The Witness: Lab 10
Part A: The Quarry
Leave soft footprints in powdered stone as you meander through the puzzling interior of the quarry.
You Are Here
Key Insights
| Negated Calculations | Particular Partitions | Tinted Tactics |
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Audio Logs
| Bonus Puzzle |
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Negated Calculations
The quarry offers insight into a new puzzle symbol.
Group Discussion: What is the inferred meaning of this symbol?
Particular Partitions
Solve this puzzle to unlock a shortcut to the quarry rooftop.
Group Discussion: How does this panel clearly illustrate the rules of partitioning and negating rules?
Tinted Tactics
Consider these two panel sections below:
Partitions from the quarry.
Explosion groupings from the logging facility.
Group Discussion: Though both of these puzzles utilize multiple colors and similar rules, solutions are quite different. How do your tactics differ in solving these two types of panels?
Hugh Kingsmill
Once stairway accessibility has been granted, examine the stone-carved figures to discover an audio log excerpt by Hugh Kingsmill on the divinity of humankind.
Bonus Puzzle
A familiar-looking discarded panel can be found tucked beneath the air ducts of the quarry rooftop.
Part B: The Logging Facility
Step lightly through the shallows of the river’s end and enter into the logging facility across from the quarry.
Key Insights
| Tested Recollections | Multitudinal Solutions | Apparent Constraints |
|---|---|---|
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Tested Recollections
To progress further into the mysteries of the logging facility, complete each of these two familiar-looking panels.
Group Discussion: What specific insights do these two panels test you on? How does an understanding of these rules inform your approach to the other puzzles in this facility?
Multitudinal Solutions
Puzzles in this area might be solved in more than one way.
Group Discussion: Can you find multiple solutions to any of these puzzles? Are there certain solutions that appear more obvious to you than others?
Apparent Constraints
In each of these puzzles, a rule must be ignored.
Group Discussion: What clues do these panels offer to guide you towards the correct solution? How do combinations of certain symbols dictate what can and cannot be done to solve the panel?
Completing Lab 10
This part of the island is complete when the final puzzle is solved and the laser fires into the sky. Nice work!
The Witness Journal Entry #10
Write a journal entry on what you learned from this lab. Pretend that you are a scientist exploring this island for the very first time. Choose one of the prompts below (either 1, 2, or 3) to respond to in your journal entry.
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A Rule Negated
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This lab introduces us to a new symbol. Explain how this symbol behaves in the area’s puzzles.
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What additional challenge does the introduction of this symbol add to solving the puzzle panels? Explain.
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In learning about this new symbol, have you gained any further insight into understanding the other symbols used in the quarry or elsewhere in The Witness? (i.e. hexagons, tetris blocks, colored blocks, starbursts, etc.) Explain.
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On Learning
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The quarry and the logging facility offer two perspectives into furthering your understanding of symbol-based puzzles. Between the quarry and the logging facility, which of these two areas did you find to be more challenging? Explain.
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When presented with certain combinations of symbols, what specific combinations do you find to be the most challenging? Why?
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What additional problem solving techniques did you come up with that were novel to this area of The Witness?
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Devious Devices
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There are multiple mechanical contraptions that need to be manipulated to progress through this area. Identify all of these mechanized items.
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How do these malleable machines mirror the puzzle panels that control them? Explain.
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Does your ability to manipulate a machine by solving a puzzle that resembles it help to further, or, contrarily, hinder your understanding of the puzzle mechanics in this area? Explain.
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Final Journal Requirement:
After responding to one of the items above, discuss the solution to a particular puzzle that challenged you. Explain the mechanics of this puzzle in detail and how you came to understand them. If it helps, feel free to include screenshots or sketches of the puzzle.