The puzzle adventure game Viewfinder turns photos and paintings into reality. The demo is one of the most creative game experiences of the year so far
In Viewfinder we explore a strange world and have to solve puzzles in order to progress. What doesn”t sound too extraordinary at first, impresses with a unique game mechanic that has an extreme amount of potential. The adventure game, which will be released in 2023, is thus definitely a good candidate for your Steam wishlist, we briefly introduce it.
What makes Viewfinder special?
Although in Viewfinder you mostly just have to find certain objects and bring them to the right place in order to progress, the game combines that with a cool feature: you can make photos, paintings and other images you”ve taken yourself and found in the world become reality. The trailer shows you how this can be done:
Once you”ve found an image, all you have to do is hold it in front of you and then click the mouse. The two-dimensional image will then transform completely seamlessly into a new level section that will be placed at the targeted location.
In the approximately half-hour demo, the developers show a lot of creativity with their game mechanics. You can use the photo-created level sections to overcome obstacles, as well as find or duplicate important items. The images are not only photos, but also paintings in different styles or other visual cutouts.
While solving photo puzzles in Viewfinder, we also explore the environment and find notes, voice recordings and other clues about the background of the unusual world. Apparently, the floating platforms are a simulation designed to help solve real-world problems. People have worked in the simulation before us, but disappeared for unknown reasons.
If you want to try the demo of Viewfinder for yourself, you can download it anytime (Free on Steam). Note, however, that the in-game voice acting and texts are only available in English
What do we like, what remains unclear?
This is what Viewfinder does really well:
- Creativity: The developers use their unique feature (at least in the demo) in a wide variety of ways. For instance, in one level we have to enter a screenshot from a platformer game and take a character boost there that lets us jump higher. This way we can hop over a nearby wall.
- Many story elements: The adventure isn”t limited to pure gameplay, but entertains us with interesting story elements every now and then. Almost in every room we find at least one note or voice recording.
The demo can”t show that yet:
- How challenging will the puzzles be? Even though the demo was a lot of fun and offered a lot of variety, the puzzles remained quite easy until the end. We don”t know yet if and how much the difficulty level will increase in the finished game.
- What is this all about? The first story hints sound quite interesting, but it is not yet clear what the story is about. Whether the end result is just some light fare for on the side, or a really exciting tale, remains unclear.
Editor”s Verdict
The short demo of Viewfinder makes you want more: the photo puzzles are fun, even if they remain quite simple at first. The world is not incredibly detailed, but it is nicely designed. The first story elements also arouse my curiosity, even if it is hardly foreseeable so far how the story will develop.
I particularly liked the creative use of the photo mechanics in the demo. Not only did I have to place photos, but I also got to travel through various paintings and a level of a retro role-playing game. If the finished game can maintain this level permanently, and keep surprising us with new ideas and puzzles, Viewfinder will be a great puzzle game!
