Recs.
Updated
The Witness is a very difficult puzzle/exploration game set on a mysterious island.
"Masterpiece, a beautiful, powerful, and cleverly designed puzzle game with a wealth of mysteries to unravel" according to IGN review.
Specs
Pros
Pro Cleverly designed puzzles
All of the puzzles use a simple concept where you draw a line from point A to point B to solve them. This could get old really fast, but the developer has thought of many ways to keep it fresh. While the regular variants are just maze puzzles, they gradually get new layers added to them. It can be symbols you have to separate, panels you have to look at from different angles or clues in the environment. Even after solving around 300 puzzles, the new puzzles you encounter will still feel exciting.
Pro The way it "teaches" you how to play it
Different from most modern games, instead of teaching you specifically how each puzzle variation should be solved, the game does an amazing job introducing each one and lets the player create its own hypohesis about how they should be solved, creating a cycle of Observe-> Create hypotheses -> Experiment. This creates an even stronger sense of accomplishment after completing a puzzle.
Pro Atmosphere (environment) is peaceful, relaxing and interesting to explore
The game is set on a beautiful island with various main areas, very different from each other, motivating the player to explore. To accompany the great graphic style, there is also a great sound design, making each area feel unique.
Pro Nearly all (if not all) puzzles cannot be brute-forced to completion
Even though the puzzles can look very simple, you really have to know what you are doing to complete them. In some games (like Portal) you may complete the level without even realizing or understanding how you did it, removing that "eureka" moment and the feeling of accomplishment.
Pro There is more to this game than drawing lines on boards
Spoiling what you can do in this game would ruin the mind blown moments, but saying it is just "drawing lines on boards" is an oversimplification, just like saying "Portal is a game about putting cubes on buttons." or "Mario is about getting to castles."
Pro Thought provoking world
Even if some of the puzzles are rage-inducingly hard, the world of the Witness is really peaceful. It's an uninhabited island littered with stone statues and mismatched environments. Yet none of it feels out of place. It is really intriguing to explore each new area, especially because you can find voice recordings in them. At first these may seem like simple audio logs, but each one contains essential clues to gently shift your thought process. To succeed you need to shift your perspective and think outside the box.
Pro Vivid graphics make you want to explore
Everything about this game leads you toward exploration, even the graphics. They're very vibrant and feel alive, invoking in you a sense of wonder. This is thanks to a great variety of colors, ranging from wild, hot pinks to more subdued ocean tones.
The colors are also used contrast the environments and make them stand out. For example, there's a location painted orange autumn colors next to a grayish-white quarry.
Pro It´s possibility to convey a deeper meaning through it´s mechanics is quite astonishing.
Cons
Con Puzzles could be considered to be "boring" or "repetitive"
As puzzles are the foundation of this game, you will spend most of the time looking at boards and drawing lines. Some people may this is extreme repetitive, but the game really tries to make each puzzle unique. Each main area of the island is responsible for introducing a new type of puzzle and eventually they will get mixed, so the player does not get bored easily. There is an optional part of the island with plenty of puzzles to solve and it may feel like a chore if you have been playing for lots of hours, but it is optional.
Con Some puzzles might be impossible for the colorblind and hearing impaired
Certain puzzles use colors to hint at the solution. If you're not able to tell them apart it may be impossible to solve the puzzles.
There are also that puzzles require you to listen to the sounds in the environment and use them for the solution. Some of them are masked with sound effects such as car horns or birds chirping, making the puzzles hard to solve. This becomes a lot more difficult if your hearing is impaired.