"Braid" creator Jonathan Blow conducted a low-profile series of play-tests at PAX for his upcoming title "The Witness," and though his display was easy to overlook, a few details and some early gameplay footage taken by Kotaku have emerged. The "Myst"-like 3-D world of puzzles that he shared with lucky, attentive con-goers served as a experiment for him, in addition to providing a few gamers with a show-floor Easter egg.
"For all three days of PAX 2010, 'The Witness' was publicly playable by anyone who came by the booth," Blow wrote on his blog at The-Witness.net. "However, it was unmarked and unattended, so it was easy to miss...."
He didn't announce his presence prior to the show and sneaked onto a table as a phantom parter with "SpyParty" developer Chris Hecker and "Monaco" developer Andy Schatz. That was all a calculated way to attract a specific kind of audience, according to Blow's notes.
"At a show full of companies trying to capture your attention and sell you things, I wanted to do something that is subtle, and a surprise — if you notice it, and decide to investigate, you find something unexpected," he explained. "Also, I wanted people to be able to play the game for as long as they want, not feeling pressured to stop playing because of a huge line of antsy people waiting behind them."
If you appreciated the level of thought and effort that went into "Braid," you won't be able to help trying to piece together what this game is going to be about. If the game turns out to be like its predecessor, innovative gameplay will take the foreground in front of an emotional story. But who knows which emotional heartstrings he'll want to tug on this time.
Were you able to get any time with "The Witness" at PAX? How excited are you to check it out when Blow and his team are finished? Share your responses in the comment section below.