The Witness - Full Game (No Commentary)

A full no commentary playthrough of The Witness

00:00:00 Garden
00:05:55 Orchard
00:11:04 Glass Factory
00:14:19 Symmetry Island
00:24:27 Desert Ruins
00:44:28 Monastery
00:51:20 Jungle
01:01:53 Bunker
01:12:40 Shady Trees
01:28:45 Quarry
01:49:22 Keep
01:59:38 Swamp
02:19:04 Treehouse
02:36:13 Town
03:04:35 The End
03:53:15 Secret Ending

Game: The Witness
Release Date: January 26, 2016
Platform: PC
Developer: Thekla, Inc.

The Witness is a 2016 puzzle video game developed and published by Thekla, Inc.[a] 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 grids presented on panels around the island or paths hidden within the environment. The game provides no direct instructions for how these puzzles are to be solved, requiring the player to identify the meaning of symbols in the puzzles. A central design element to the game was how these puzzles are presented so that the player can achieve a moment of inspiration through trial and error and gain that comprehension themselves.

Announced in 2009, The Witness had a lengthy development period. Jonathan Blow, the game's lead designer, 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. 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. Blow 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.

The Witness was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 in January 2016, with later versions released for the Xbox One, Nvidia Shield, macOS, and iOS. 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. The Witness received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised the difficult but surmountable puzzles and the game's art and setting. Within a week of release, the game had sold over 100,000 copies, which was about as many copies as Braid had done within a year of its release, nearly recouping all of the development costs for the game.

The Witness is a first-person puzzle video game. The player, as an unnamed character, explores an island with numerous structures and natural formations. The island is roughly divided into eleven regions, arranged around a mountain that represents the ultimate goal for the player. The regions are differentiated from one another by changes in vegetation, and the puzzles within each region are similar to one another (e.g. their solutions may all involve symmetry). Throughout the island are yellow boxes housing turrets. These can be activated once the puzzles within the box's region have been solved. When activated, the turrets emerge to shine a light toward the top of the mountain, indicating that a section of the game is complete. Several such turrets need to be activated to unlock access to the inside of the mountain and ultimately reach the game's final goal. Additional puzzles can be discovered if all eleven turrets are activated.

There are additional optional puzzles scattered around the island. One such set of puzzles, accessible after entering the mountain and colloquially referred to as "The Challenge", is a time-based test to complete about a dozen algorithmically generated puzzles of various types within seven minutes. The sequence is set to music from Edvard Grieg's "Anitra's Dance" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King". The game has more than 650 puzzles, which Jonathan Blow estimates will take the average player about 80 hours to solve. The puzzles include one that Blow believed that less than 1% of the players would be able to solve.
A puzzle in The Witness, in which the player must separate fields with white from those with black dots while tracing a single path through the maze. This puzzle is part of a sequence of puzzles (seen on the left and right) that teach this mechanic to the player.

[EncryptedDuck]

00:00:00 Garden
00:05:55 Orchard
00:11:04 Glass Factory
00:14:19 Symmetry Island
00:24:27 Desert Ruins
00:44:28 Monastery
00:51:20 Jungle
01:01:53 Bunker
01:12:40 Shady Trees
01:28:45 Quarry
01:49:22 Keep
01:59:38 Swamp
02:19:04 Treehouse
02:36:13 Town
03:04:35 The End
03:53:15 Secret Ending

[akilisimm]

Damn this game. I manage to solve a few locations by myself, but later on some mechanics went beyond me. Even with your solution I can't see a patern. That's sick.

[mjthebest]

I discovered this absolute masterpiece thanks to this video. I watched the first 4 minutes or so, and got mindblown by the sounds, the style, the design. It was truly shocking for my brain.
After 100%ed it with absolutely no help, taking me 100+ hours, am really grateful that this didn't spoiled me... well, you know what, letting me have the joy of discovery.
After almost 7 months of playing and thinking about The Witness and being inspired by it I can guarantee that it was the best videogame experience I ever had in my entire life.
Thank you, Jon.

[deanharrison]

Got this for free today.. Can't believe how good it looks.. I'm bamboozled already too.. That's why I'm really here

[missmoose]

Thank you for this walkthrough. Some solutions are crazy. Like with the birds. I could not have finished this game without your guide.

[chvol]

with this walkthrough I learned that "in a jungle nothing is more dangerous than a puzzle of lines'

[olly.speaks]

Your walkthrough accompanied me throughout the entire game, so thank you! I almost dropped the game at the random puzzles door, but i persevered!

I initially did this for the achievements and ending, but it really wasn't worth it, like at all...

[nwcountry]

oh you lil smart-ass, I literally cannot do this game without this kind of help, great job!!

[richardpaulandco]

A very unusual, unique game with many brainteaser puzzles and patterns with rules to keep your brain well trained with beautiful lighting and graphics that are easy on the eye, and cartoonified in a good way that is still appealing to adults and the kids will enjoy to watch. Amaze your children with your puzzle-busting skills while they enjoy the great scenery. I would probably suggest this isn't aimed at children under 8, as they wouldn't have the slightest idea of what to do. There are obviously some genius children out there but if there are any kids under the age of 8 that can play this game without help from anyone older then they are truly very special in the areas of problem solving and spacial awareness. Overall 9/10 from me, for a game in the puzzle genre.

[gulyasdavid]

one of the best indie production. briliant game

[maxreed]

Thank you for such a great resource. I just started playing this Month. I'm keeping your video in my Watch Later and peaking at it when I need help. It's like having the answers in the back of a puzzle book.

[MaoroRD]

This walkthrough accompanied me throughout the entire game, thank you god person 💚

[hypnotik]

This is thee most complicated puzzle game I have ever had the displeasure of enduring. Thank heavens for you and your knowledge because, I looked at some of these puzzles and I almost shut the game off

[epicsyincs]

The sound of bamboo whistling give me unsettling chills

[KS-iywy]

tysm for your service 😭 absolutely incredible work. you’ve got a talent

[BenieTheDragon]

3:38:11 is beyond punishing. Not only are the puzzles timed.. but they get randomized.
When the walkthrough can't help you.

[foxflier]

without this walkthrough i could never have known that part of the apple tree

[tonyemmerson]

With all the secrets and brain teasers. It feel like it’s a invitation to a secret society of the smartest who can find all the hidden secrets

[HarryNicNicholas]

i just spent about six months trying to find / remember what this game was called, as it's first person there is no character to remember, just the puzzles so i'm chuffed to bits to have come across it finally. when you get to my age if your memory is functioning properly that's a big deal.

[deanharrison]

I'm back again.. The orchard isn't making sense... The TV is going out the window in a minute!