{"slug": "the-witness", "name": "The Witness", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.407, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2025-12-18", "latest": "2026-04-21", "why": "", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "", "kind": "game", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "http://the-witness.net", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["The Witness"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 765736992, "item_id": 47858562, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47858562", "by": "the__alchemist", "date": "2026-04-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love puzzle games", "excerpt": "Same reaction - I love puzzle games (The Witness, Talos principle, Blue Prince, Myst series, Baba is You, Antichamber, Obra Dinn, Opus Magnum etc), but haven't heard of this. I guess I should give it a try!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games"}, {"id": 741053744, "item_id": 46315859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46315859", "by": "skeskinen", "date": "2025-12-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love the Witness", "excerpt": "I love the Witness, like the Portal games and hate the Talos Principle. To each their own, I guess.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles"}, {"id": 741031968, "item_id": 46314498, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46314498", "by": "magicalhippo", "date": "2025-12-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I quite enjoyed The Witness", "excerpt": "A side note, if you've played The Witness but not yet The Looker[1], you probably have been missing out. I quite enjoyed The Witness but The Looker was just great. [1]: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1985690/The_Looker/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": [], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47814874", "title": "10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46240855", "title": "Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles", "mentions": 2}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 765736992, "item_id": 47858562, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47858562", "by": "the__alchemist", "date": "2026-04-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love puzzle games", "excerpt": "Same reaction - I love puzzle games (The Witness, Talos principle, Blue Prince, Myst series, Baba is You, Antichamber, Obra Dinn, Opus Magnum etc), but haven't heard of this. I guess I should give it a try!", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games"}, {"id": 765679824, "item_id": 47854989, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47854989", "by": "VorpalWay", "date": "2026-04-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Personally, I had wanted a new Myst, and The Witness wasn't that, and so I was a bit disappointed. Obduction was released a year or two later and it was similar to the Myst I remember from my childhood and it was also a good game. I strongly recommend it. That said, The Witness isn't a bad game as such, though the puzzles do get a bit repetitive in my opinion. I prefer more variety rather than hyper focus on one type", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "10 years: Stephen's Sausage Roll still one of the most influential puzzle games"}, {"id": 741053744, "item_id": 46315859, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46315859", "by": "skeskinen", "date": "2025-12-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love the Witness", "excerpt": "I love the Witness, like the Portal games and hate the Talos Principle. To each their own, I guess.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles"}, {"id": 741031968, "item_id": 46314498, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46314498", "by": "magicalhippo", "date": "2025-12-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I quite enjoyed The Witness", "excerpt": "A side note, if you've played The Witness but not yet The Looker[1], you probably have been missing out. I quite enjoyed The Witness but The Looker was just great. [1]: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1985690/The_Looker/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles"}]}