The Witness will not force a linear path, gameplay could last up to 40 hours

The Witness, and open-world puzzler from Thekla Inc.'s Jonathan Blow, will not force you onto a linear path, according to the developer.

Speaking on the PS Blog, Blow said the team played the game recently from start to finish, and found that the game, which was originally slated to last around the eight-hour mark, has turned into 25-40 hour experience.

"Some of the game is optional," said Blow. "I suspect this is the biggest and most intricate world ever built for a puzzle game. Someone get a consultant from the Guinness Book to verify that.

"On the tech side, we are working on making the game run with a smooth and solid frame rate, and making the graphics look as nice as possible, and ensuring that the streaming system loads things quickly.

"We wrote our own engine for this game, so on the one hand, it means we get to do a lot of work; but on the other hand, it means we have precise control and can tweak it carefully until it is the highest-quality experience we can deliver."

The Witness is currently without a release date, but it will be releasing as a timed PS4-exclusive before eventually heading to PC.

New screenshots are below.