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Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

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Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#2
Although it's tempting, this is a game you really don't want any spoilers about (if you are ever going to play it). Vi Hart, who has been playtesting the game for months, said:

> Tips for playing The Witness: give yourself a week or two, no hints, no reviews. Sleep on it. Take breaks. It's a big game. Nothing like it.

> If you can't spend all day every day playing The Witness, give yourself months. Engage deeply with The Witness and it will stare back.

> Don't watch twitch streams or look at screenshots or read reviews. Just play it, seriously.

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#4
post #2

Although it's tempting, this is a game you really don't want any spoilers about (if you are ever going to play it). Vi Hart, who has been playtesting the game for months, said: > Tips for playing The Witness: give yourself a week or two, no hints, no reviews. Sleep on it. Take breaks. It's a big game. Nothing like it. > If you can't spend all day every day playing The Witness, give yourself months. Engage deeply with…

> ...this is a game you really don't want any spoilers about...

I couldn't possibly agree more. But, just so others don't end up making (or not making!) a blind purchase, I present a spoiler-free summary:

It's a puzzle game. I'm likely not nearly done with the game and the puzzles have ranged from trivial to really, really, rather hard. The guy who made Braid is the designer of and one of the programmers of this game. It's also rather pretty, and the art (and foley) directions [0] are solid.

[0] Yes, plural.

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#6
post #3

Is that the guy who was unable to install Ubuntu properly, so he declared that supporting Linux versions of his game is not worth the effort? Color me disinterested. "No Tux, no bucks."

I agree. Here is a relevant Reddit discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmasterrace/comments/3c508j/my_...

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#7
post #3

Is that the guy who was unable to install Ubuntu properly, so he declared that supporting Linux versions of his game is not worth the effort? Color me disinterested. "No Tux, no bucks."

I'm 100% sure Jonathan Blow can install Ubuntu. He is writing his own programming language. For a game like that, it just isn't economically feasible to develop for Linux. Especially since the engine was written from scratch.

He spent more or less all of the profits on his previous release on this new game. From the videos I've watched about the dev, he is somewhat of a perfectionist. It would likely rankle him to release a subpar experience on a given platform, which given the economic incentives, it would likely be.

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#8
post #2

Although it's tempting, this is a game you really don't want any spoilers about (if you are ever going to play it). Vi Hart, who has been playtesting the game for months, said: > Tips for playing The Witness: give yourself a week or two, no hints, no reviews. Sleep on it. Take breaks. It's a big game. Nothing like it. > If you can't spend all day every day playing The Witness, give yourself months. Engage deeply with…

Since the game turns out to be pretty polarizing, I would suggest reading a review or two. Most reviewers appreciate the design of the game and keep it spoiler free.

My recommendation: http://www.polygon.com/2016/1/25/10817632/the-witness-review...

"The Witness is maze puzzles. Full Stop."

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#9
post #2

Although it's tempting, this is a game you really don't want any spoilers about (if you are ever going to play it). Vi Hart, who has been playtesting the game for months, said: > Tips for playing The Witness: give yourself a week or two, no hints, no reviews. Sleep on it. Take breaks. It's a big game. Nothing like it. > If you can't spend all day every day playing The Witness, give yourself months. Engage deeply with…

Ugh. Sounds interesting, but I'll probably be saving it for retirement.

Re: Jonathan Blow's new game, The Witness, is out

#10
post #3

Is that the guy who was unable to install Ubuntu properly, so he declared that supporting Linux versions of his game is not worth the effort? Color me disinterested. "No Tux, no bucks."

This is going to be one of the most popular games of 2016, and is releasing for Windows and PS4. Compared to those platforms, do you think that the time it would take to get a Linux version up and running would be cost-effective?

There are some Linux sales figures kicking around [1] and they generally show that the Linux share is under 3%.

[1] https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/sales-statistics-for-...

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