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    The Witness

    Game » consists of 7 releases. Released Jan 26, 2016

    An exploration-focused puzzle-adventure game led by the creator of the 2008 indie game Braid. While exploring a quiet but colorful island, players must solve a series of maze-like puzzles on numerous electronic puzzle consoles.

    The Witness Puzzle Help Thread (Spoilers)

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    StarvingGamer

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    #1  Edited By StarvingGamer

    Figured we should probably have a dedicated thread for these things rather than cluttering up the forums. Don't forget to use spoilers!

    So I have a quick question (Castle):

    I got to the castle pretty early and I'm trying to figure out if I'm missing something. I found a hedge maze where I had to solve the puzzle by tracing the path I took through the actual maze. The second puzzle doesn't seem to follow the same logic though, as there are multiple viable paths through the hedge maze. Is there something obvious about the maze itself indicating the solution to the puzzle, or is there some context I'm missing from another area that would help me understand the solution? Thanks!

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    Hunkulese

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    #2  Edited By Hunkulese

    @starvinggamer: Yes.

    Also, puzzles completed isn't really an indication of anything since there's no order to the game.

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    GiboAuja

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    I have a quick one I can be fairly vague about.

    The windmill.

    Is it just me or do other people have trouble getting from the second to the third. The dot hitches a bit and then stays on the second. I spent an hour it's driving me crazy.

    (I don't know how to do black text) : (

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    StarvingGamer

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    @hunkulese: Wait yes to the first thing or the second thing?

    And I mean it's not, but like it sorta could be? Like if someone says they're 50-100 puzzles in I know I might be able to lend a hand, but if they say like 300 I know I should probably steer clear. I just don't know if it's too spoilery if we just announce what location we're in.

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    AdequatelyPrepared

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    So I haven't figured out the white and black squares completely.
    I get that there needs to be a line separating adjacent white from black but there seem to be some other rules regarding them which I have no idea about.

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    StarvingGamer

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    @adequatelyprepared: If you just want to know the answer:

    You need to have them completely segregated. Using the line as a barrier, no single section can include both white and black squares.

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    AdequatelyPrepared

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    Barrabas

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    #8  Edited By Barrabas

    @starvinggamer said:

    @hunkulese: Wait yes to the first thing or the second thing?

    And I mean it's not, but like it sorta could be? Like if someone says they're 50-100 puzzles in I know I might be able to lend a hand, but if they say like 300 I know I should probably steer clear. I just don't know if it's too spoilery if we just announce what location we're in.

    Yes there's something completely logical to the 2nd hedge maze puzzle. You don't need to know anything from another area. I got stuck there for a while too and felt like an idiot once I figured it out. Now I'm stuck on the third one :( (I don't want any hints for it though, at least not yet)

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    Joemotycki

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    In the 'bird call' audio area, I'm stuck on what appears to be the last one in that general area, the 7th puzzle in. I'm just not hearing four distinct sounds. Hints appreciated but at this point ill take whatever i can get.

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    Hunkulese

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    @starvinggamer: the first question. Hint don't really work in the game since for 99% of the puzzles I've see, even the vaguest of hints will lead immediately to the solution.

    You could be stuck on the hedge maze with 10, 50, 200, or 600 puzzles solved so it doesn't really give an idea about your progress.

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    ripelivejam

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    perfect. i won't be of much help though, i think.

    i only want to know:

    i think i got to the tetrimino part that others have talked about. it's a watery/marshy area with a bridge that moves across to another part when you solve the puzzle. problem is i think i'm stuck there and there's only two excruciatingly hard puzzles with red background and yellow tetromino squares in it (though now that i realize they're tetrominos i may have some ideas...). anyway i want to bypass it but i can't go back the other way, even if i solve the puzzle again or unsolve it. screenshot in the link.

    simply tell me if yes or no can i /should i be able to go back the way i came, or do i have to solve the two puzzles that are ahead? thanks!

    Puzzle i solved to cross:

    http://imgur.com/0CtjZFc

    Surrounding area and other two puzzles if they help:

    http://imgur.com/GicRkll

    http://imgur.com/io3whmg

    http://imgur.com/YIGHwbr

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    Joemotycki

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    #12  Edited By Joemotycki

    @ripelivejam: The thing about that specific puzzle is that telling you anything about it kind of spoils some stuff. Ill just say this: You can go back the way you came.

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    StarvingGamer

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    @barrabas: Fuck I was hoping I was missing info, not just stupid. Thanks though!

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    Drakoji

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    I just can't figure out how to do this one.

    I know I need to use the zig-zag pattern but I just can't figure out how it translate to the panel...


    http://imgur.com/oyvVAW3

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    Joemotycki

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    #15  Edited By Joemotycki

    @drakoji: Do you know that the zig-zag part isnt the complete part of the solution?

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    KommanderCevin

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    I could really use a Witness rage thread because OH MY GOD the colored glass puzzles I just figured out there was a second window that showed different groupings of colors

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    Hunkulese

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    @barrabas: I thought that one was the only stupid and unfair puzzle that I've seen.

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    BeachThunder

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    Camouflage panels.

    Pretty please, someone help with this panel:

    No Caption Provided

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    sickthrads

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    dockyard area? im a panel away from lighting up the cable, but this bastard.. the polyonimos can't be solved without separating the stars and the top-left star seems like it needs to be paired with the fixer/negater triangle. at a complete loss! i have no resolve :P

    the bastard:

    No Caption Provided

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    BeachThunder

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    @sickthrads: Honestly, just keep at it. I can give you the solution if you want, but if you're up to that puzzle, then you already know everything you need to know.

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    sickthrads

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    @93the_ace: part of it but i haven't completed it. a similar panel stumped me maybe the 3rd or 4th on the star/polyonimo tutorial bridge, so i left to do stuff i thought i could solve lol. I think i understand the rules around stars, but maybe im missing something. I'll go back and try to bang my head against it!

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    StarvingGamer

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    @barrabas: Thanks, went back and immediately saw it and plowed through the rest cuz that's how it works right? Fucking this game.

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    Joemotycki

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    @beachthunder: I had to look that one up. Personally I think it was a little too ambiguous. But there is a 4 tone song there and the last tone should give you an indication of where to put the shorter ones.

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    Hunkulese

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    mithhunter55

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    #26  Edited By mithhunter55

    New symbol I am trying to figure out. In the tree house zone.

    First time seeing a blue block shape. Not sure but I am assuming it has to be on the opposite side of the divide as the pink stars?

    No Caption Provided

    EDIT: I know the mechanic now.

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    GValo

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    @ripelivejam: Dammit I'm an idiot. I solved the first one but nothing happened so I walked away. Looking at your screenshot made me realize the mechanic.


    I legit got lost last night. Tuesday night I was playing and got to a puzzle, got stuck and wandered off. I THINK I have a solution to the puzzle but now I can't remember how I got there.

    Puzzle description: It was a couple of white squares surrounded by black ones. There were two white triangles under them that i THINK eliminates a rule in the column they are in. Any idea where this is??

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    gkhan

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    @drakoji: Think about shadows hitting walls and how the angle of a wall changes a shadow.

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    thelastgunslinger

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    Ok, someone help me out here with The Keep. I solved the final hedge maze puzzle by accident and now I have no idea WHY it was the right solution. What's the trick there?

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    FCDRandy

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    #30  Edited By FCDRandy

    Is all the information I need to start the Desert Temple in that location? To get the first panel (this one: http://i.imgur.com/FYWbqmx.jpg) lit up, is there some kind of cipher nearby that tells me what to do? I feel like I'm missing a tutorial that's keeping me from moving forward, but the information immediately around it on the darkened panels where you can see solution patterns doesn't seem to be getting the job done. Is this one not the start of the sequence?

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    championfetus

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    #31  Edited By championfetus

    @fcdrandy: You have all the information you need to solve that puzzle. The only thing missing is perspective.

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    Giefcookie

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    @fcdrandy: Its the start, the darkened panels are just like the first one, just not lit up yet. Or you could say that the first one is just like the darkened ones.

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    StarvingGamer

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    @thelastgunslinger: The physical maze and the maze on the screen have different layouts. The solution requires you to figure out the path that correctly navigates both mazes.

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    thelastgunslinger

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    @thelastgunslinger: The physical maze and the maze on the screen have different layouts. The solution requires you to figure out the path that correctly navigates both mazes.

    Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!

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    FCDRandy

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    #35  Edited By FCDRandy
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    mike

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    I'm a bit stuck on this one. I solved the previous puzzles in the series, but on this one I just can't make out what the image is telling me to do with the puzzle.

    There shouldn't be any real spoilers here since you can just walk up to this puzzle at any point without unlocking anything else.

    No Caption Provided

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    Icemo

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    #37  Edited By Icemo

    In the sound panel area after solving them: What is up with the different sized dot mechanic? When the hatch pops up I can solve the first two puzzles of the set by drawing the line from small dot to big dot, but the third puzzle is somehow messing up with my brain.

    Edit: I figured it out.

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    Icemo

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    #38  Edited By Icemo

    @mike: Part of the right path made by shadows is on the metal plate. Tell me if you want clearer answer.

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    mike

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    @icemo: The tree trunk in the background? I saw that but wasn't sure it was related since no matter what I plugged in, I couldn't solve the puzzle. I've come back to this one three times over two days now!

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    Icemo

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    #40  Edited By Icemo

    @mike: I meant that big orange plate right behind the puzzle on the left. See how light is making a path to the left from the starting point? That path continues to that orange plate I mentioned. Now you have to fit that path to the puzzle.

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    mike

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    @icemo: Wait...at first you said tree trunk, but then you edited it to orange plate. So the tree trunk in the background isn't part of this one?

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    CandleJakk

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    #42  Edited By CandleJakk

    Sunken area, with all the coloured water: (Non-spoilery screeshot here.)

    Where the red water is, down the stairs; the last panel, with the tetrominoes and the subtraction squares. I just can't crack the path without excluding one subtractor. I've been stuck here for three hours now.

    Never mind, came back like an hour later and cracked it instantly.

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    Icemo

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    @mike: Correct. I looked at the picture too quickly and just assumed that the metal plate is a tree, sorry about that.

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    mike

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    #44  Edited By mike

    @icemo: Thanks for the help, but man...I just solved this one and I'm still not exactly sure how I did it, even looking right at the solved puzzle. I just picked a random path on the top half of the puzzle and somehow magically got it. Gahhhhh. I need to take a break and come back and look at it later.

    Edit...and two minutes later, finished the rest in the series! Thanks again.

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    ian280291

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    @mike: help me ive been stuck here for days too. Still dont get it, even took a picture on my phone to look at now and then hoping the solution will magically reveal itself

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    mike

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    @ian280291: Dude if I go back and take a look at that one again I'll try to explain how I solved it if I can figure it out myself. It was really just dumb luck that I happened on the solution.

    If you get really really stuck I'll send you a screenshot of the solution.

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    Icemo

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    GunslingerPanda

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    I solved a puzzle with a guess, and now I'm trying to figure out exactly how it worked so I know how the mechanics at play work. I can't really do that in game, so I figured I'd ask people here if I'm on the right track.

    It involves blue tetrominos.

    No Caption Provided

    Now I was trying to assemble a shape and then subtract a blue square section from it to make it work. However, I've been trying to kind of reverse the process of this solution and the only way I can see it working is if I was completely wrong, and you actually just remove 4 squares - not necessarily in the same shape as shown here - and then assemble the pieces left over to assemble a shape. So in this case, the the two left squares of the bottom left piece and the two right squares of the bottom right piece would have removed with the blue pieces, stuck together, then the upside down L was sat on top? Is that correct, or have I screwed myself out of figuring this out by simply guessing the correct answer?

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    ian280291

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    @mike: thank you. If you don't know how you figured it out just send me a screenshot. Honestly i'm past caring with this one now

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    terach

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    I've been stuck for a bit on a puzzle under the Desert Ruin area:

    I'm stuck on the third puzzle in the area where you raise/lower the water levels to find the glare on the panels. I've been all over that room as the water was rising and falling so either I missed a spot or there's something else in the environment to solve it. There's also 2 other panels (one floating in the water and one on the far wall) but I don't think those are connected.

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