Any games like The Witness?

[The BMachine]

This game is one of my favorite games of all time. Obviously the environment is beautiful and the puzzles are really solid and very fun to figure out the mechanics for, but what really did it for me are the environmental puzzles (the snake puzzles hidden in the environment). The feeling of awe when I first noticed one of them and then figured out it was an actual puzzle you could do, after which I started noticing them everywhere, is something no game has ever quite been able to replicate for me. So in short, does anybody know of any other games (puzzle or not, fine with anything really) that can give you that same sense of awe-struck wonder?

[Pesky]

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT THIS REPLY

There really is nothing like that is there ? The discovery that the game you are playing isn't the game you thought you were playing. And I don't think anything does it as well as The Witness. It's also mixed in with the beautiful scenery somehow.

Something similar does happen in the excellent INFRA, but the mood of the game is completely different to the mood of The Witness and you're not consciously solving puzzles all the time. Similarly Outer Wilds, Gone Home, and The Talos Principle involve in-game discoveries which change your motivation. Possibly the one closest to The Witness is The Talos Principle since it has interesting (but inferior) scenery and lots of puzzles.

[The BMachine]

I've played both Gone Home and The Talos Principle. Indeed both fantastic games, but neither of them gave me the same amount of "holy crap" that The Witness did. Sadly games like these seem to be a rare breed :(

[Contracrostics]

These are very, very rare occurrences and I think the works that can do them belong to a higher level of artistry. I could recommend Godel Escher Bach and Gravity's Rainbow as other works that can do this, but they aren't games. Also, watching Ben Crystal's lectures on Original Pronunciation in Shakespeare made reading all of Shakespeare like that for me. As far as games? Unfortunately in my mind this game is the best one.

If you are pleased by games that are internally consistent, these can be found though are also rare. Games that come to mind are Broken Reality, One Shot, The Beginner's Guide (interactive movie / story). Baba is You is probably the game closest to The Witness, and it's also puzzle. Cheers, I'm happy you loved this game.

[Pckables]

I can't think of anything that directly has that same epiphany of "This was always there, but I only now see and understand it", the Witness is pretty unique in that case.

Outer Wilds is the closest thing I can think of, where the repeating "groundhog day" events of the game have their own reasons for happening, and it's completely up to the player to discover and understand why, and what you can do with that info.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/753640/Outer_Wilds/

P.S. While not exactly what you said you're looking for, "Baba is You" and "Return of Obra Dinn" are two games worth mentioning for their similarities in giving the player minimal direction. They leave the player to figure out how to solve things themselves, resulting in different sorts of epiphanies.
Baba Is You especially is about discovering how far things can go.

[The BMachine]

I've played a bit of Baba is You. It was really good but quickly got too difficult to where I spent most of my time not really making any progress so I quickly got demotivated. Might have to check out Outer Wilds though! Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Hairy Phil]

The same designer's previous game:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/26800/Braid/

[Hairy Phil]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/303210/The_Beginners_Guide/

[Gnome Des Cavernes]

There is small puzzle called LYNE, which I believe has some panel-puzzles vibe
https://store.steampowered.com/app/266010

[Gnome Des Cavernes]

Regarding environmental puzzles... Well, the first thing that come to my mind is

https://store.steampowered.com/app/219890/Antichamber/

[Gnome Des Cavernes]

Also Bokida is good. Its puzzles is not that deep and complex as in The Witness, because in The Witness the puzzle's idea is pushed to the limit. But it's still fine

https://store.steampowered.com/app/612740/Bokida__Heartfelt_Reunion/

[bullerbuller7]

Try Supraland.

[The BMachine]

Originally posted by Pckables:

I can't think of anything that directly has that same epiphany of "This was always there, but I only now see and understand it", the Witness is pretty unique in that case.

Outer Wilds is the closest thing I can think of, where the repeating "groundhog day" events of the game have their own reasons for happening, and it's completely up to the player to discover and understand why, and what you can do with that info.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/753640/Outer_Wilds/

P.S. While not exactly what you said you're looking for, "Baba is You" and "Return of Obra Dinn" are two games worth mentioning for their similarities in giving the player minimal direction. They leave the player to figure out how to solve things themselves, resulting in different sorts of epiphanies.
Baba Is You especially is about discovering how far things can go.

Picked up and played Outer Wilds this week. Thank you for the suggestion! What a beautiful hidden gem of a game. Absolutely loved it.

[Hairy Phil]

Originally posted by The BMachine:

What a beautiful hidden gem of a game.

You mean the "hidden gem" that won Best Game of 2020, beating Death Stranding and Control? ;-)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattgardner1/2020/04/02/bafta-games-awards-2020-winners-outer-wilds-rocks-the-show-control-gets-nothing/

[The BMachine]

Originally posted by Hairy Phil:

Originally posted by The BMachine:

What a beautiful hidden gem of a game.

You mean the "hidden gem" that won Best Game of 2020, beating Death Stranding and Control? ;-)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattgardner1/2020/04/02/bafta-games-awards-2020-winners-outer-wilds-rocks-the-show-control-gets-nothing/

Hidden gem for me! I'd never heard of it :P

[Leaffar]

Underponder to some extent

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1153260/Underponder/