The Witness - The Treehouse Puzzle Solution

Images and solutions for every puzzle in The Witness in this complete walkthrough and puzzle guide.

Guide by Larryn Bell Contributor

Additional contributions by Bill Lavoy

Updated on March 8, 2019

You may have stumbled upon the Treehouse area in The Witness during your time exploring the island. The path to the Treehouse is found to the right of the Keep, and is just beyond the Marsh. However, you won’t be able to reach the Treehouse from the footpath below, at least not until you complete the Treehouse puzzle and create the shortcut. Follow this Treehouse Puzzle Solution Walkthrough to get all the help you need.

The Witness - The Treehouse Puzzle Solution Walkthrough

The entryway to the Treehouse is out on the water near the shipwreck, and is only accessible by boat. Summon a boat from one of the boat docks around the island, and navigate to the Treehouse dock in the northeast section of the boat map. The nearest boat dock is on the far side of the Marsh, but any boat should take you there.

The Treehouse puzzles mainly utilize what we like to call the starburst mechanic. The starbursts are colored dots that have multiple points on the outside, similar to a star. The rule for solving starbursts is that they must be sectioned off in pairs of two, with another starburst or element of the same color.

Starburst pairs can be sectioned with different colored dots. However, they cannot be grouped with dots of the same color, with the exception being when there is only one starburst of a given color on a panel. In this case, the lone starburst must be paired with one other element of the same color. It seems confusing, but after a bit of trial and error, the starbursts should make more sense. Don’t worry, you can always fall back on our solution images if you get stuck.

The first few Treehouse puzzles are very simple, as they are meant to get you used to the rules of the starburst feature. The Treehouse is a bit lengthier than the previous puzzles, but interesting nevertheless. Unlock the first set of doors, and continue along the wooden footbridge to the first set of puzzles.

The Treehouse puzzle panels hinge together to form the footbridges used to navigate between the various Treehouse structures. Solving a full set of puzzle panels will cause full pathways to unfold. Certain panels also contain multiple solutions that can rotate the footbridge in different directions, depending on where you want to go. The solutions for the first ten puzzle panels are shown below.

Solving the set of yellow panels creates a bridge to a main hub of the Treehouse. There are three paths you can take here, one of which leads to the light beam that cannot be activated yet. You have the option to go either left or right. We chose to start with the path on the left.

The purple puzzle panels on the left incorporate Pacman dots along with the starburst mechanic. Each solution must section off the starbursts into pairs, while also passing through each of the dots on the graph. Our solutions for these first five purple panels are shown below.

Continue up the wooden path until you reach another set of purple puzzle panels. These puzzles feature a combination of starbursts and multicolored dots that must be segregated. Note that it is safe to group the starburst pairs with different colored dots. Just remember to keep dots of different colors separated from one another.

Continue up the path to begin the orange set of puzzle panels. These puzzles feature starbursts that share the same color as one of the dot sets. If there are enough starbursts to form a pair, then they cannot be grouped with dots of the same color. However, if there is only one starburst, it must be paired with at least one dot of the same color. The rules make more sense in practice, but feel free to consult our solutons below if you need a nudge in the right direction.

Once the orange panel bridge is extended to the other side, locate a lone puzzle panel on the left with a triangle in the center. The number of triangles in the center seems to indicate the number of sides on the center square the solution must cross. We aren't sure what these triangle panels are for yet, or if they are necessary for activating the light beam, but it's better just to solve them anyway.

As you were solving the orange puzzle panels on the previous bridge, you may have noticed that a couple panels have multiple endpoints for the solution. For these panels, the bridge will unfold in the direction of the endpoint you chose.

From the triangle panel, retrace your steps on the orange bridge and locate a panel about halfway down. Redraw the solution shown below, causing the bridge to unfold to the right. This will allow you to connect another bridge here later on.

Backtrack all the way back to the Treehouse hub, where the path diverged into three directions earlier. Now, take the wooden path to the right. When you reach the end of the path, there will be a green puzzle panel on the left, and another orange panel on the right.

Start with the green panels first. These puzzles incorporate Tetris pieces into the mix. The outline around the Tetris pieces must form the shape of the piece, but doesn’t necessarily need to include the starburst. Solve the panels, using the solutions below if necessary. Then, solve the triangle puzzle at the end of the walkway.

Now walk back to solve the new orange panel bridge. These panels feature multicolored starbursts. Different colored pairs can be grouped together, but there can be no more than two starbursts of a single color within a boundary.

This set also features several multi-directional panels, one of which is about halfway down. Solve this one for the straight path for now, as we will return to rotate the bridge in a moment.

When you reach the second directional panel at the end of this bridge, draw a solution with an endpoint to the right. Then, solve the remaining panels that unfold to the right, and continue to walk to the next room.

Input the pattern below to bring down the drawbridge. This is one way to enter and exit the Treehouse from the outside without having to start at the boat dock.

Retrace your steps along the orange footbridge, and locate the multi-directional panel puzzle about halfway down. Input the solution below to unfold the bridge to the left.

Follow the bridge to the left and walk to the panel at the end. If you are following our steps, you will notice that the two orange footbridges now somewhat connect, allowing you to reach the other side. However, the current bridge must now be unfolded to the left in order to create a path to the main Treehouse hub. Input the solution below to unfold the footpath to the left.

Walk to the main Treehouse hub. Here you will find a magenta colored switch, in perfect view of the light beam box. Once you activate the switch, the door beneath the light beam will open temporarily. Activate the switch, then quickly walk across the orange panel bridge into the doorway to activate the light beam.