Viewfinder review: puzzle game heaven in the vein of Portal

You may have a friend or family member who does not know much about video games. Perhaps you might try to hand them a controller sometimes, after they’ve expressed an interest in what you’re playing. Problems suddenly appear. The main problem is with the control of the camera. They don’t know how to look where they ought to be looking while moving where they ought to be moving. It’s as if the camera suddenly moves up to look at the sky and, in a flash, down. Then, you struggle to find metaphors as they plead for assistance. What is left stick? The right stick, on the other hand, is the head.It does not work. Then they pass you the controller. The game appears to be a film again in your hands and not a motion-sickness-inducing arthouse flick.

The basics of playing a shooter, or any first-person video game for that matter, will become as easy as riding a motorcycle after a few games. You don’t actively consider it. You don’t mention it in your Polygon.com intro. While playing ViewfinderThe first time I played a game by Sad Owl Studios the controls for the first-person view were the only thing that came to mind.

Viewfinder is a first-person puzzle game that tasks you with placing photographs over existing geography to modify your terrain, allowing you to reach the stage’s exit.

As with all good puzzle games it begins simply: you are handed a photograph of a potential bridge. You then have to find a suitable location for the bridge. You raise the photograph, line it up roughly with where you’d like it to be, then, wham, presto change-o, you’ve got a real bridge, out of the photo and into the traversable world with the press of a button.

Image: Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful via Polygon

Image: Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful via Polygon

Quickly is the answer, without a doubt. Viewfinder Complicated. A battery is now required to exit. Simple enough: Here’s a photo of a battery. Place it in the scenery, and now it’s yours. You’ll now need two batteries. Easy. There’s a conveniently placed photocopier that will allow you to make a copy of a similarly convenient photo of a single battery. You will eventually be able to purchase a digital camera. Viewfinder’s true potential: the game’s laser focus on the act of observing, searching for what needs to be replicated in order to proceed.

[Ed. note: Early game spoilers for Viewfinder follow.]

Compare and contrast PortalAs the narrative unfolds, you will be surprised by what happens. You accidentally make an error in the simulation early on that shows the real setting. No longer are there warm, cozy locations with snacks and sofas. As you’re extracted from the simulation, you now find yourself wandering a cold, brutalist structure, overlooking a city skyline blanketed in red, dusty air. In a near future, Earth is ravaged by climate change. The ongoing wildfires across Canada, and the downstream effect on air quality along the Eastern Seaboard made the selection of a reddish-orange sky even more disturbing for this East Coast author. The images also brought to mind the orange sky in San Francisco, 2020. Here’s what I have to say about it: ViewfinderThis is sci fi, but it’s closer to realism that one would like to admit.

Image: Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful via Polygon

Then you return to your world of bridges and photographs. You’re not engaging in VR for escapist reasons, however. It is said that climate solutions are hidden in this virtual world.

It’s a fairly dramatic setup, reinforced with copious notebooks to read and audio logs to listen to, as is typical for this kind of game. There’s also a talking cat named Cait, a Cheshire-like figure, who chats with you throughout your journey. You can actually pet the cat. It’s an engaging enough narrative shell, but it was the puzzles that pulled me through.

Image: Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful via Polygon

You can also contact us by clicking here. PortalThe idea is to create apertures that allow you to travel the world. ViewfinderIt is all about creating worlds through which you can traverse the apertures. By the game’s conclusion, levels go far beyond the simple “make a bridge with a picture of a bridge” and into much more complicated — and satisfying — territory.

One puzzle involved a sphere and some non-photographable geography, as well as a slope. After staring at the puzzle for 10 minutes and being completely baffled by it, a lightbulb finally went on in my mind. The solution, without spoiling any details, involved turning what is usually a mistake in photo placement into an answer. It’s a clever game that teaches you to play it not only through your successes, but your mistakes as well.

Image: Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful via Polygon

ViewfinderIt leaves you wanting to know more. I hoped, as the credits rolled, that there might be some additional challenge levels unlocked, but alas, I’d done all there was to be done. Still, I suspect there’s more lurking inside the game. Outside of the early required simulation breakage, wherein you discover the red-sky world you call home, I found another opportunity to break out of the game’s intended boundaries. It was strange, magic, and almost physically impossible. This made me smile a huge stupid grin. Immediately, I wanted to go back and play it all again, sure that there must be other such geometries waiting for me to ask, “What if I tried This is what you should do:?”

ViewfinderPuzzle game heaven. You’ll never look at a Polaroid the same way again, if you’ve ever looked at a Polaroid at all.

Viewfinder The game will be available on 18th July on Windows PC and PlayStation 5. Thunderful supplied a PC download code to review the game. Vox Media partners with affiliates. Vox Media earns commissions from affiliate products, although this doesn’t influence the editorial content. Find out more about affiliate links. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.