Collection Status
Your Rating
Description
Witness is set in the world of Blake and Mortimer, a Belgian comic series started in the 1940s by writer/artist Edgar P. Jacobs. In the game, which is playable strictly by four players, you each represent one of four characters and your goal is to solve mysteries or crimes by sharing information with one another — but you are quite restricted in how you can share information!
Witness includes 64 cases for you to solve, and each case starts with an explanatory scene or image or both that someone reads or shows to the group. Each player then looks in their personal casebook to find information available only to their character. Players randomly decide who shares information first and in which direction, e.g., player A might whisper information to player B while player C talks to player D. Next, B will share both their information and A's information to C while D talks to A.
After two more rounds of the most inefficient crime-solving system ever created, players read the conclusion of the case, which might offer additional information or another visual, then they each individually answer three questions about the case, with the group scoring one point for each correct answer for a final score ranging from 0 to 12.
Year Published
2014
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 6
This page: 6
Sentiment:
pos 6 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–6 of 6
Video Xg8izd932Fs
analysis at 7:32 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10033 · mention_pk 29550
Click to watch at 7:32
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- incredible experience
- cooperative puzzle solving executed brilliantly
Cons
- restricted to four players
- high production cost and component count
- not ideal for broad commercial release
Thematic elements
- cooperative puzzle solving, clue sharing
- world of crime investigation (Blake and Mortimer IP context mentioned)
- puzzle-driven, deduction-focused
Comparison games
- Exit
- Unlocked
- Star Wars Edition of Ticket to Ride
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative deduction — players collaborate to deduce crime details from clues
- whisper/hidden-information — players share and conceal info to influence others' deductions
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- if there was a formula for creating a board game that sells it might look a little bit like this in this video
- the two things combined are going to generate a successful product
- idea well essentially we're talking about the core concept of your game, the hook
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video FC9Au3hzer0
Might I Suggest A Game top_50_list at 8:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9732 · mention_pk 28758
Click to watch at 8:12
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- great deduction puzzles
- nostalgic art style
Cons
- information can be confusing
Thematic elements
- deduction and information-sharing
- A police case with four detectives
- enjoyable 'telephone' style puzzle and case exploration
Comparison games
- Encyclopedia Brown
- Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Co-operative deduction with hidden information — Whispered information between players to solve a case
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- charter stone is a legacy worker placement game
- the art is amazing
- it's an absolutely underrated gem of a game
- rolling right to game night
- the parfait of puzzles
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video rmS37W1f4a0
Foster the Mele general_discussion at 25:11 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9726 · mention_pk 28722
Click to watch at 25:11
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Engaging group dynamic
- Accessible for new players
Cons
- Gameplay relies on discussion quality
Thematic elements
- Information sharing and collaboration
- Mystery deduction
- Cooperative with a focus on clues
Comparison games
- Chronicles of Crime
- Deception: Murder in Hong Kong
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative clue sharing — Players trade information and deduce the solution together.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The best horror game on the market is in fact Final Girl. And I’m not just saying that because Van Rider Games is the sponsor this month for the channel. I am saying it because it is true.
- I love a theme. It's one of my favorite things.
- Stay spooky.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video YOjcTcMIAxE
Chairman of the Board general_discussion at 3:16 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7761 · mention_pk 22913
Click to watch at 3:16
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- interesting use of memory in a cooperative setting
Cons
- out of print
Thematic elements
- remembering fragments to solve a shared problem
- cooperative puzzle-solving with memory elements
Comparison games
- Trio
- Wandering Towers
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative — all players work together to reach a solution
- memory — remember and share pieces of information to solve puzzles
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the game is super fast
- I highly recommend that one
- Witness used memory in quite an interesting way
- it's really good family weight game where the actual lack of memory skills can actually make the game better
- Extremely charming and I think um very underrated actually
- This is a cool party game because even if your trivia knowledge isn't very good, you can still get the answers correct based on the previous clues given
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 8f04MkV51tM
Might I Suggest a Game top_10_list at 2:59 sentiment: positive
video_pk 6708 · mention_pk 19938
Click to watch at 2:59
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Investigation-based deduction game
- Fun when played with the right player count
Cons
- Requires exactly four players
- Difficult to get specific player count
Thematic elements
- Deduction and mystery
- Investigation setting
- Logic puzzle narrative
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deduction — Players deduce the solution
- Logic puzzles — Investigation and deduction logic puzzles
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I play Qwirkle every morning - it's a perfect way to start my day
- The art is just beautiful and I'm really proud to own and show off to people when they come over
- The game is whatever you create it to be
- This game blew my mind
- It feels like you can do anything and because of that I was just blown away
- You can play a hundred different ways and you could probably still win
- This is not gonna get old - we may not play it a ton but when we do play it it's always a blast
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video uKNM5tNYTyg
Jamie's Board Game Channel game_review at 7:37 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3961 · mention_pk 11566
Click to watch at 7:37
Overall sentiment (raw)
very positive
Pros
- 60 unique cases
- Hilarious gameplay
- Increasing difficulty
- Replayable
Cons
- Later cases extremely difficult
Thematic elements
- Cooperative Puzzle Solving
- Detective Mystery
- Communication Game
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Cooperative Communication — Players whisper clues around the table
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm gonna be talking about older games
- Games you may have forgotten about
- Could have been designed yesterday
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–6 of 6