--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: 1. The Witness image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 14, 2016 # 1\. _The Witness_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  In Jonathan Blow and studio Thekla’s [_The Witness_,](http://time.com/4191490/the-witness-review/ "undefined") mysteries abound on a deserted island that may or may not exist. The island is beautiful but oblique, sublime yet functionally inscrutable. Glowing screens with maze-like grids are everywhere, connective cables snake through sun-dappled underbrush or down into cavernous passages. All of it leads players to ever-more bizarre, seemingly impenetrable line puzzles. It’s weird and gorgeous and categorically defiant, a glorious repository of sublime mysteries and revelations. **_Buy now:_** [**_PlayStation 4_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BMVWT68/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01BMVWT68&linkCode=as2&tag=timetechvideogames-20&linkId=6e741b48e4a0d60c3130ac5a89f446fa "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570382/the-witness-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570382/the-witness-2/"},"headline":"1. The Witness","datePublished":"2016-11-14T20:08:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:16:54.065Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570382/the-witness-2/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf80a50f1a988cbe7/6998cd3be1ba008edc98e4bd/time-hi-res.webp?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570382/the-witness-2/","name":"1. The Witness"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Time Plays: The Witness","description":"Time Plays: The Witness","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZnPgrZe6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-25T20:04:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZnPgrZe6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570382/the-witness-2/","duration":"PT6M10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/top-10-list-2016/4570382/the-witness-2/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```