annoyed at the game in these instances than at myself. ("How was I supposed to know I needed to solve this puzzle from the backside?! The whole puzzle sequence has been about rock formations so far and you flipped the script on me at the finish line with palm trees from the backside?!" and "You really expected me to figure out that I needed to listen to the crunching gravel sounds as I walked through a literal hedge maze and use that information to solve the puzzle at the end? For real?? Nothing has been auditory up to this point!")

But it teaches me humility, and it continually pushes me to think outside the box. (Sometimes, we get waaaay outside the box, lol.)

What I love the most, though, is that The Witness doesn't hurry me. It's the sort of game that isn't mad when I get frustrated with it and walk away for awhile. "It's ok. I'll wait for you," it says cheerfully. "Take all the time you need." And I do... and it doesn't worry and fret, and I always come back. Because I want to know what is happening in this strange, pretty, quiet world, and you better believe I'll conquer every puzzle - even the weird ones - to find that out.

-J