Since the release of Portal, there have been a lot of First-Person Puzzle games that have been released to various levels of success. Games like Manifold Garden, The Entropy Centre, The Turing Test, Superliminal, and other similar games have all tried to capture our attention with mind-bending puzzles. Viewfinder is another Puzzle game that attempts to capture lightning in a bottle, and I think it just might be one of the greats.

In Viewfinder, you play an unnamed protagonist searching a long-forgotten digital landscape created by a group of creative minds attempting to solve the (in-game) world’s climate crisis. At this point in time, the planet has become a struggling, desolate landscape where humanity is barely hanging on due to increased temperatures and harsher climates. This digital landscape you explore holds the key to survival, and you must follow in the footsteps of those who came before to find out what they learned.

There are five different hub levels in Viewfinder, and each one introduces new mechanics and carries a different visual style based on the creative researcher who created it. I won’t go into too many details beyond that in terms of the levels because of the immersiveness of discovering them yourself, but each hub and level is gorgeous and full of vibrant, colorful, surreal environments.

Viewfinder’s levels all have something in common. They all involve the power of an image, whether it is a photo, a painting, or a drawing. Either by using a camera that you are given partway through the game, or using photos and art lying around in levels, you can impose those images onto the environment and manipulate the world with them. This is a little difficult to explain effectively, but it is a mind-bending, mind-boggling mechanic that blew my mind in ways that haven’t happened since I played Superliminal for the first time.

Truth be told, just like Superliminal, I wish I could go back and experience Viewfinder for the first time all over again. Throughout the entire game, you are continually presented with wild puzzles, some of which are easier to piece together than others. The game itself is short, offering approximately 6-10 hours of gameplay, maybe more if you are taking it slow. Despite that short runtime, every second is both a feast for the eyes and a challenge for your brain.

The story elements are spread through the levels too, via audio messages, text notes, research notes, post-it notes, and other things you find as you play. This also includes a cat-like digital companion named Cait, who you can pet by the way. There are also collectibles hidden throughout levels in each hub, and a variety of achievements to get ahold of.

Viewfinder also doesn’t shy away from accessibility, letting you adjust things like making the font more easily readable for Dyslexic people, as well as other text-based options and even the option to turn off timed levels. I love this particular element because there is nothing that makes me more anxious than having a time limit when I’m trying to piece together a solution.

While Viewfinder is short, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. The fact that I found myself wanting more at the end is just a testament to how clever and engaging the puzzles are. I hope the developers at Sad Owl Studios either revisit Viewfinder with DLC or make more clever, incredible games like this. Just like Superliminal, I’m blown away by how a small studio can come up with a game that weaves an impactful narrative about the power of collaboration and creativity into such a fun and engaging package.

A PlayStation 5 review copy of Viewfinder was provided by Thunderful Publishing for this review.

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Viewfinder

$24.99 USD

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Great Story
• Gorgeous Visuals
• Mind-Bending Puzzles
• Lots of Collectibles
• Accessibility Options for all Sorts of People

Cons

• Short 6-10 Hours of Gameplay