Viewfinder

So this game released very recently, aaaand it’s fantastic. Very simple gimmick, find a photo, place a photo, explore the space inside the photo as it gets embedded in the world. And they take this one simple mechanic and absolutely run with it.

It’s like exploring all the interactions with the Portal Gun, and even includes the same tutorialising curve with it too, starting off with just photos you find in world, before eventually getting the camera to take your own photos with.

There really isn’t much to talk about here, you’re exploring an old location to look for the solution to the problems in the present world, and thats about all there is to the story. Most of the world building you’ll encounter are the founders talking to eachother or working on their projects and experiments, but in reality, we’re not really here for the story, we’re here for the puzzles.

In terms of puzzles, each world is set out like a series of puzzle chambers, where the goal of each one is to reach the teleporter. Sometimes it’s hidden in a photo, sometimes it requires power from a lever, battery, or other puzzle element, sometimes it’s upside down and you have to figure out how to reach it.

There is not much else to talk about really. It’s like trying to write a review for Portal 1, or The Talos Principle (which I’m frankly surprised I haven’t done either of yet…) Just simple puzzle games that work with a limited set of mechanics to push those mechanics to their extremes.

The game doesn’t include a hint system, but I also don’t think it’s tough enough to need it. There is one puzzle that I got stuck on, but that wasn’t a skill issue on my behalf, rather a bug in the game where I performed the actions necessary to complete the puzzle, but the camera refused to cooperate. When my partner played it on her computer, she was able to complete it normally.

Oh, and there is a talking cat that if you pet them, they purr, and if you’re using a controller and stand near them after petting them, your controller starts purring too!

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1382070 £19.99