Challenge | Additional collectibles in The Witness The Witness Guide

Last update: 06 March 2019

The Challenge can be completed near the end of The Witness. Here, you can find 2 environment puzzles (1/30 - the Fort obelisk/Fort surroundings/the Town/Challenge/Mill and 1/28 - the Jungle obelisk/Swamp/Greenhouse/Mountain/Challenge), 7 audio logs, and a set of randomly selected and difficult puzzles that must be solved within a time limit. This chapter contains tips that will help you complete this location.

To unlock the Challenge location, you need to activate all 11 lasers and reach the Mountain. Load your last save if you have already completed the game. You should start on the lift. Open the door by using the switches below.

After you have started the eleven lasers, and opened the entrance into the mountain, stand on the stairs. Look at the box. Activate the switch and lead the beam all the way to the end.

After you reach the door with a random puzzle, stand above the statue. The statue is bent over the puzzle that you should be already familiar with. All of the symbols consist of three arrows, so you need to lead the beam in an appropriate way. Be sure that you understand the rules they operate on, because you are soon going to need it.

On the left, door in the wall opens. Go straight ahead. You will reach a panel with a simple puzzle.

Puzzle solution.

Opposite, there is a room with a number of simple puzzles. You do not need to complete them, if you do not want to achieve 100% game completion. Climb up the stairs on the left and continue up. You should reach a column with a puzzle.

Solution:

From the start point one to the right, one up, two times to the right, one down, two to the right, one up, one to the right, three times up, one to the right, one down, four times to the right, two times up, three times to the right, one down, two times to the right, two times up, two times to the right, one up.

On the right, there opens a door blocked with another puzzle.

Solution.

Opposite, there is the last film access code. To get to it, you need to complete the challenge. Go straight ahead. You will cross a labyrinth and a cave with several inactive panels. Finally, you will reach a music box.

The rules of the challenge are quite simple. After it is activated, the machine plays two tunes. While it is playing, you will have to solve all of the puzzles between the machine and the code. If you manage to do this, the code is as good as yours. If not, you will have to start over. All of the puzzles in the challenge are random, just like their difficulty, but each time they belong to the same type. In other words, with each attempt, you will be doing, more or less, the same thing, but sometimes things will be easier and sometimes they will be more difficult.

Stopping the tune cancels the challenge. Do this if you are running out of time, or any of the puzzles is too difficult. Also, you can reset puzzles. All you need to do is not solve it. Return to the previous one, solve it again and return to the one that you have not solved before. The panel displays a new puzzle. It is a good idea to do this if you have more time. Resetting does not apply for the last two puzzles in the challenge.

After you have activated the machine, run towards the first set. The interval between the moment of starting the machine and lighting up the panel is two seconds. Use this to your advantage. What you need to do is to draw a path two times, through a small and a big labyrinth, and separate white fields from black ones. After you do this, run to the right.

In the next puzzle, you need to draw a path in such a way, so as to cross two spots along your way. Try to remember the shape of the puzzle, because it corresponds to the shape of the labyrinth that you are about to enter. The two points coincide with spots, where there are puzzles in the labyrinth.

In the cave on the right, there are four more puzzles. One of the panels is to the right above up and the second one is to the left above. The third one is in front of you below, and the fourth one is around the corner. The order in which they appear is random, so after you walk in to the cave, check out which one is available now. After you have solved the first one, the another one activates and it is also going to activate at random. You are bound to waste several seconds on checking out which puzzle is currently active.

The second set of puzzles belongs to the following categories:

• Pairing up of stars;
• Drawing a path through labyrinth;
• Drawing two colorful paths through the labyrinth, compulsorily crossing specific points;
• Putting stars into groups and drawing paths of specific shapes (just like in Marsh).

Out of the four types of puzzles in this challenge, two turn out to be easy and the other two may be problematic. Especially the last one, where you will have to move elements over the screen.

After you solve all four puzzles, go ahead. You reach three panels that require you to separate white and black fields. Only one of them can be solved. Have a quick look at the first one on the left. If you see the solution, enter it. If not, leave the panel and look at the second one. If you do not see it on any of the three, select any, and start solving it. Succeeding here lights up three more panels, this time with three different elements. The rules here are identical - first find obvious solutions and then give it a try.

On your right, there is a labyrinth. Going in the wrong direction activates barricades that prevent you from going onward. Additionally, on two walls, there are arrow puzzles that you need to solve. While crossing the labyrinth, do not run headlong blindly. It is easy to get lost and make things more difficult. Instead, walk calmly. You will lose some time this way, but thanks to this you can easily backtrack, in case of a blockade. Solve both puzzles carefully. In case of a failure, you will have to backtrack all the way to the colorful panels, which may prove impossible.

The last two puzzles are on columns. The first one requires you to separate white fields from the black ones, with the beam. The second one requires you to draw a path over marked fields, using two beams. The only difficulty in this case is the perspective, other than that, those are simpler ones in the challenge. Solve them before the second tune ends and you gain access to the code.

During the challenge ignore the panels under the ceiling. They only serve as a clock and nothing else.

This is the first environmental riddle.

The second environmental riddle.

In the corridor with the blue panels there is the first audiolog.

When you walk downstairs to the panels located around the column, on the left side you can notice the second audiolog.

At the boards, in the corner of the two short corridors with the green and yellow panels, there is the third audiolog.

The next one is next to the music box. It is hard to find in the darkness.

In order to reach the fifth audiolog you must enter the corridor located behind your back when you look at the previous audiolog. Walk forward through the corridor, then through the platform above the screen with the clips. You will reach the first crossroad leading to the right and to the left. You must turn left. Keep going ahead until you reach a cart. Next to it there is the audiolog.

The penultimate one is next to the box with the code for the film.

When you walk upstairs, you can find the last audiolog between the trees.