Minor visual spoilers for The Witness below.
The Witness is so much more than a collection of line puzzles - it's a game that challenges you to constantly change your perspective. As you quietly explore its magnificently picturesque island, you'll constantly need to figure out how the environment might lend a hand via cleverly hidden visual clues, shifting your first-person viewpoint in search of some sort of hint. But not every hidden element in the environment helps you solve a puzzle - some are simply there to mesmerize you when you suddenly line them up, whether on purpose or through sheer serendipity. Here are the most enchanting pictures and hard-to-spot statues we've spotted around the island; who knows how many more have yet to be found.
For a closer view of these hidden visual marvels, simply click the icon in the top right of the image to open the full-size version. And please share in the comments if you've found any others we might've missed.
The gorgeous sculpting adorning the mountain seems to be reaching up to a higher power - and this statue in the Marsh is reaching down to take her hand.
This poor soul in the Town square looks like he's mourning some impending doom, but the stones near his shadow depict him as a juggling jester.
This oil spill along the ramparts of the Keep looks eerily like the silhouette of a person, maybe even a child.
You can get in on the shadow-play fun in the Quarry, using the shapes in the windows to look like scepter-wielding royalty or a winged angel.
There's a dove hiding in the branches near the Jungle treehouses.
This man atop a burnt treehouse appears to be using a stick to light a fire made of autumn leaves.
If you've got a phobia of bugs, never fear - they're just twigs!
This silhouette of a woman in the Keep's windowsill is just a shadow cast by tree branches and some hanging cloth.
This three-panel progression seen through the rusted shutters of the Monastery depicts a woman transforming into a trumpeting, harpy-like creature.
This anguished man highlighted on the sculpture outside the Monastery appears to be drowning when you view his reflection in the water.
This golden chalice on the walls of the Monastery might very well be the Holy Grail, seeing as the nearby panels seems to faintly depict a man with an outstretched hand and a broken bridge.
Who's a good little inanimate object? You are! Yes you are!
Beneath the Keep's gigantic puzzles, you can spot a religious figure preaching to a few largely apathetic statues.
The first image shows a man reaping wheat with a scythe; the second has another worker checking in with some sort of bookkeeper. This explains the sack-carrying laborer that's in plain sight nearby.
This man in the crumbling lighthouse is straining to reach a chalice, but his shadow has it well in hand.
Those gnarled branches by the waterfront are actually colorful koi fish in disguise.
This dead tree finds new life with the clouds as its leaves.
And finally, the grand finale: this praying lady ingeniously hidden in the landscape's reflection in the lake.
