WITNESS ME

Imagine the island from Myst. Not the esoteric book-worlds, not the mechanical puzzles, not the grainy FMV animations -- just the mysterious island that you were dropped on, with no introduction, and no directive but to explore, discover, and "solve." The Witness brings back that lonely exhiliration, that feeling of an alien land begging to be figured out.

The puzzles start out pretty simple, and you'll blow through a few dozen of them with basically no resistance. The learning curve is pleasantly subtle - gently introducing new concepts and tricks - and by the time the island feels like it's "opened up" there is a new, bewildering mechanic to encounter at almost every turn. Outside-the-box stuff. Revelatory stuff. Sick shit.

But The Witness would still be a pretty lame game if it was only a series of puzzles, so it's a good thing there's more to it than that. The puzzles and the exploration punctuate each other every step of the way; following power cables, looking for clues, or merely enjoying the beautiful environment. The island itself is one big, gorgeous, baffling puzzle.

And I have so much more to discover about it.