Guide: How to Solve All the Puzzles in The Witness

How do you solve the puzzles in The Witness? It's alright! We've been stumped many a time, too, but because we've already been through the pain, we're willing to offer a helping hand. The real beauty of this game is finding the solutions for yourself, of course, so rather than reveal every answer for you, we've instead compiled a list of rules that will help you to better understand the game's logic. We've also put together some one word hints which should give you an idea of what to look out for in each area.

How to Solve the Puzzles in The Witness

How to Solve the Black and White Square Puzzles in The Witness

You'll encounter the black and white squares early on in the game, and all that's required of you is to separate the two colours in any way possible. This means that there can be more than one group of the same colour, as long as black and white are kept completely separate.

How to Solve the Coloured Square Puzzles in The Witness

The coloured squares operate in exactly the same way as black and white, but obviously there are many more of them. Once again you need to separate them, but remember that there are ways to change the colours that you see...

How to Solve the Coloured Star Puzzles in The Witness

Coloured stars are probably the trickiest things to wrap your head around, as they are required to be split into groups of two of the same colour. They can, however, be paired with a coloured square. They are also not too fussed about being in the same area as other coloured stars.

How to Solve the Orange Triangle Puzzles in The Witness

Orange triangles are found in secret puzzles hidden around the island. They come in singles, pairs, or triplets, with each type reflecting the number of lines that need to be drawn around the perimeter of the square that they exist in.

How to Solve the Black Hexagon Puzzles in The Witness

These are very simple to understand, as all that you need to do is draw over them with your line before reaching the end.

How to Solve the Coloured Hexagon Puzzles in The Witness

Similar to the black hexagons these need to be collected by a line of matching colour, and are typically found in the symmetry puzzles as a result.

How to Solve the Tetris Block Puzzles in The Witness

Mostly found in the marsh area, these taxing tetrominoes need to be sectioned off with an outline that matches their shape. However, they can also be connected with other blocks – imagine the way in which you snap bricks together in Tetris – to create much bigger shapes. When the Tetris blocks are tilted diagonally, it means you can re-position the shape in any way around the grid.

How to Solve the Hollow Block Puzzles in The Witness

Hollow blocks are combined with Tetris blocks in puzzles and used as a subtraction symbol. This means that, depending on how many hollow blocks are shown, you can take them away from any Tetris blocks on the grid. This will consequently change the shapes of the outlines that you're drawing.

How to Solve the Shuriken Triangle Puzzles in The Witness

A difficult to describe shape, but an easy to explain mechanic. These symbols essentially enable you to undo a mistake in your solution, meaning that you may, for example, skip a black dot or "ignore" a Tetris shape in your solution.

One Word Hints for Each of The Witness' Locations

Jungle

Listen

Shady Trees

Shadows

Bunker

Colours

Monastery

Branches

Hedge Mazes

Footsteps

Desert

Sunlight

Town

Variety

Treehouses

Boat

Cliff Face

Symmetry

Quarry

Rules

Marsh

Tetris

Ending

Memory

A Certain Challenge

Patience

Have you managed to solve all of The Witness' puzzles? Do you need a helping hand? Post your most ponderous queries in the comments section below, but try not to share any spoilers.