10 Years Later, This is Still the Hardest Platinum Trophy I’ve Ever Earned

10 years ago, a crippled astir broke me. A wide-eyed 24-year-old, arsenic yet undecayed by astir a decennary successful games media, I recovered myself enraptured by The Witness. Eager to devour up each 1 of the maze-like puzzles hidden astir its land setting, I simply couldn’t get enough. That’s until I deed its last challenge. It was optional, but not for me. This ceramic partition of a bastard drained brainpower retired of maine each clip I smashed my caput against it. But the infinitesimal I finally broke done was a unreserved similar small other — the benignant hardened soulslike players get erstwhile yet striking down a brag aft respective hours of trying. It’s inactive the azygous astir hard trophy I’ve ever earned, and arsenic such, my astir prized PlayStation platinum. But portion that integer accomplishment sits proudly successful my account, it's thing compared to however it made maine consciousness successful the moment, and I’ve been chasing the aforesaid benignant of thrill ever since.

Indie developer Jonathan Blow’s 2016 masterpiece holds galore secrets. The further you research The Witness’s land setting, the much layers are revealed to you. At look value, it's a elemental premise: implicit the electronic-screen-bound integer mazes successful each of its biomes to unlock the island’s cardinal mystery. Each of these environments comes with its ain ruleset, too. They’re each fundamentally astir tracing a enactment betwixt a commencement and an extremity constituent of a grid, but rarely, if ever, is it that simple. The clues to a palmy way are ever there, whether they beryllium seen successful the prima reflecting disconnected the water oregon heard successful recordings of wildlife chattering among the trees, making each of these main areas comparatively manageable. Search beyond that beaten path, though, and things commencement to change.

It each gets precise testing; there’s nary uncertainty astir that. But astatine slightest it’s somewhat relaxing. No euphony to distract you oregon imminent threats breathing down your cervix marque for a soothing mounting to assistance the inevitable headaches. Until you find its darkest concealed and determine to embark connected its fiendish last challenge, that is.

“Just similar a morganatic puzzle is lone a puzzle if you mightiness ne'er fig it out, a morganatic situation is lone a situation if you mightiness ne'er bushed it,” its creator, Jonathan Blow, told Kotaku successful 2016. And it truly did consciousness similar that.

There’s nary mode of cheesing this last conundrum-filled-cavern. There is nary mode to look up the solutions, nor immoderate mode of taking shortcuts, arsenic each of the challenge’s mazes is randomly generated. To unlock the tomb-like gathering astatine the extremity of this snaking cavern, you’ll person to lick puzzles that are freshly generated astatine the commencement of each attempt. But earlier you adjacent statesman to lick them, you person to really find them; the archetypal conflict is to find each and each maze that is scattered astir the cave, with brainteasers hidden up precocious and wrapped astir pillars. By this constituent successful the game, astatine slightest you’ll cognize the benignant of puzzle and the rules dictating each’s solution. But putting that accusation into signifier is simply a wholly antithetic proposition.

The evil gramophone that starts the clock.

That would beryllium hard capable to bash erstwhile you person each the clip successful the satellite to think, but that would beryllium acold excessively easy. Instead, this situation gives you conscionable nether 400 seconds — the clip it takes for 2 classical compositions, In the Hall of the Mountain King and Anitra’s Dance, to play back-to-back connected a gramophone successful 1 final, pretentious cherry connected the barroom — to lick each 14 puzzles. That’s conscionable nether fractional a infinitesimal for each. And these aren’t rudimentary enactment traces from A to B, but labyrinths that incorporate immoderate of the island’s astir analyzable rulesets, featuring symbols, colours, and different tricks that simply can’t beryllium brute-forced.

Oh, and intermission your crippled to adjacent person the audacity to deliberation astir taking notes, and you’ll person to commencement each implicit again.

It’s a brutal, yet superb last situation of a bona fide masterpiece.“

It’s a brutal, yet superb last situation of a bona fide masterpiece. The Witness allows you to instrumentality immoderate level of extent you privation from it. You could travel its captious way and scope its main credits afloat satisfied. Or you tin look beyond the obvious, diverting your eyes distant from the puzzle boards successful beforehand of you and into the larger satellite itself, tracing lines crossed architecture and into the prima itself. You could prosecute further successful its escaped communicative elements and uncover the allegorical messaging woven throughout. Then you tin bash what I and lone 9.75% of players person done, and afloat drain it for each that it’s worth: letting that last puzzle agelong your sanity to its limits portion telling yourself it's each worthy it for a deed of dopamine that comes with a integer platinum trophy popping up connected your screen.

Ever since The Witness, I’ve been chasing a puzzle crippled of this caliber. I’ve enjoyed the likes of The Talos Principle, Manifold Garden, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, and Blue Prince, to sanction conscionable a few. But it’s the memories that the precocious released Big Walk has been resurfacing that person acceptable my synapses sparking astir strongly. House House’s co-op escapade takes spot connected a likewise mysterious island, location to a colonisation of puzzles. And portion not seeming arsenic investigating arsenic The Witness — I’m inactive successful the aboriginal stages, truthful I whitethorn regret this assertion — it brings with it the aforesaid sensation of cerebral discovery.

More so, it takes maine adjacent further backmost to immoderate of my formative video crippled memories. As a young kid, I’d walk play afternoons watching my dada play Myst, Riven, and its sequels connected a chunky PC monitor, not knowing that it was the opening of a roadworthy that would instrumentality maine to the wrong of The Witness’s mountain. I conjecture I should convey him. Incidentally, I was saddened to spot Cyan World’s latest sequel task had been shelved, which looked large from the teaser trailer released by the developers. It’s a shame that it looks acceptable to enactment unreleased, but I would emotion to person played it and been capable to get a transcript implicit to my dad, a lapsed gamer, who I’m definite would person loved to person stepped backmost into the satellite of Myst erstwhile again.

Of course, since 2016, radical person enactment my accomplishment to shame, with speedruns disposable to presumption that implicit the situation successful conscionable 80 seconds. Sickening, yes, but I’m inactive arrogant of my accomplishment, and worth it arsenic possibly my astir euphoric video crippled moment.

I did person tiny intelligence flashbacks to it past twelvemonth erstwhile I subjected myself to Death Stranding 2’s astir stressful test: a transportation astir the full circumference of Australia, which needs to beryllium done successful 40 minutes oregon under. The archetypal clip I attempted it, I got stuck connected a stone halfway astir and missed retired by six seconds. I astir threw my PS5 retired of the window. Luckily, fractional an hr later, I cracked it and secured that Platinum trophy alongside.

So, I inquire you. What’s the biggest situation you’ve ever flooded successful a game? Have you been chasing that thrill ever since, oregon bash you take to bask successful the glory of past triumphs? I’d similar to deliberation I’ve grown up and don’t person clip for specified things anymore. But heavy wrong me, I cognize that if I stepped backmost onto that island, I’d bash it each implicit again.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.