The Witness

Title: The Witness
Genre: Adventure-Puzzle
Developer: Jonathan Blow
Publisher: Thekla, Inc
Release Date: 21 Jan, 2016

Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/210970/The_Witness/

What is it?

"The Witness" is played in first-person, meaning you are the person solving the puzzles, exploring the lonely island, wondering what in the world happened.You walk around, unable to interact with anything beyond walking, looking, and activating a puzzle solution mechanism — tap on the starting point of any puzzle and a white dot appears that you can trace with your finger. The dot can be anchored to a starting point, enabling you to trace a line from a starting point to an end point.

So, wait — why am I solving puzzles?

The puzzles, while intellectually challenging and smart, aren't the only hook of "The Witness." They're devious and clever far more often than they are frustrating and confusing, yes, but for every "Aha!" moment of clarity that makes me feel brilliant solving a puzzle, there are manyminutes of frustration where my wife and I angrily slam our heads against a seemingly-inscrutable puzzle.What's so fascinating about "The Witness" is the island itself.The buildings that were seemingly vacated suddenly, as though all living things disappeared in an instant:

The distinct areas of the island, which contain distinct sets of puzzles that often correlate directly with the puzzle you're solving:

Desert to the east, a castle in the south, beaches in the east, underneath a hulking mountain.

Simply put, "The Witness" is a unique, smart, gorgeous game that you shouldn't miss.