Here we are with another puzzle game that introduces a unique mechanic and finds multiple ways to utilize this concept to bring challenge varieties to players. Sad Owl Studios and Thunderful Games are working together to launch their title Viewfinder, a puzzle game where you can change reality with a simple image. From being able to take the images yourself to finding a way to work with a given perspective, this game really shows creativity in its design. The question ultimately falls on, is the game fun to play?

Story

In hopes of finding a hidden tool or mechanism that can help fix the climate crisis, a team has put together a simulator that features the work of a lost team. With the simulator being a mysteriously powerful device that can take the user into the locations of the team’s workspaces, it is a journey that they were unsure of what lay ahead. The deeper into these workspaces you venture, the more it seems like this virtual world was a true reality of its own. Does it have the answers that they hope to find or is this a wild chase through a strange reality?

While the story itself is more of a background aspect to this game, it is what drives the ultimate reasoning as to why you are in this virtual space and how you can manipulate reality. I’m glad there is a logical and believable backing to the game’s design as this always thickens the overall experience. I feel like there are deeper details to find in this story as well, so for those who deep dive into indirect lore for the full story, there is definitely something here to check out.

Gameplay

When you start the game, you are immediately in the simulator and load up the first world. You start off slow by finding images on tables and placing those images to alter your reality. The goal of each level is to get to the teleporter at the end, which will take you to the next level. After you complete a few levels, you will reach your first HUB station.

The HUB station will be a space that represents the current environment you are in and have different entrances into the different levels in this chapter of the game. Once you complete all of the levels, you will be introduced to the tram system that takes you to all five HUB stations. Each station will have its own forms of challenges to face and alters to the puzzles, giving either a different perspective or aspect to work within the puzzles.

As with most puzzle games, the deeper into the game you get the more you start seeing the different puzzle elements blend to make harder levels that utilize everything you know so far. This leads up to a final HUB that blends everything you know. The good thing is that you can always take your time in these levels, aside from the final level which is like an ultimate challenge of your skills with a countdown timer - but I’ll leave that to be experienced without details.

Some of the different aspects you can expect to experience with the puzzles include putting images together through color screens, taking a selfie, terrain that gets affected by the pictures and terrain that doesn’t get affected, finding images and placing them, and, of course, using the Viewfinder tool (a camera) to take your own pictures to use. Each element is useful in its own way and solving your way through them stays unique throughout the whole game.

Aside from the elements used in the puzzles, this game has a handy way to fix your mistakes. Instead of just restarting the level if you fall off the edge or get stuck, they included a rewind feature. You can rewind slowly or double tap it to quickly rewind to the last key point, like taking a picture or placing a picture into reality. This rewind feature is fun to use on its own and a better way to go back when you mess up over just restarting the puzzle room.

Oh, and a quick last note, there is a talking cat in this game and yes, you can pet him.

Audio and Visual

This is easily one of the most aesthetically impressive games I have ever played! The different images you use come with different color schemes, some even have different art styles, and the perspective manipulation is so unique to experience. There are things they include in this game that you just won’t expect - my favorite of which is the Barcode image being a black-and-white forest once placed.

As for the sound work of the game, it is pretty well done. There is voice acting in different parts from various characters, all of which are well done. The music is kept in the background, but persistent so as to not leave the player in an unsettling silence. There are moments where the music is affected by the environment or image change that you are going through, along with the story moments that heighten the emotion.

Replayability

Unfortunately, the downfall of all puzzle games is that once you solve the puzzles, you know how to do them. However, the good thing about this game is that they included some side aspects to do. Each HUB section has its own collectibles to find and it isn’t something that can be done casually. I put a little bit of effort into finding the collectibles and managed to miss a few in each HUB, so they definitely have some hidden away pretty well.

On top of the collectibles, there are a few challenge puzzles that are available to solve. They are a lot more difficult than the main game puzzles, so I suggest circling back to these once you have completed the HUB they are in at the least.

Verdict

Viewfinder is a truly impressive puzzle game! Not only does it bring out a unique puzzle mechanic and utilize it in multiple ways, they kept the game entertaining for the entire experience. I haven’t solved all of the optional puzzles yet, but completing the game in full took me just under four hours. I plan to go back in and get those last few puzzles, but this game is a pretty decent length for a puzzle game. Even more impressive, despite such a strange mechanic, I only came across a couple of bugs, making it a stable title as well. It really is the full package and a properly delivered game, so if you like puzzle games this is a highly recommended title from me!

Viewfinder is set to launch on July 18th for PC via Steam and PlayStation 5.