Viewfinder

Viewfinder is a success like few others in its genre. It’s a challenge that all of us should be taking on.

One of the best puzzle games this year.

Viewfinder is a unique game that begs to be experienced. I do wish it was available on more platforms as everyone needs to experience this unique puzzle game. I could not put it down until the end and I cannot wait to see what this team accomplishes next. There is so much here that impresses, it never overstays its welcome, and the technical achievement will be talked about for years. Definitely play this game if you have the means.

While it is on the short side, what Viewfinder does is remind us that there are still universes of awesome new mechanics and concepts for gaming to explore. The ability to drop a 2D photo’s physical contents into any 3D space at any time and have it work flawlessly is something you have to experience yourself to understand. With gently ambient music, soothingly warm visuals, and a brief but thoroughly worthwhile story, you’ll be effortlessly absorbed into its magical world. Viewfinder has such a unique, well-executed premise, it takes the whole puzzle genre into the darkroom and develops it into something wonderfully new.

Viewfinder is an incredible mind-bending puzzle game that never stops innovating and never stops being fun.

The background music that plays in each of the hub worlds is jazz, and it’s just as intentional as any of the photographs. Jazz is filled with spontaneous moments of harmony, which turns out to be the main ingredient and lure of Viewfinder. This is a game that, as you retrace the steps of four disparate people who did their best to save humanity, lets you riff along the way.

Despite an unsatisfying narrative, the bulk of Viewfinder is spent solving a variety of unique puzzles, and it's here where it never falters. The numerous ways in which Viewfinder manages to stretch its core idea consistently kept me entranced, providing a deeply satisfying loop of deciphering a conundrum and constructing a solution that could be distinct to my playthrough. Given how Viewfinder quickly empowers you with the tools to create your own solutions while challenging you to push your understanding of its world, it's pleasantly surprising how frictionless the entire experience is, never once devolving into tedium or frustration. Viewfinder finds elegance in simplicity but doesn't trade this for straightforward solutions, making it one of the best puzzle games you can play today.

Viewfinder is both clever and fun throughout, delivering some of the best and most unique puzzles this side of The Witness. The story could be more engaging, and more content wouldn't hurt, but that doesn't stop Viewfinder from being one of the most ingenious games in quite a while.

Viewfinder is one of those games that deserves to be highlighted for its simplicity and execution of ideas. A game with a simple narrative and creative puzzles that keep getting more and more interesting. All of this is accompanied by a relaxing soundtrack and beautiful graphics, in addition, of course, to the friendly CAIT that makes our journey through Viewfinder even more pleasant.

From the first moment we take a photo and it magically becomes the stage in front of our eyes, until we roll the credits, Viewfinder is a title that constantly leaves us speechless, surprising us with new ideas and pulling out the odd one. smile with their smartest puzzles, and that's something not many games can say.

A stronger story may have elevated Viewfinder more, but that does little to detract from the mind-bending mechanics of its puzzles and the smooth construction of its design. Viewfinder strikes an excellent balance between providing puzzles with intentional, satisfying solutions while also giving players freedom to experiment and come up with their own ideas. Plus, once you’ve finished, it’s a joy to then watch someone else discover its wild and inventive mechanics.

Not only is Viewfinder the best example of perspective-bending pageantry in video games yet, far exceeding its contemporaries that helped pave the path it walks, it’s arguably the most enjoyable puzzle game since Portal made us question a cake’s authenticity fifteen long years ago.

With amazing perspective games and surprising puzzle concepts, Viewfinder reinvents itself again and again and stands out from the genre despite a weak story and a lack of claim.

The entirety of Viewfinder, including completing its optional puzzles, only takes a few hours, but its brevity is a strength. The game has no unnecessary fat where you use familiar solutions to solve slight variations of puzzles you’ve already completed. Every level feels like it is trying out a new idea based on the core concept making it a consistently novel experience throughout.

With such a strong central mechanic, you could forgive Viewfinder for setting it and forgetting it – but it doesn’t, iterating and surprising with each level. [Issue#31, p.82]

It may not be quite as picture-perfect as we'd hoped for, but Viewfinder's most memorable vignettes will surely earn it a permanent slot in your brain's own photo album. [Issue#388, p.121]

Mind-bending first-person puzzlers don't get much better than Viewfinder so play it if you enjoy games like Portal and Superliminal.

Viewfinder is a point-and-shoot puzzler that just clicks. The reality-shifting photography mechanic is an exceptional feat that rivals Titans in the genre. The overall presentation only improves Viewfinder as it lets the gameplay shine, whilst matching its quality for the most part. The story could’ve been more outward to give more motive but an overall excellent puzzle game.

Viewfinder thrives on games of perspectives, encounters between photographs and three dimensions, and does not disappoint. The lively graphic style and its playful recipe designed to tease our creativity make it a valid production, perfect for indulging in a not too demanding leisure. The difficulty of the experience is calibrated downwards, yet the four or five hours offered by the exploration of his scenarios - thanks to the joys of the Polaroid - manage to fascinate and surprise.

Though the narrative setup did little for me and the occasional orientation issues mildly frustrated, Viewfinder still manages to shine through as a resolutely interesting, smart and enjoyable three-dimensional puzzler that feels like it was cut from the same, ingenious cloth as Valve's legendary Portal games. What's not to like?

If you’re a fan of first-person puzzle games, Viewfinder should be considered essential. Sure, its story leaves something to be desired, and some of its puzzles don’t quite hit the mark. But even the worst of the bunch keep you engaged enough to see this clever little puzzle game through to the end. Never outstaying its welcome, Viewfinder has left a lasting impression on us.

Viewfinder is an incredibly interesting game with a mechanic that is very easy to pick up and highly enjoyable throughout the entire runtime. If you are looking for something truly difficult, you aren’t likely to find that here, but if you are interested in a short and comfy puzzle game, then Viewfinder will surely deliver.

While Viewfinder will leave you wanting more, it is one of the best and most unique in the genre to come out in some time, with gameplay that never gets old as it repeatedly finds ways to surprise and impress. Whether you're a casual puzzle player or have experience, Viewfinder deserves a spot in the photo album of must-play titles of the year.

Some occasional frustration with mechanics and personal expectations not met aren’t enough to prevent Viewfinder from winding up an all-round terrific debut from Sad Owl Studios. Crafting a game that is confident not only in the ideas it wants to explore, but in the execution that underpins it all. An optional undercurrent of a narrative too that only elevates the appeal, but at the same time takes nothing away for those simply here to solve puzzles. Wherever your preferences lie, Viewfinder‘s knack for building out, subtracting from and even mixing up entirely the formula at just the right moments is a trait few puzzle games can lay claim to. Cleverly orchestrated from start to finish, Viewfinder‘s consistent originality and unmistakable confidence on top marks itself down as an easy recommendation.

Viewfinder is an ingenious puzzle game that wows at every turn, even if its sci-fi story stretches to find deeper meaning in its mind-bending photo hook.

A highly imaginative puzzle game whose clever concepts are frequently used in the least appealing way possible – although they’re imaginative enough that the game remains engaging despite itself.

Setting aside the narrative, which is pretty forgettable, this is a largely impressive, compelling puzzle game with a truly unique gameplay hook.

Viewfinder is a short and sharp exploration of a strong concept that builds an unimposing space to play with those ideas, and fosters a mild, continual hum of gratification as you go on that journey. A pleasant exercise in gently massaging your brain synapses, it’s like a brisk refreshment that leaves you feeling slightly more satisfied when you’re done.