The Witness Documentary

What lies at the heart of Jonathan Blow's island of mystery? We talk to the famed indie designer about how one of his earliest design ideas blossomed into The Witness.
Noclip operates entirely through the funding of its members. To help us tell more stories about video games and the people who make them, please consider becoming a patron: / noclip
Produced by Danny O'Dwyer & Jeremy Jayne
@dannyodwyer / @adackmusic
Music supplied by Audio Network
Speakeasy 2: us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/...
Business as Usual: us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/...
Flip Your Lid: us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/...
Destined 3: us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/...
Your Destiny 3: us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/...
Ancestors Of The Land 2: us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/...
Look to the East: us.audionetwork.com/browse/m/...
00:00 - Intro
02:55 - First Gaming Memories
06:40 - College Years
08:20 - Early Career
15:04 - Design Beginnings
21:14 - Draw a Line
24:14 - Variety of Experiences
29:16 - Stylistically Boring
33:05 - Difficulty
35:03 - A Set of Layers
37:28 - The Island
40:22 - Expanding Design
41:37 - Business Success
42:48 - Exploring Understanding
44:50 - Next Project
45:45 - Credits

[@videogamedunkey]

Every time I play The Witness I just end up rage quitting because the puzzles fly so far over my head. Regardless Jonathan Blow is one of the realest artists in video-games, awesome video.

[@0hMyGandhi]

videogamedunkey Dunkey, YOU are one of the realest artists in video-games.

[@NeverduskX]

Our savior is here!

[@wearesimulated1579]

dunki say spageheti and meatbals

[@tomascanevaro4292]

yeah man its not as good as Kill-Butt 3D, because if you die in that game you die in real life.

[@JohnSmith-sk7cg]

+videogamedunkey The game feels in many ways like a love letter to early 90s atmospheric adventure games like Myst. When you bought those games, the manuals had a large number of blank pages in the back for notes. It was a subtle way to indicate to the player that you need to not only record information that you think might be needed later, but also to interact with your notes by inserting new ideas about how something might work. As your notes grew, you would start to (literally and figuratively) draw connections that map out the relationships between entries in the margins of the note pages. While The Witness is far more structured and disciplined in terms of when information is used as well as the proximity of that information in relation to the puzzle, I found that the panel portion of the game really clicked when I had a graph paper notebook next to me. When I was stuck on a puzzle, I'd open it up and start sketching out ideas about how to solve it. It allows you to quickly map out your mental thought process, try new ideas, and look back on your line of thought as you progressed; building out the logic of the solution. I personally found a great joy to the nostalgia of playing a game with that tactile element, but more importantly, it encourages a free-flow approach to thinking through problems. Using this method provides a low penalty for trying new ideas since you have a historical record that you can use to 'rollback' if you get too far off the reservation. It also allows you to quickly flip through what you've done previously to find insight into how to approach elements of new puzzles once they start mixing previous mechanics together. TL;DR I strongly recommend using a graph paper notepad to sketch out trial solutions to puzzles you're stuck on.

[@ThePhantomTommy]

Absolutely wonderful game. Wish I could experience it for the first time again.

[@mikkokormann6814]

25:17 And then there is Simon from cracking the cryptic, who discovered the meaning of the symbols and solved the puzzle, before going to the tutorial.

[@Mr_Yeah]

Jonathan Blow: The next puzzle that you see is supposed to be so hard that you actually just can't do it. Simon: And I take that personally, you rotten thing.

[@Mnemozin]

...and then proceeded to not notice several of the most obvious environmental puzzles, while staring at them for minutes. Sigh

[@MazerTime]

@@Mnemozin he didnt begin "witnessing" until episode 4, which is about how long people take usually he just covered so much puzzles in that time it was mind bending, especially considering he just solve EVERY SINGLE ONE (except this "unsolvable" door 😂 but i think its cause chat just informed him he shouldnt be able to do all puzzles yet just a bit before) the first time he touched them.

[@kalevstheworld]

25:17*

[@NoclipDocs]

Okay friends, let's talk spoilers. For those of you deep into the game, we worked very hard to ensure few "hidden" areas are shown. The only environments we show off in detail are places you can access once you leave the tutorial area and one or two early rooms behind locked doors. We don't spoil any end-game or end-biome areas. The video does show LCD panels being used which may reveal some individual puzzle solutions, some of which contain minor game mechanism spoilers. Most importantly, the second half of this video contains some significant spoilers in relation to other aspects of the world of The Witness. You either know to which we are referring, or you don't. If you don't, we recommend you play some more of the game. If you have any individual questions about these spoilers, feel free to ask @dannyodwyer on Twitter. We'd rather you don't post about them here, for fear of spoiling other viewers. *exhales* Okay, thanks for reading, and we do hope you enjoy the show.

[@notyurrealdad8743]

Noclip That sexy intro though...

[@SpikeTheSpiker]

Ehh I enjoyed watching this up until the 35 minute mark, at that point you should have hinted at things and stopped there. You could kind of tell what was going to happen by what was talked about earlier, magic spells seen in the environment that only some people would notice, I feel like you shouldn't have shown solutions to these. Especially as Johnathan mentioned he aimed for some people to play the entire thing any not see these and also as this is a game where once a mechanic is learned you can solve relating puzzles it kind of spoils the fun. I guess you had a disclaimer but I didn't realise you meant some hidden areas and their puzzle solutions. Good stuff regardless.

[@RyanHall42]

A documentary is supposed to cover the full spectrum of a topic. Minding spoilers in a documentary seems a little counterproductive, that's just my opinion. The ambient puzzles, first discovering one, are a huge tipping point for the game and if this doc ignored them because of 'spoilers' for that .1% of people who like to watch documentaries on games they've never played, that seems like a poor journalistic choice. Just my opinion tho. I hope you dived into every aspect of the game and didn't worry about people who get precious about spoilers. edit just watched it. Good work! Yeah, so Jonathan spends about half the interview talking about these "spoilers", so its pretty clear he intended for people watching this to know about it already and wanted to go into the process behind it. So being offended by spoilers when the creator isnt is a bit ludicrous.

[@SpikeTheSpiker]

Right, I wanted a documentary about how it's made not about how it's played. Also if you read my comment, I said it was actively solving the puzzles that ruined it for me, they already accomplished getting across how/why the game was made (First half an hour), I should have just not watched and put it in the background. Also having a comment that requires you to click "read more" to see "the second half of this video contains some significant spoilers " is contained is not cool. Especially as that specific information it's not stated in the video or description.

[@KevlarGorilla]

Did you know the drop-down to 'read more' cuts off between the words 'most' and 'importantly'? To have the important warning about the second half hidden, and have no suggestion that there is actually a second half is an oversight. This should have been two videos.

[@jamma246]

38:40 This is why I love this game. _"It had to be legitimately likely that you could finish the game and never see that stuff. You had to take an extra step of noticing something, on your own, to find that. It was not handed directly to you."_ People complain about The Witness not always being clear, or getting frustrated by not being guided directly to what you're supposed to do. But without that it wouldn't be so enjoyable to play, and so rewarding when you noticed something. This is an aspect missing from so many modern games, and it made the experience of playing The Witness so much more fulfilling for me. It's like feeling that challenge that you first felt playing games as a kid (remember how intense the experience was then?). Great interview.

[@user-tt4jz3tm6t]

It's a puzzle game, what where people expecting? You're suppose to get frustrated. It makes victory all the more sweeter.

[@ReverendTed]

42:45 - I felt this "We're doing alright..." in my bones. These are the words of someone for whom things are actually going pretty great, but who cannot escape an acute awareness of how fragile success can be. I try not to be superstitious, but there's still a hesitation to speak of success, lest the universe hear your words and bend to bring your fate back into balance.

[@ilyan.v.371]

Accurate

[@drygordspellweaver8761]

I think it actually stems from an optimistic outlook and that the Witness actually just broke even (but provided a salary for him and his team).

[@langa77777]

10 minutes in and im absolutely amazed. fantastic work danny on one of my favourite games of the past decade. thank you

[@sniperkitty3000xx]

are you sure about that

[@ForboJack]

I really digged the puzzles and thought it was a nice puzzle game. Then almost 80% finished I noticed that one shape in the environment looks suspiciously like the puzzles. I thought 'There is no way', but I still tried it got my mind totally blown away. It was like the ending in Portal 2, but instead of the final move this added a whole new layer to the game and changed everything I thought I knew about it. It also was like a totally new game on top of everything else. To this days one of my most awesome moments in gaming.

[@ossboz9335]

I had the same experience. I thought i knew a lot and then it suddenly changes the whole perspective. Everything is thought through and isn't t too obvious. Failing and stopping isn't really a thing, you just move on. Also that these moment stay with you even after playing, is really impresssive. Sometimes movies do this but not often. This is all talked about in this documentary. The only thing that i expected in this interview was the place it held between science and spirtual things. Why did they choose to put this perspective in the game?

[@MasDouc]

I unfortunately figured it out way too quickly. As soon as I got out of the initial area I walked up the hill next to the black and white puzzle door to check out the scenery and immediately saw the sewer environmental puzzle. I wish I had the epiphany later on when I actually knew what the game was, cause I solved it and was like "oh, okay". and kept moving.

[@ReverendTed]

Yeah, I was totally the opposite. I walked out of the vault and almost immediately saw a puzzle in the...clouds, I think it was...that led to a secret ending. Once I realized what was going on I was a bit taken aback. And, y'know, I felt pretty clever, so that was nice.

[@thonk7611]

@@ReverendTed were u spoiled on the game beforehand? i think its almost impossible to see that sun puzzle otherwise

[@drygordspellweaver8761]

That must have been quite a surprise - like watching Terminator 2 at the theatre and not knowing that Arnold was the good guy in the hallway with T1000

[@Halflite]

Man, this really makes me want to play The Witness again.

[@daLukasMain]

I'm 35. This is the greatest puzzle game I've ever played in my entire life. It's a 10. Just a big fat 10 out of 10. It's in my list for my top 10 favourite games. Also in the list are Demon's Souls. Dark Souls. Final Fantasy 7 etc etc. The game is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. I don't know what else to say. Just enjoyed it so much. I'm looking forward to watching this doco as I just got on here and posted a comment asap. Now for a coffee :-D

[@daLukasMain]

Never heard of that. But you can bet money on the fact that I will seek it out. Thanks man

[@YuriSizov]

Jonathan actually recommends it himself.

[@TWoods_93]

absolutely agree. the way it teaches you mechanics through nothing but visual feedback is genius. loved every minute of the game and have never felt more accomplished completing puzzles.

[@slisbtor4ok]

I still can not decide which one i like more

[@chickenbone445]

it looks interesting, but I kinda wish it was on a mobile platform (vita, switch, tablets). I'll probably pick it up at some point though

[@Fangirl46646]

I love the witness. I admit I got stuck and had to look up a guide when I got to the treehouse but man, for such a simple looking game it has really complicated elements and that’s probably why it stands out so much. I recommend it to all my friends when they ask what I’ve been playing.

[@flackbyte]

I love how Danny is getting more artistically bold and exploring the documentary medium.

[@LB767]

Such a great documentary, I enjoyed every second of it. It's also quite impressive that there's still an entire aspect of the game that wasn't touched upon in the video, that is the meaning and interpretations of the game. It really shows just how vast the Witness is. For people interested look up the unbearable now, I think it's a great complement. Again huge thanks for your work on this series!

[@RedPlayerOne]

This game is a work of art that will stand the test of time.

[@koenheltzel]

Absolutely. I can easily see myself coming back to it once every ten years for the rest of my life.

[@zetetick395]

LOVED this game, like a zen trip - with one of the most lovely hand crafted worlds ever made imo

[@ruddha2]

Late to the party, but I finally got to sit down with this brilliant game. As a long time fan of adventure games from the '90s, this feels like coming home. The Witness is art.

[@hooman4717]

why did it take me so long to find this documentary. this game is the best puzzle game i've ever played and one of my favorite games of all time. also i never see anyone touch on the voice recordings in this game.i think the theme they chose to talk about in these recordings really reflects the game itself. you get this beautiful artistic environments and these logic driven puzzles in tangled in each other. and in the voice recordings its always a debate about logic and feelings or science and poetry/spirituality .how they contradict each other or even how they are weaved into each other depending on your perspective.so its all about perspective ,sorta like the game itself. i hope someone reads this and feels the same about the game.

[@Muskar2]

I feel the same way, but I've also seen several playthroughs where they really didn't care for the audio logs - calling them "pretentious" and similar. I'm glad they dared keeping it in there, as optional content. My main criticism about the game are a few things, like not advertising that colorblind or (tone) deaf people can't complete it, photosensitive epilepsy triggers, or the one desert puzzle that required partial brute force which sowed the wrong idea about the rest of the game. Not to mention I think color theory wasn't taught nearly well enough, some of the puzzles were more obnoxious than fun and I think the player should've been shown a boat very early on, because it has the only guide for where all the tutorials are.

[@1337pianoman]

​@@Muskar2Which desert puzzle required brute force? I'm fairly confident every panel in that zone provides enough information to narrow down to a single possibility, but I could be forgetting one

[@Muskar2]

@@1337pianoman The last one in the dark bluish underground room (the second to last room). It's a horizontal puzzle and the widest one. The best you can do is a partial solution, and then there's like 5-10 ish options to brute force as far as I can recall.

[@1337pianoman]

@@Muskar2 I'll have to go back and check it out. I think there is a way to get more information

[@Muskar2]

@@1337pianoman If you do find evidence for that, then please do tell. I scoured walkthroughs and let's plays and haven't found a single instance of someone solving it differently - but perhaps we're all missing something.

[@xaviervilloing6636]

I wouldn't say the witness is my favorite game, but I'd say it certainly the best one i've ever played, in term of design, both artistic and game-play. The first environmental puzzle I found was under the elevator in the desert. That was actually, literally a mind-blowing epiphany.

[@LordPunch7]

Thank you for this! The Witness was one of my favorite games of 2016. It was fascinating to see early or discarded concepts, and it is always fascinating to hear Mr. Blow speak. Makes me want to play the game again.

[@Pykn]

Glad to see The Witness getting some love. Absolutely adored this game on every level.

[@johannesmeier5550]

Fantastic Documentary, as always, about one of my favorite games this generation. A true masterpiece by one of the few true innovators in the industry. Thank you guys so much.

[@necromax13]

I've never played the Witness. I wasn't interested in The Witness. I'm speechless by just LOOKING at this game's puzzles at work. Absolutely mind blown. I'm looking forward to finding a way to play it.

[@nintendude794]

Only about four days left to grab The Witness for $12 or less in the Humble April 2017 Bundle! www.humblebundle.com/monthly

[@FBracht]

I really hope you didn't watch the whole documentary, then. But even if you did, seriously, play it. It's so amazing, and there are cool things they didn't mention. Welcome!

[@DrazaM41]

It's free on PlayStation Plus.

[@wyldeman7]

as a grown man that's been gaming most his life. this is a special game that really took me by surprise and I'm so so glad you made this. this game was worthy of an excellent doc.

[@blob2092]

your welcum, happy to help!

[@WD23182]

JB is a fucking genius, and this ended up being one of my favorite games ever. Absolutely GORGEOUS and the level design/world building is miles above most - if not all - of other games that I've ever played. Just all around a perfect game in my opinion.

[@meitargera596]

Hey danny, as i have never played the Witness, I have to say that your video was remarkable, specifically how it captured the idea of being on the top of a mountain and looking back differently. The thing you did with the images in the beginning and end of the video (not saying more to not spoil) , and me realizing why you're doing it, felt exactly like it was described in the video. It seems that through your video, I EXPERIENCED that essence of the game. Amazing, and thank you.

[@YourAverageNiche]

*Teasing him for his next game after The Witness: "Are we gonna play this video in 10 years? 15??" "No, not that long, maybe 3, something like that" Famous last words, 7 years later.

[@JoshLaBaw]

Nice work Danny! B-roll & over all editing is top notch. Love seeing the progression of NoClip.

[@joeygray1984]

I can't believe this channel isn't way way bigger. Keep up the good work mate! All of the documentaries I've seen from NoClip so far have been insightful and beautifully crafted. Also now I am going to play a game I may not have otherwise, Thanks!

[@Largentina.]

Nice job, Danny. Killed it as always! These are literally the best videogame documentaries of all time, it's not even debatable. Keep doin you.

[@GMoneyChuck89]

The Witness is just kind of more than just a puzzle game. It really kinda shifted my perspective of how I would look at the world, both in its shapes and its philosophies. Plus, it helped me get hooked on Tarkovsky. The Witness is just now such an important tool that expanded my mind when it came out.

[@Jolipolie]

You've got a gift for interviews, Danny. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these

[@MapOfCydonia]

Thanks Danny! It's always a pleasure when I have a new Noclip video to watch. Keep doing what you're doing. Love the interview shot in this one, great set.

[@StevlandJudkins]

Great video! Made me boot up The Witness again after months. Found a puzzle I haven't seen before and solved it. And here we are with this incredible feeling again. What a game.

[@This.ability]

Hats off to Noclip for holding my attention for 45+ minutes. Great stuff!

[@robadomalosivich]

brilliant video! I like the way you just let him speak for the most part, it takes a good interviewer to get the best out of people! great job Danny!

[@gorangoran2125]

Jonathan is so amazing, i could listen him for hours. I loved The Witness. Please upload extended interview like you did for Doom. Thank you for this!

[@TheRadraftsman]

Thank you for this video, Jonathan Blow is a genius and a big inspiration for me.

[@jamesghbray]

Another great doc. Well done Danny! I love this game so much. I really think it is one of my favourites of all time.

[@Shocra]

Just finished watching the video. it's really well done and I am excited for your next project. you're doing great work!

[@drBROner]

I appreciate that this video was mostly surface level about The Witness, and focused more on the history of Jonathan Blow. This was a very enjoyable watch. Thank you NoClip. The Witness was an extremely satisfying and personal journey for me. All the elements of that game really helped me mature in areas of self reflection and mindfulness. I wish everyone could take the many hours of unspoiled journey that I got to take, and it helps if you have a friend who is playing on their own time as well and then you two can talk about the game but in a very abstract way so as not to give away any spoilers. Thank you Jonathan and all the other people that helped make this game a reality. I will never forget it, and I will never stop encouraging people to give it a try :) Looking forward to the next time I decide to go back and rediscover the island all over again.

[@RobbyHuang]

That was fantastic, thank you for doing this. And thanks to Jonathan Blow too.

[@StarlightDragon]

This made me decide to buy the witness for myself and my mom

[@nintendude794]

Love your Louis C.K. icon xD

[@mikaxms]

And was it any good?

[@dkaloger5720]

Actually the epic store was giving it for free

[@quelluomo]

Stunning documentary. Honestly, amazing photography and great editing. You guys are terrific!

[@ALCentertaiment]

Oh man, this is so good! Keep it up with the good work, i love to watch this kind of documentaries.

[@benmitchinson9831]

Absolutely amazing work. Thank you!

[@jonasaxberg]

Great episode. I could just listen to Jonathan, talking about anything, for hours. Such an interesting and deep person. Keep up the wonderful work Danny!

[@ProjektBurn]

That was awesome. I absolutely love this channel and all the neat insights you present. Thank you!

[@chrispadovanibs8648]

he has the rare combo of genius and the ability to clearly communicate his thoughts and ideas. it's nice.

[@mosaic659]

Great doc Danny! Thanks so much for making these, very interesting.

[@boregardjeperson5916]

Love to see my favorite KZbin channel and one my favorite games come together. thank you Danny!

[@krazivan1991]

i love the editing and flow of the documentaries, very professional work, Subscribed !!!!

[@mandel4065]

Anyone else searching what to connect Jonathan's hair with?

[@vicez_]

LOL 100% thinking the same thing after watching all of these puzzles being solved

[@danaondrackova3431]

I was puzzled, then looked at Jonathan and giggled, yeah :D

[@MondayHopscotch]

Kudos to the disclaimer at the beginning. Very well made video! This documentary really covers a lot of really good stuff. The Witness is probably among my top 5 favorite games of all time. Just wanted to leave my small token of thanks here.

[@intoTDN]

Your documentaries shinning light on the game developers are really fantastic. Thank you for providing a bridge between the game developers and the game players.

[@Awesomer929]

Playing this game was the most rewarding/enriching/beautiful experience I've played. It changed a lot about the way I see the world, and how to see more about the world, and I've always been curious as to the mind behind this incredible game. Thank you for putting this together. (And if you're looking for other people to doc, I've always wanted to see more into Superhot)

[@Beghty27]

Huge fan of this game and Blow as a character in the industry. So happy to see my meager patreon donation come to such well produced and insightful fruition. Keep up the great work guys.

[@sjsamphex]

I'm deaf. Will captions be added?

[@NoclipDocs]

Yes, we put in the order last night. ETA is Tuesday, but our partners usually have them finished earlier than that. Check back in a few days. Sorry for the delay, when we publish on the weekend there's usually a lag. In the meantime all our other videos have CC if you want to check the back catalog.

[@sjsamphex]

Thanks very much!

[@NoclipDocs]

Closed Captions are now available. Thanks for your patience!

[@NoclipDocs]

The interview was shot on a Canon c100 Mark 1 with a Sigma 18-35 lens. Most of the other external footage was shot on a Sony A7sii with the 24-70 e-mount lens.

[@xekim8408]

Samir Jainlpppppơ ́

[@homeonice]

Such a gutsy game. Great interview with Jon, and beautiful vid.

[@dustinconwell1]

Another great doc Danny, thank you so much for doing this.

[@kuhanesh]

Awesome work Danny. The Witness is a genuinely amazing experience and easily one of my favourite games of all time.

[@uzeahos]

Loved the game to death beating it the first time. Beaten probably dozens of times now, solved all of the puzzles twice. Still love it.

[@GGRC]

Another great doc! I've always liked listening to Jonathan Blow explain his ideas and this doc really showcases that. He's an articulate guy who is definitely operating on a different plane. Looking forward to the next game!

[@android19willpwn]

I really liked this game. I also think it's a great game to use to introduce people who don't usually play games to games. The intuitive tutorials, simple controls, and lack of need for speed make it easy for people unused to games to understand and play the game and get used to moving around a digital 3D environment in first person and using standard movement controls.

[@Savenger]

Best one yet Danny! NoClip docs are quickly becoming my monthly KZbin highlight. )

[@aleksandarjovic4275]

The beauty of the Witness for me was how seemingly impossible puzzles could become so obvious after taking a break and coming back to them later. The game's design complements this by stopping your progress if you find yourself stumped... the island fluidly connects, so you can just wander off in a new direction and start solving something else, which often times helps you understand something you missed earlier. I found a lot of similarities back when I took math... so many times something would seem impossible to understand, but after sleeping on it, all the pieces would click. In many games, you gain new skills by leveling up through gaining experience points... killing a monster or completing a thing gives you X experience points, and when you gain Y experience points, you gain Z skill which allows you to gain more of X to reach the next Y, to get the next Z, etc etc. but when the game ends, these experience points and skills in game mean nothing in real life. In the Witness, your experiences in the world lead you to gain the skills you need to progress... this becomes a very real experience that stays with you even after the game is turned off. While "I gained knowledge" may seem like an answer that is applicable to any game (transferable skills can be argued to any capacity: "Doom gave me better reaction time, CS1.6 gave me better hand eye coordination, etc"), it is different with this game, and you will know what I mean if you try it. All in all, this is a very well designed puzzle game. If you like the Witness and are left wanting more (even though the world is full of so many optional puzzles, I think I only finished 70-80% of everything there was to do on my initial run), check out Talos Principle. Different in tone (Talos includes more of an explicit story and the puzzles focus more on 3D space and sequencing), but still full of excellent spatial puzzle solving and self exploration.

[@ossboz9335]

This is like a masterclass. I really like how it came together and how he tried to explain what happend in his head to get there!

[@tohirtillyaev2756]

Another great documentary! I love the visual style of this one.

[@mindful_nerd4676]

Great job sir! I love how you let them talk and give them a platform to do so.

[@LucidVisions]

John saying at the end that designers should always be testing the frontiers of gaming, and looking to test that space is so inspiring. So many new developers have a slight variation on an exisiting theme, John wants to build an entire new theme.

[@DanielLaCoste]

Fantastic video - thanks Noclip!

[@AgentMcQueen]

Fantastic job, Danny & crew!

[@JennyBonBon]

Hey, listen!

[@NoclipDocs]

XD

[@BobisOnlyBob]

it's the Nintendo Fairy!

[@dashalpha]

On the subject of Nintendo, I really really hope Metroid Prime 4 doesn't hold your hand like so many newer Nintendo games, ugh. Loved Super Metroid not just because of the throw backs to the 1st, the music, the graphics, but also it didn't hold your hand and you felt like it was you discovering the secrets, not the game telling you everything. If I want to be told how to do something I'll look up a guide online. The Witness is a masterful example of how to introduce mechanics to the player without breaking the 4th wall like most games.

[@ChrisDoesTV]

Another Stella Documentary - Big thanks to John and all the team involved.

[@methodtomadnessstudios2632]

You just got yourself a supporter. We need more like this !

[@GrandHighGamer]

6 years later: Yes, it will take that long for his next project.

[@j.thorgard]

27:34 Great editing, subtly showing the rock in The Witness are similar to (maybe inspired by) Mega Man.

[@beefknuckles]

Another great one Danny! Can't wait for the next one!

[@Rad_Danny]

That was a really good one man! Deep and very enjoyable. Keep it up!

[@billgormont92]

that was fantastic. The was so eye opening to me and this doc made me feel the same way. Well done.

[@fliptopjim]

Such a warm documentary. Lots of love floating around there.

[@TheOrian34]

John was right for the pitch puzzles, as I was completely unable to do them, but everything else was amazing, and I'm glad that he chose to keep them in, because I'm sure a number of people did enjoy and solve them easily. Respecting his vision is what made this game a true gem.

[@TheAnimator1808]

What's amazing is, when he talks about the inspiration of The Witness and using gestures to cast spells and change their properties, The Wonderful 101 actually uses a very similar system for changing weapons. Drawing a bigger "unite sword" symbol results in a bigger "unite sword" weapon model that deals more damage etc. I find that interesting given the time of it's release.

[@PRAETORA3G15]

great video danny, keep up the good work

[@GGRC]

Nice video Danny, great job as always!

[@FFDannyB]

Can't wait to watch this; I just got the platinum trophy a few hours ago and it's an amazing game. I really have a lot of respect for Jonathan Blow.

[@SpookyLuvCookie]

even the intro sequence alone is superb, capturing the game's themes and aesthetics with some wonderful images and music great interview / documentary film (about one of the most unique games ever made)

[@JoPeTuYaTroJoueY]

another very informative et interesting documentary ! NoClip is on FIRE ! glad to have learn some unkown anecdotes about Johnathan i didn't already heard before, and that's a prowess in itself ! :p

[@Juiceboxjerry]

Awesome work, Danny! Great piece.

[@FROZENbender]

absolutely wonderful game. I've played through it twice and watched a friend play through all of it and I'm discovering new things each playthrough. the juggler shadow with the stones on the floor or the person on the burning stump lighting a fire are things I haven't even noticed yet. I'll always remember the island and the incredible amounts of detail that I did not know games could have.

[@ghostpeppered4524]

- designing difficulty - don't cut something just because one person had a bad time - let the folks who want a linear experience enable that if they want - don't rank/filter using averages; preserve things only few people love, but as optional content exclusively for a cult following - sort controversial/difficult/obscure/hardcore beauty into optional layers, let skill-based players seek it out | layer | obvious puzzle | obvious solution | obvious reward | |-|-|-|-| | 1 | Y | Y | Y | | 2 | N | Y | Y | | 3 | N | N | N |

[@GermanSonEu]

This is great. Seriously, awesome work!

[@andrewxc1335]

28:00 - There is a lot of graph theory in this game. It's great. I need to stop playing it when I'm tired, and waking up an hour later, not having found any new insights into the puzzle where I'm stuck.

[@andrewxc1335]

33:30 - Oh, ffs. Now I have to go back and find birds.

[@scottbeale1825]

What I love most about this game is that it's not really about the line puzzles. Instead it's a game who's focus is the meta-game: the focus is on the very nature of how the game communicates its ideas to you.

[@Glowbox3D]

You and your team always delivery and inspire. Thank you.

[@Anomaliayt]

Solid little documentary! Well done guys, and much respect for Mr. Blow

[@obenohnebohne]

Never played a puzzle game before. I fell in love with the witness over time. This game touched me in a way no other game has done. Now I am watching this documentary for the third time.

[@danielspellingclausen4669]

Awesome work Danny!

[@calliope_x3]

This game gives me such a dose of the Tetris effect. For weeks after I played, I noticed circles and lines everywhere I went. Even in this video (which, granted, is probably on purpose) i kept seeing things that caused me to momentarily reach for my mouse to draw the puzzle.

[@ThePudgeGaming]

Love what you're doing with this channel

[@Capillus]

“The Witness” and “Baba Is You” are the most mind-bending games of all time

[@Calearin]

Jonathan Blow is credited as helping test the puzzles in Baba Is You, which made immediate sense to me when I saw his name pop up there.