recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Town

*For puzzle hints and solutions, see Town (Walkthrough).*

The **Town** is an area in The Witness. This area combines elements of all the other areas of the game. The Town is the culmination of all the puzzle skills you've picked up in the other areas. Your central focus is the tallest building in the middle -- which is locked by multiple doors. In addition to some very abstract puzzle panels, you'll also find quite a few Environmental Puzzles. Look at the Town Obelisk page to find them all.

## Before you begin **The Town**, you should know...

### Puzzle types present

* Hexagon dots
* Symmetry
* Black and white squares
* Multicolored squares
* Tetris blocks
* Stars
* Upside-down Y / Elimination marks
* Environmental clues

### What areas should you do first?

This area has puzzles related to every single area in the game, excluding the mountain, but including areas like the orchard, who has no laser. Leave the Town for last place.

## Discarded Panels

### Shipping Container

Inside this building is a shipping container, which is locked with a panel puzzle.

Unlocking the shipping container reveals this discarded panel inside.

### Chimney

The shipping container isn't the only place in the ****Town**** that contains a discarded panel.

Solve the blue walkthrough maze area to drop down the stairs, head up to the roof, and then solve the sliding bridge puzzle to find this discarded panel in the chimney of the neighboring building.

## Audio Logs

### Obelisk

In the Town, you can find an audio log by the Town Obelisk. This obelisk might be a bit hard to find because it is surrounded by a dark grey wall, but if you're near the harbor and walk up to the Town looking for this you'll find it in no time. Check behind the obelisk in the grass to get your tape.

### Bell Tower

In the Town, enter the ruined, light brown building. Go up the staircase on one of its sides until you reach the top. You'll see a bell there, examine it to see a nearby tape.

### Church (1)

In the Town, enter the ruined, light brown building. Near the puzzle similar to those from the monastery, under a window, you'll find

### Reflective Panel

In the Town, head to the building which has on its top that reflective panel able to redirect the desert laser. Look down where facing the side overlooking the dock to find another tape.
Audio log: Tagore end

Tagore talks about the end of the voyage.

## Location

This quote is found at the start of the Secret ending area.

## Transcript

Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs. It was they who led me from door to door, and with them I have felt about me, searching and touching my world. It was my songs that taught me all the lessons I ever learnt; they showed me secret paths, they brought before my sight many a star on the horizon of my heart.
They guided me all the day long to the mysteries of the country of pleasure and pain and, at last, to what palace gate have they brought me in the evening at the end of my journey?

## Literal interpretation

This quote is placed, fittingly, at the end of the journey. It is found in the credits hotel, where we are exiting the Witness island.

## Literary context

This is another unattributed quote from Rabindranath Tagore.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote is outside of the game area and it not being attributed, just like the one at the start of the game, symbolizes the end of our journey. It is not directly related to the six themes.
Audio log: Feynman atoms with curiosity

Richard Feynman talks about the wonder of contemplating the universe.

## Location

In the Town, enter the ruined, light brown building. Near the puzzle similar to those from the monastery, under a window, you'll find two audio logs.

## Transcript

It is a great adventure to contemplate the universe, beyond man, to contemplate what it would be like without man, as it was in a great part of its long history and as it is in a great majority of places. When this objective view is finally attained, and the mystery and majesty of matter are fully appreciated, to then turn the objective eye back on man viewed as matter, to view life as part of this universal mystery of the greatest depth, is to sense an experience which is very rare, and very exciting. It usually ends in laughter and a delight in the futility of trying to understand what this atom in the universe is, this thing "atoms with curiosity” that looks at itself and wonders why it wonders.

Well, these scientific views end in awe and mystery, lost at the edge in uncertainty, but they appear to be so deep and so impressive that the theory that it is all arranged as a stage for God to watch man's struggle for good and evil seems inadequate.

Some will tell me that I have just described a religious experience. Very well, you may call it what you will. Then, in that language I would say that the young man's religious experience is of such a kind that he finds the religion of his church inadequate to describe, to encompass that kind of experience.

The God of the church isn't big enough.

Richard Feynman, 1963

## Literal interpretation

The log talks about a church and is found inside a church.

## Literary context

This quote is from "The Meaning of it All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist". The book is a collection of three lectures that were unpublished before that.
It's possible that all Feynman quotes might be contained in this book.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This log is difficult to place, but should most likely fit with Theme 3: Faith.

The message of Feynman is that the realization that we are so insignificant that even the idea that we can think about the wonders of the universe while being a part of it is a kind of religious experience. He tells us that the wonders of the universe are so big, that a simple explanation like "a God" don't do that justice.
Audio log: Abbad wine

A quote where Abbad has trouble seeing the difference between the wine and the glass.

## Location

From the Monastery entrance you can make a right to go to the entrance of the Jungle. However, before you enter take a careful look at the rocks along the sides of the path. You'll find an audio tape on the right.

## Transcript

The glass is transparent, the wine transparent - the two are similar, the affair confused.
There seems to be wine and no glass, or glass and no wine.

Sahib bin Abbad, circa 990

## Literal interpretation

This quote, like  one from the Tao Tze Ching is on the entrance of the jungle path, looking right at an environmental puzzle in the shape of a glass.

This quote references the difference between the glass and the wine.

## Literary context

Sahib Ibn Abbad was a Persian scholar who wrote on a large number of subjects.

Interestingly:  another audio log and this one both appear in a work by Ibn Arabi, where it is used to explain the concept of 'veils' that hide the nature of God from humans.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote is part of Theme 5: Preconceptions.

The idea here is that the glass and the wine are both on the same level of perception for us, which makes them difficult to tell apart. And while we can see through both, we still can't see God through either of them.

This is an example of nondualism, where something being transparent doesn't necessarily mean that you can actually see the truth that lies beyond it.

Another interesting observation is that the companion quote that is next to this in the game calls a very clear dualism to mind, to contrast with the nondualism of this quote.
Windmill Video 3

Solving this puzzle unlocks a video of a man holding a candle. This clip is the end of the 1983 movie *Nostalgia* by Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky also directed *The Mirror* (1975) and *Solaris* (1972). He is known for his dry, difficult style and highly metaphysical themes.

## Transcript

This video has no spoken dialogue. It shows a man attempting to bring a candle to the other side of a dry pond. He lets the flame die out twice but goes back to the start each time to relight the candle. He eventually manages to reach the other side of the pond with the burning candle and immediately dies.

## Literary context

Nostalgia is a film that is written as a true work of art. It has multiple layers of symbolism, but also has interesting feats of filmmaking, such as the fact that this whole take is filmed whole, without cuts. We get to see the man go through his whole ordeal from start to finish, with all of his emotions and doubts in the process.

The most relevant theme in this movie for our purposes is the religious angle in the movie. In the movie, the main character, Gorchakov, meets a man that the local villagers all call insane. He tries, time and again, to swim across the pond with a burning candle and claims that it will save the world. The villagers think he wants to drown himself and stop him in his quest.

Gorcharov ends up as the man's disciple and promises him to fulfill his quest of getting the lit candle across the pond. After the man sets himself on fire and dies, Gorcharov decides to make good on his promise and returns to the village, finding the pool drained of water. Then follows the clip that we see of him carrying out his mission and dying as a result.

The whole subtext here is religious. There is a Jesus metaphor here or sacrificing yourself to save the world and of taking the mission on faith that you are given by someone else.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This video headlines Theme 3: Faith.

Tarkovski tells us here that to find the truth we must be ready to sacrifice ourselves and not look too deep into the logic of our quest. The quest might kill us, but if it brings us closer to truth, that is a sacrifice that is worth it.

The way the main character ends up going against all reason to fulfill his quest and ends up dying as a result tells us that jumping headlong into our pursuit of truth can be rewarded. It can be dangerous, but if the goal is great enough, it can be worth it still.
Treehouse (Walkthrough)

The **Treehouse** is a puzzle area in The Witness.

## Treehouse Hints

* **Hint 1:**The stars: Stars only operate in pairs. Always two there are. No more. No less. (Should be "fewer," Yoda.)

* **Hint 2:** Black, White and Color tiles: Tiles of different colors/hues cannot share the same space. They don't have to be grouped together, though. So you can isolate one of them and group three others, for example.

* **Hint 3:** Stars and color tiles: Stars need to be paired up, but they can occupy the same area as multiple colored tiles. White and black ones are different -- they require groupings with the opposite color. So, a white star with a black block.

* **Hint 4:** Colorful stars: Need to be in groups of two. But you can have two green and two pink ones in the same area.

* **Hint 5:** Tetris: You have to recreate the shapes with your outline with the pieces inside the area. Multiple pieces can be in the same area and share space with other pieces.

* **Hint 6:** Angled Tetris: These pieces can be rotated. A three-block piece, for example, could be vertical or horizontal.

* **Hint 7:** Blue Tetris: Is an eraser piece. It deletes a piece of another enclosed Tetris piece in that exact formation.

* **Hint 8:** Multiple exits: Yeah, there's a reason why some panels have multiple exits. Go back to some you may have missed.

* **Hint 9:** Burned treehouse: Yes, you can go there. See Hint 8. Hey, listen!

* **Hint 10:** That damn shack! That damn timer!: It's not what you think. You can't activate the switch through the peep hole. If you can't make it to the door in time, you should go back to Hint 8 and see if you can shorten the route.

**Spoiler warning! The screenshots below contain solutions for every puzzle in the area.**
## Treehouse Solutions

### The Entrance

The Boat might be the only way to reach to the entrance area. There are TWO entrance puzzles to solve before entering the Treehouse. Both are easy to solve, so DO IT.

### Activating the Laser

Once all of the Orange-colored tiles are solved, approach the Pink-colored console in the middle of the Treehouse and activate it. This switch will open a door in the shack across from you.

There is a timer on the console, so you need to immediately enter the newly-opened door and activate the Laser inside to complete the Treehouse section! If you run out of time and the door closes, you haven't yet created the right path. Find the orange tiles that have multiple exits and switch the puzzle solutions. You can now create a shortcut that gets you to the shack in time.

### Back Exit

There's a back exit at the treehouse that allows leaving it by land. To do that, you must rearrange some of the puzzles (namely the 4th and 10th ones) on the top right orange tiles path, and solve a new one to drop a bridge heading to the Keep.
Desert Ruins (Walkthrough)

The **Desert Ruins** are a puzzle area in The Witness.

## Desert Ruins Hints

Puzzles in the **Desert Ruins** are shaped like ship wheels and have several possible end points with seemingly no obstacles in between. But it isn't as easy as drawing a line. Sometimes you need to look at puzzles from a different perspective.

### Part 1 (Exterior)

* **Hint 1:** Praise the Sun!: The sun is very important here.

* **Hint 2:** The Right Angle: Try looking at the panels from a different angle or perspective. You may need to find ways to move the panels themselves or manipulate light manually.

* **Hint 3:** Scratches: When viewed from the right angle, you'll notice scratches on the panel.

### Part 2 (Interior)

* **Hint 1:**Water: Water is very important here.

* **Hint 2:** Mirror Image: Try looking at the panels from a different angle or perspective. Remember that reflections are mirrored.

* **Hint 3:** No Reflection: Can't get a reflection? There is more than one way to raise and lower the water. Keep experimenting with the right angle.

* **Hint 4:** Road Block: If a panel is made of translucent glass, there is probably a reason for it. Still lost? Try looking behind it.

**Spoiler warning! The screenshots below contain solutions for every puzzle in the area.**

## Desert Ruins Solutions

### Part 1 (Exterior)

Solving the puzzles outside the **Desert Ruins** unlock the door that leads inside. As you may have figured out by now, the solution to each puzzle has been scratched onto the panels, revealed by illuminating the surface with light from the sun.

It's all about getting the right angle.

You can rotate or move some panels using switches below or behind them, which let you catch sunlight.

Once you've solved these, move behind the **Desert Ruin** to unlock the door. The puzzles inside use the same logic as the ones above, but take a bit more manipulation to get right.

You'll need to use this panel to change the direction of the light if you want to solve the puzzles here on your own.

Once you're done here, head downstairs into the **Desert Ruins - Interior**.

### Part 2 (Interior)

Things get a bit tricky after this area, where light sources become very limited. Here, the key is looking at the water pools under the panels to see the reflection.

You may need to expand the image above to see the paths, because the colors are dim. The key to this area is raising and lowering the water in the right places and keeping an eye on reflections *while* the water is moving.

Once you're done here, move into the final area of the **Desert Ruins**

    .

The puzzle on the right in the image above is tricky. You can see the solution in the reflection of the water, but you can't draw a path from this side of the puzzle because the rubble is blocking your way.

But notice how the panel is made from translucent glass, while the other puzzles in this area are not. To solve this one, you'll need to move behind it to try the correct line.

Done! Once you've completed this area, you can activate the elevator up ahead, take it back up to the surface, and fire off the laser in this area.
Audio log: Zen physics intellectual catastrophe

A quote about how Zen physics works

## Location

Solve the puzzle with the purple beams of light in a way that allows you to reach the room with the models. The tape is inside a building model on a corner.

## Transcript

Two major schools of Zen exist in Japan: the Rinzai and the Soto.
Both have the same goal, of seeing the world unmediated, but their approaches are different.

In the Soto school, the emphasis is on quiet contemplation in a seated position without a particular focus for thought.
The method in the Rinzai school, however, is to put the intellect to work on problems that have no logical resolution.
Such problems are known as koans, from the Chinese kung-an meaning 'public announcement.'

Some are mere questions, for example: "When your mind is not dwelling on the dualism of good and evil, what is your original face before you were born?"

Others are set in a question-and-answer form, like: "What is the Buddha?"Answer: "Three pounds of flax"or "The cypress tree in the courtyard" (to name but two of the classic responses).
According to tradition there are seventeen hundred such conundrums in the Zen repertoire. And their common aim is to induce a kind of intellectual catastrophe, a sudden jump which lifts the individual out of the domain of words and reason into a direct, nonmediated experience known as satori.

Zen differs from other meditative forms, including other schools of Buddhism, in that it does not start from where we are and gradually lead us to a clear view of the true way of the world. It is not a progressive system in this respect.
The sole purpose of studying Zen is to have Zen experiences - sudden moments, like flashes of lightning, when the intellect is short-circuited and there is no longer a barrier between the experiencer and reality.

David Darling, 1996

## Literal interpretation

This quote is found in a wooden model of a Zen temple.

## Literary context

This quote, like the other  Zen audio log, is from David Darling's book "Zen Physics".

This part explains some basic ideas of the way these Zen schools operate.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote is difficult to place and could belong in either Theme 2: Relativism or maybe Theme 6: Acceptance.

But it could also relate to Theme 5: Preconceptions for relating to Rupert Spira's practice of meditating until you transcend the way your physical body wants to view the world and where you can acutally "look at it without a barrier between experiencer and reality".
Audio log: Gangaji silence

A quote from Gangaji.

## Location

In the Tree House you'll notice that there is a bridge made up of green panels that is superflous. You'll need to complete the bridge in order to get your audio log. When you reach the panel that lets you choose the direction, have the bridge extend to the right. This will take you to a side platform where you'll be able to see the log up in an unreachable portion of the Tree House.

## Transcript

When we choose silence, we choose to give up the reasons not to love, which are the reasons for going to war, or continuing war,
or separating, or being a victim, or being right.

In a moment of silence, in a moment of no thought, no mind, we choose to give those up. This is what my teacher invited me to. Just choose silence. Don't even choose love. Choose silence, and love is apparent.

If we choose love we already have an idea of what love is. But if you choose silence, that is the end of ideas. You are willing to have no idea, to see what is present when there is no idea, past, present, future.
No idea of love, no idea of truth, no idea of you, no idea of me. Love is apparent.

Gangaji, 2009

## Literal interpretation

This audio log is in a pretty out of the way spot, tucked away at the bottom of an inaccessable cabin. You can come here if you're lookig for true silence.

## Literary context

This is a quote by Gangaji. It's unclear if there's a more specific source than that.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote seems to best fit Theme 5: Preconceptions

The theme of this quote is that we have a preconception of what the answers are. We already picture what love should look like and cling to the reasons for everything we do. If we let go of these preconceptions, we can see the world as it actually is.

There's also an interesting parallel with how Rupert Spira specifically calls out love as what nondualism essentially is.
Jonathan Blow

**Jonathan Blow** is an American independent video game developer and writer whose best known creation is the critically acclaimed video game *Braid*. His latest project is *The Witness*, a 3D puzzle game released in 2016.

Johnathan has previously written for Game Developer Magazine, in their "Inner Product" column. He also hosts the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the Game Developers Conference each March and is a regular participant in the Indie Game Jam. He is also a founding partner of the Indie Fund, an angel style fund for independent game projects.

## External links

* The Witness development blog
* Johnathan's personal web page
The Witness Wiki/Top section

Welcome to *The Witness* Wiki
*The Witness* compendium by the players, for the players.

We are currently maintaining 1,267 pages (121 articles).

Please feel free to contribute by creating new articles or expanding existing ones.

This Wiki has both a light-themed and a dark-themed skin. You can switch between these settings here.

**About The Witness**

*The Witness* is an exploration game by Jonathan Blow. It is set on an unnamed and uninhabited island, and features a variety of observational and interactive puzzles. The game released January 26, 2016.
Read More

* Getting Started in The Witness
* Walkthroughs

**Areas**

Bunker

Caves

Desert Ruins

Entry Area

Glass Factory

Jungle

Keep

Lake

Monastery

Mountain

Orchard

Peninsula

Quarry

Shady Trees

Shipwreck

Swamp

Symmetry Island

Town

Treehouse

Windmill
Orchard

*For puzzle hints and solutions, see Orchard (Walkthrough).*

The **Orchard** is an area in The Witness. It's a patch of bright pink cherry blossom trees just past the **Entry Area** and across from **Symmetry Island**. The puzzles in this area are unique, shaped like trees rather than the usual grids you'll see in most parts of The Witness.

The puzzles here are among the earliest that introduce the role of the environment in solving panels.

Solving the **Orchard** doesn't seem to activate anything, but serves to teach you more about how environmental clues work to help solve puzzles. The final puzzle in this sequence does open up a small gate, which you can find by following the wire. Inside are some bonsai trees, a plate of apple slices, and some diagrams of the cardiovascular system.

Good areas to move on to after the **Orchard** include the **Glass Factory** and the **Desert Ruins**, but you can explore the island in any order you wish.

## Before you begin, you should know...

### Puzzle Types present

* Environmental clues

Head over to our **Puzzle Types** page for everything you need to know about the various puzzle rules in The Witness.

### What areas should you do first?

* N/A

You can easily complete the **Orchard**with no prior knowledge of other areas in The Witness.
Audio log: Eddington eyes

Eddington talks about properties of colors.

## Location

Enter the greenhouse and head to the elevator. Your objective is the floor with green light you can't normally access because of the broken wire: to reach it, make the elevator move so that it must cross that floor, and quickly move to the floor while the elevator is passing it (don't worry, the elevator will stop at the floor, even if it normally can't). The tape is on one of the corners.

## Transcript

As scientists, we realise that colour is merely a question of the wavelengths of aethereal vibrations, but that does not seem to have dispelled the feeling that eyes which reflect light near wavelength 4800 are a subject for rhapsody whilst those which reflect wavelength 5300 are left unsung.

We have not yet reached the practice of the Laputans, who, - if they would, for example, praise the beauty of a woman, or any other animal, - they describe it by rhombs, circles, parallelograms, ellipses, and other geometrical terms.

The materialist who is convinced that all phenomena arise from electrons and quanta and the like controlled by mathematical formulae, must presumably hold the belief that his wife is a rather elaborate differential equation, but he is probably tactful enough not to obtrude this opinion in domestic life.

If this kind of scientific dissection is felt to be inadequate and irrelevantin ordinary personal relationships, it is surely out of place
in the most personal relationship of all - that of the human soul to a divine spirit.

Arthur Eddington, 1927

## Literal interpretation

This room is in a building that is all about colors of light, which is what this quote starts with.

## Literary context

This piece, like all of the other Eddington pieces is from "The Nature of the Physical World". This one is near the ending, just before the one about entering a room.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote fits with Theme 6: Acceptance.

Eddington argues here that the type of analysis we do in science is inappropriate to analyze personal situatons, among which questions of religion are also part. The idea here is that even if it would be correct to ask the kinds of questions that could prove or disprove God, it would definitely not be appropriate to ask these questions.

In short: At some point it's better to stop digging and to just accept some things the way they are.
Audio log: Feynman wine

Richard Feynman talks about how wine contains the entire universe.

## Location

Head to the rotating tram and use it to reach the purple platform. Enter the underwater lair there and you'll find inside another tape located behind a crystal box.

## Transcript

A poet once said, "The whole universe is in a glass of wine."

We will probably never know in what sense he meant that, for poets do not write to be understood. But it is true that if we look at a glass of wine closely enough we see the entire universe.
There are the things of physics: the twisting liquid which evaporates depending on the wind and weather, the reflections in the glass, and our imagination adds the atoms.
The glass is a distillation of the earth's rocks, and in its composition we see the secrets of the universe's age, and the evolution of stars.

What strange array of chemicals are in the wine? How did they come to be? There are the ferments, the enzymes, the substrates, and the products. There in wine is found the great generalization: all life is fermentation.
Nobody can discover the chemistry of wine without discovering, as did Louis Pasteur, the cause of much disease.

How vivid is the claret, pressing its existence into the consciousness that watches it! If our small minds, for some convenience, divide this glass of wine, this universe, into parts - physics, biology, geology, astronomy, psychology, and so on - remember that nature does not know it!

So let us put it all back together, not forgetting ultimately what it is for. Let it give us one more final pleasure:drink it and forget it all!

Richard Feynman, 1963

## Literal interpretation

This one isn't entirely clear. There is lots of glass with a lot of liquid in this area, which could be a hook, but the meaning could also relate to the fact that this area is one where they are splitting things into parts and using a scientific process to get the exact color liquid they need.

## Literary context

This quote is from Richard Feyman's lecture "The Relation of physics to the other sciences". It is the ending of the lecture.

Interestingly, there is no known record of any poet actually saying: "The whole universe is in a glass of wine".

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote relates to Theme 6: Acceptance.

The overall idea of the quote is that while, as a scientist, you can study something, you aren't actually studying it in a way that is meaningful to nature. Physics is something that was thought up by humans and nature doesn't have physics. It has gravity and forces and stuff like that, but humans are grouping things together in different sciences.

In the same way it's not always helpful to think of wine as a combination of enzymes and substrates. It doesn't tell you how it tastes. At some point you have to stop analyzing it and just start experiencing it to learn the things about it that are most important.

Note that while there is orange light shining on the audio log, the log itself actually is not orange.
Audio log: Arabi veils

A short quote from Arabi about the nature of the universe.

## Location

Inside the monastery, use the puzzle switch to open the windows with the environmental puzzles (those opposite the ones with the laser puzzles). Check the left one to find a tape among the openings.

## Transcript

There is nothing in existence but veils hung down.
Acts of perception attach themselves only to veils, which leave traces in the owner of the eye that perceives them.

ibn Arabi, 1231

## Literal interpretation

This one is placed inside a shutter that you can open or close. It is a sort of veil.

## Literary context

Ibn Al-Arabi, together with Niffari (also quoted in the game) founded Sufism, a branch of Islam. This quote is found pretty close to  The Abbad quote about wine in the text that these both appear in.

In this work Arabi discusses the concept of 'veils', which are ways that God shields the truth of himself from our eyes.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This the orange audio log that highlights Theme 5: Preconceptions.

The concept of 'veils' is very central to this theme and it returns in multiple audio logs. The idea is that either we, or God, puts up barriers to our perception in order to prevent us from seeing the truth. These can be our own preconceptions, but they can also be mystical barriers that are hiding aspects of the world from our eyes.
Shipwreck

The shipwreck is accesable from the Keep. If you walk through to the back of the keep past the floor mazes towards the left tower you'll find a doorway. The doorway leads to a hole in the wall with a metal walkway leading to the shipwreck.

## Discarded Panels

Head to the largest hole in the **Shipwreck** and you'll find this discarded panel inside.

## Briefcase Vault

The next vault is aboard the **Shipwreck**. Make your way to the back of the ship towards the cabin and go down the stairs, there you will find the vault door.

## Audio Logs

Go to the wrecked ship behind the keep, and get inside the elevated cabin at the far of the ship. Check next to one of the broken control panels to find another tape.
Glass Factory

*For puzzle hints and solutions, see Glass Factory (Walkthrough).*

The ****Glass Factory**** is a building on the cliffy beach just past the **Entry Area**. Unlocking the door and seeing the rows of vases inside should give you a good hint of what's to come – symmetry puzzles!

Most of the puzzles in the **Glass Factory** and the neighboring **Symmetry Island** feature a second line that mirrors the movement of the one you're drawing. The key here is to try to guide both lines through a successful path on the grid without hitting dead ends or bumping into each other.

If you follow the wire lit up by this last panel, you'll find it leads you along the cliffsides and up to **Symmetry Island**, where it has activated the first gate.

Move on to our **Symmetry Island** page for help with this area.

## Before you begin, you should know...

### Puzzle types present

* Symmetry and mirrored lines

Head over to our **Puzzle Types** page for everything you need to know about the various puzzle rules in The Witness.

### What areas should you do first?

* N/A

You can easily complete the ****Glass Factory**** with no prior knowledge of other areas in The Witness.

## Discarded Panels

### Roof

From the entrance to the **Glass Factory**, head up the path back towards the Entry Area and make a right onto the rocks that lead up to the roof of the place. Head down the stairs towards the water's edge and look below the stairs for the panel.
Audio log: Cusa clock

Nicholas of Cusa has some thoughts about the concept of clocks.

## Location

In the Town, head to the building which has on its top that reflective panel able to redirect the desert laser. Look down where facing the side overlooking the dock to find another tape.

## Transcript

The concept of a clock enfolds all succession in time.

In the concept the sixth hour is not earlier than the seventh or eighth, although the clock never strikes the hour, save when the concept biddeth.

Nicholas of Cusa, 1450

## Literal interpretation

This log is right next to a puzzle that looks a lot like a clock.

## Literary context

This quote is from Cusa's work "Vision of God", like the other Cusa quotes. [1]

In this quote Nicholas gives an example of what he means by "enfolding" and "unfolding" (two concepts he uses when talking about the nature of God). The idea is that enfolding is the way every person is part of the divine spirit. Unfolding is the way every person is a sort of 'image' of God.
The idea of the quote is that an hour doesn't have any inherent meaning. If the clock makes a sound, it's not because there is a fundamental constant of the universe that makes it sound. It's because the one who designed the clock made it to sound a certain way. The concept of "six hours" isn't a natural law. It's a concept that was thought up by someone.
Cusa argues that the sounding of the clock is an 'unfolding' of the concept of time.

The chapter concludes with Cusa saying that God is the one who guides us and we need His guidance to stay on the right path.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This audio log probably fits best with Theme 6: Acceptance.

The message here is that we define the world in terms and concepts, the real truth of something isn't always understood by studying the thing itself. In the same way that  Feynman tells us that all the science we can do on wine doesn't actually tell us any of the most important things about wine, Cusa tells us here that the clock striking the hour is only linked to the concept of that hour because we decided that. The concept of "six hours" cannot be completely understood from studying a clock.
Audio log: Clifford shipowner

William Clifford gives an example of how belief can lead to ethically right or wrong decisions.

## Location

Go to the wrecked ship behind the keep, and get inside the elevated cabin at the far of the ship. Check next to one of the broken control panels to find another tape.

## Transcript

A shipowner was about to send to sea an emigrant-ship. He knew that she was old, and not well built at the first; that she had seen many seas and climes, and often had needed repairs.
Doubts had been suggested to him that possibly she was not seaworthy.
These doubts preyed upon his mind, and made him unhappy; he thought that perhaps he ought to have her thoroughly overhauled and refitted, even though this should put him at great expense.

Before the ship sailed, however, he succeeded in overcoming these melancholy reflections. He said to himself that she had gone safely through so many voyages and weathered so many storms that it was idle to suppose she would not come safely home from this trip also. He would put his trust in Providence, which could hardly fail to protect all these unhappy families that were leaving their fatherland to seek for better times elsewhere.
He would dismiss from his mind all ungenerous suspicions about the honesty of builders and contractors.

In such ways he acquired a sincere and comfortable conviction that his vessel was thoroughly safe and seaworthy; he watched her departure with a light heart, and benevolent wishes for the success of the exiles in their strange new home that was to be; and he got his insurance-money when she went down in mid-ocean and told no tales.

What shall we say of him? Surely this, that he was verily guilty of the death of those families. It is admitted that he did sincerely believe
in the soundness of his ship; but the sincerity of his conviction can in no wise help him, \_because he had no right to believe on such evidence as was before him\_.

He had acquired his belief not by honestly earning it in patient investigation, but by stifling his doubts. And although in the end he may have felt so sure about it that he could not think otherwise, yet inasmuch as he had knowingly and willingly worked himself into that frame of mind, he must be held responsible for it.

William K. Clifford, 1874

## Literal interpretation

This audio log is found on a destroyed ship.

## Literary context

This quote, just like the other quote by William K. Clifford, is taken from his book: "The Ethics of Belief and other Essays". This is an illustrative example meant to show how belief is not enough to find out what is good or bad. Ethically, only logic can tell you what is good or bad, not belief.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote fits into Theme 4: Fatalism.

This quote warns us that believing things and taking action on that can lead to ruin. The shipowner really did believe the wrong thing and it led him onto a wrong path.
Audio log: Denck nobody finds

A quote by Denck about how people are choosing not to find God.

## Location

In the Town, enter the ruined, light brown building. Go up the staircase on one of its sides until you reach the top. You'll see a bell there, examine it to see a nearby tape.

## Transcript

O my God, how does it happen in this poor old world
that Thou art so great and yet nobody finds Thee,
that Thou callest so loudly and nobody hears Thee,
that Thou art so near and nobody feels Thee,
that Thou givest Thyself to everybody and nobody knows Thy name?

Men flee from Thee and say they cannot find Thee;
they turn their backs and say they cannot see Thee;
they stop their ears and say they cannot hear Thee.

Hans Denck, circa 1520

## Literal interpretation

This quote is found on top of a ruined church, next to a church bell.

## Literary context

This quote seems to be from Denck's book "Of the law of God", but it's difficult to verify the exact context. The quote seems to be the best known quote from him.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote seems to go with Theme 3: Faith.

The quote tells us that most people see the path to truth but decide not to follow it. God makes himself very well known, but people are actively choosing not to follow that. Denck tells us that the path to truth is one that can just be chosen if we want to.
Ex-Human Puker

* Normal
* Mana

Updated as of Version 1.2.1.5

## Description

*"The Puker is able to produce incredible amounts of toxic sludge internally that it will then expel upon hapless victims making them easier to digest."*

#### Normal

The Ex-Human Puker is both the only hostile Creature that is always first fought as its boss variant, and the only enemy that has better stats than its boss variant. It lumbers towards you before throwing up a large number of acid projectiles at you. Similar to the Ex-Human Hurler, these projectiles create acid pools if they hit the ground which do damage to you if you walk over them. This, coupled with its high health, makes this one of the trickier enemies to fight without taking damage.

#### Mana

The Ex-Human Mana Puker is a stronger variant found in the Underworld DLC. It has mana growths that act as ablative armor and give it a large amount of damage reduction.

## Strategy

#### Normal

Your first and best tactic against the Ex-Human Puker is always going to be stealth. Sneak up behind it and power attack it to take a chunk off of its healthbar, or even kill it once your weapons are strong enough. Once you have done that or when it sees you anyway, your next best tactic is patience and tactical retreats. It has a lot of health so this is a battle of endurance, and once it has attacked a few times the area around it will become covered in acid pools, preventing you from getting hits in. When this happens, lure it to a new location to resume the fight. Similar to the Ex-Human Mutated Hurler it attempts to predict where you are going to be and launches its projectiles in that direction, so use that knowledge to predict where it's going to launch projectiles next. Throwable weapons such as the Frag Grenade and Proximity Mine will also assist you in taking chunks out of its healthbar. When fought alongside other enemies, these throwables are even more useful as they also reduce the crowd of enemies to numbers that you can deal with.

#### Mana

The Ex-Human Mana Puker is fought in much the same way. It takes two hits from a weapon to break the mana growths off at which point it loses its damage reduction and immunities. This cannot be done with a Slashing, Electric or Fire damage weapon. The Sledgehammer is actually worse than the Wrench for doing this due to its slower swing speed. A single shot from the Mana Crossbow  causes all growths to immediately break, however the slow reload speed can make you vulnerable to follow up attacks. Multihit weapons such as Shiv Trio, Frag Grenade, Sawed-off Shotgun  and Shotgun  are the best weapons for this. Finally, power attacks with blunt damage weapons break all mana growths off at once and deal damage as if the growths weren't there at all, making stealth based builds highly effective against mana enemies. The Mana Puker's growths mostly just serve to slightly extend the fight against it unless you get a stealth power attack off on it.
Audio log: Einstein mystical

Einstein talks about ...............

## Location

Going up the Mountains will lead you to the Greenhouse with flowers of many colors. Keep going until you're on top of that and head forward up the Mountain until you find a fallen tree you can walk across. Hug the left cliffside and keep going left and you'll discover a long path that will lead you to the top of the waterfall. On the rock in the middle of the rushing waters is your tape.

## Transcript

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.

It was the experience of mystery - even if mixed with fear - that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds - it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity;
in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man.
I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves.
Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts.

I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature.

Albert Einstein, 1931

## Literary context

This quote appeared in Einstein's book: "The world as I see it", which contains multiple of Einstein's other quotes.

## Relation to the six themes of the Witness

This quote should fit best with Theme 2: Relativism.

Here, Einstein explains that religion is fundamentally a search for answers and a sense of wonder. He argues that the God of the church doesn't fit his worldview, but that the main ideas of religion are fundamental to his life. He doesn't know what the ultimate answers are, but the question itself is enough.
With this he echoes the  Feynmann video, where Feynmann also clearly states that he doesn't think the God of the bible makes any sense, but that the search for answers is still always worth it.
Quarry

*For puzzle hints and solutions, see Quarry (Walkthrough).*

The **Quarry** is an area in The Witness. The **Quarry** and neighboring logging facility make up a large area between the **Shady Trees** forest and the **Desert Ruins**. It introduces what many players consider one of the most challenging **Puzzle Types** in The Witness, jacks.

Activating the laser in this area requires you to go between the **Quarry** and the logging facility nearby, so we've included both here as a singular location. If you need more help learning the rule in this area, refer to the **Puzzle Types** page.

## Before you begin, you should know...

### Puzzle Types present

* Upside-down Y / Elimination mark
* Black and white squares
* Multicolored squares
* Hexagon dots
* Tetris blocks
* Stars

Head over to our **Puzzle Types** page for everything you need to know about the various puzzle rules in The Witness.

### What areas should you do first?

* Entry Area - Part 2
* Bunker
* Swamp
* Treehouse

## Concrete Factory

Completing the concrete factory requires knowledge of hexagons and squares.

## Wood Factory

Completing the wood factory requires knowledge of stars and blocks.

Completing both the concrete factory and the wood factory will allow the area's laser to be activated.

## Discarded Panels

### Roof

There is a discarded panel at the roof of the **Quarry**. From the desert head to the top of the elevator at the quarry, take the stairs on the right side and then the stairs on the left (just before the stairway down to the inside of the quarry). On top of the roof walk past the ventilation pipe where you find the discarded panel.

## Audio Logs

### Upper Level

Go inside the main building of the quarry, and get to the elevated scaffolding. Look at the statue closest to the stairs heading down, more specifically to its pedestal. You'll find another tape there.

#### Transcript

> What is divine in man is elusive and impalpable,
> and he is easily tempted to embody it in a concrete form –
>
> a church, a country, a social system, a leader –
> so that he may realize it with less effort
> and serve it with more profit.
>
> Yet the attempt to externalize the kingdom of heaven
> in a temporal shape must end in disaster.
>
> It cannot be created by charters or constitutions
> nor established by arms.
>
> Those who seek for it alone will reach it together,
> and those who seek it in company will perish by themselves.
>
> Hugh Kingsmill, 1944
>
>