Viewfinder

Very cool concept but my god the voice acting and characters are enough to make me refund.

I absolutely loved this game. The story was compelling, the creativity needed to complete the game, everything. I also appreciated that the game kept adding new mechanics to keep it from getting stale. One thing I would like to note though, is that if you get motion sick you might want to take the game a little slower. I had to stop the first time I played because I was getting dizzy, it's akin to your first time in a VR headset. Otherwise great game, 5/5 stars.

Viewfinder is a game with a REALLY cool concept, but not the greatest execution of said concept. Viewfinder is all about slicing and generating world geometry in real time dressed up with taking pictures. Essentially, you're able to take a picture of any piece of geometry in each level, then place that geometry back in to the world anywhere you want. The execution of this specific aspect of the game is nothing short of amazing. It feels like magic to be doing this, and the studio behind it made some very clever choices to make this function flawlessly, fast, and still managed to make the world interesting. However, pretty much everything else about the game falls a bit short, and not just because the core concept is so good. Viewfinder is a puzzle game at its heart, but the puzzles just aren't that difficult. I beat the game and only every struggled to solve 2 short puzzles out of the 72 levels on offer (including the optional levels) and even those took me less than a minute to finally figure out. Bottom line, the majority of puzzles available in this game just aren't going to require too much brain power, and that's because there's only so much you can do with the core idea of cutting and pasting level pieces. The puzzles themselves often have really cool ideas, but they never really increase the difficulty of the level, and you also rarely see multiple puzzle ideas being used together in an interesting way. Bottom line, the puzzles are enjoyable, but they feel WAY too easy and end up making this a pretty darn short game. As for the game's story, I can't say I found it particularly compelling. Sometimes, simple is better with puzzles games. This game tries to introduce several characters post mortem, and introduce you as a hero attempting to save the world using ancient technology, but it really feels like a weird story to accompany this type of puzzle game, and since you, your partner, and the world you're trying to save are never expanded upon meaningfully, I don't know why you would care about any of this. Putting everything together, you've got a really concept in an otherwise slightly lack luster game. It isn't bad by any means, but it fails to reach the heights that other fantastic puzzles games have reached.

DO NOT BUY! It was a great relaxing puzzle game right up until the end when it turned into a stressful, timed, platform jumper. Absolutely @#$%! horrible. Talk about being catfished. Ruined the game.

The HORRENDOUSLY annoying narration makes the early game borderline unplayable. This should have been a relaxing game; instead, my blood pressure rose every time that idiot opened her mouth and industrial-strength cringe came out.

I was feeling kind of meh about the game, but the final time-limited puzzle pushed the game into negative territory. Viewfinder around taking pictures and laying them as a part of the environment. The game looks decent and didn't need finangling with the settings. The puzzles ranged from easy to relatively tricky but mostly satisfying, but some puzzles required near-perfect shot taking with the camera and picture placement into the environment. Timing also became an element at one point, but nothing too complicated until the last level. The story is told through recorded gramophones and writing sprinkled around the levels, but those can be bypassed. However there are some lines that will play when you start the level where you listen to an operator helping you, or a virtual cat observing your progress. The story itself started out kind of simple and OK, but towards the end the player's face is smushed with themes spelled out and cringe-inducing forced lines like "How do you heal the world?" As a pure puzzle game Viewfinder would have been a careful recommendation by about a hair's width, but the final level just tried to force tension with it's tight 5 minute time-limit.

Unique puzzler, but very short. The replay value of this game is very low. The dialog was jarring/cringe and I lost interest in the story really quickly. I would not recommend it.

So, I was liking the game because, even though the story is a pain, the mechanics are really interesting. Now, who was the genius that thought that changing a slow paced puzzler into a time limited platformer was a good idea? That was one of the most stupid ideas I have ever seen in a video game, and I've seem a lot of them! In the end I found a toggle to disable timed stages, but by the time the damage was done. Too little, too late.

This game epitomizes what is means to "play" - to delight in experimentation and laugh in delight at inventiveness and creativity. I haven't beat this yet but I'm having so much fun just messing around, seeing what I can do in the different levels, duplicating things, breaking things, pasting and repasting pictures over top of each other with various art styles, trying different camera filters. In terms of game play, this is like Portal Lite - some of the perception mechanics will stretch your brain a bit the first few times but once you get the hang of it, finding the solutions becomes second nature. And then it becomes much more fun to mess around, to see what you can do with the camera for example. I like trying to macguyver my way up to the top of every level - there's not really much on top of them, but it's fun to just see what I can do and where I can get to. I would heartily recommend this to anyone who likes lite puzzle games and I'm not even all the way through what the game has to offer. The achievements in this are especially well done if you like hunting for them because they nudge you towards experimentation. I try to do contactless with all the batteries now. Not because I have to, just because I CAN. Thanks devs! This is a great game!

Slightly overrated and a little repetitive. But still a very original and a very good game.

I thought that the puzzles were not challenging enough though. Definitely needs a sequel. get this on sale. took me around 4 hours to complete. Nice small game

As a tech demo - it is a masterpiece. Graphics are awesome. Story is... well... just turn the volume off and ignore it. The story is obviously made in post-production and absolutely irrelevant. Don't expect there to be puzzles. It is as simple as walking sim. If you like puzzles - play something else.

Very good game and very pretty too, but horrendous voice acting and a nonsensical story (oh a 3d puzzle game and it's a simulation? have I seen that somewhere) about climate change that doesn't have any connection to the 3d copypasting mechanic. Play it, just do yourself a favour and disable subtitles + mute voices.

Viewfinder brings an novel puzzle experience with the ability restructure environments using its Polaroid camera system. While the game has an interesting premise, it struggles to go the distance. The puzzles are shallow, and the story is derivative, and the voice acting can be a bit grating at times. Regardless, I still recommend this game on account of it bringing in something new.

Short and sweet perspective puzzle game. Puzzles are short and on the easier side, although some require thinking out of the box. Takes about 4 - 6 hours to complete all levels. Didn't feel too invested in the story though. If you're okay paying whatever price for a puzzler as short as this, go for it!

Incredibly fun game. The puzzles arent super deep but they are unique and the visuals an mechanics are super unique!

A nice short puzzle game in the vain of portal 2, with the main mechanic of taking pictures of the world, and placing them in the world elsewhere. The game starts heavy on the spectacle, of the camera gimmick, and transitions smoothly to more proper puzzles. If you are a puzzle game expert like I am, you might find the puzzles easy and a little predictable; however I will say that the last world of puzzles are extremely creative, with the final challenge topping portal 1 and 2's ending. The structure of the game is similar to portal's 2 co-op campaign, where you have a hub with each level being made up of a few puzzles. There are also bonus puzzles if you wish to push yourself further. All of this took me 4 hours, but expect it to take a good 6-10 hours depending on your familiarity. There is a narrative, though it wasn't anything too special, I did enjoy the audio logs of the people who created the place, with the cat being an amazing companion to have on the journey. I found the narrative objective the player has to be counter productive to how one would actually solve the issue, as you are basically looking for an easy solution to a complicated real world problem. Puzzles 7/10 Narrative 5/10 Creativity in presentation 9/10

Viewfinder is perfect for people who are looking for hard puzzles. The solution is always unexpected and there aren’t many objects to help you in solving the level. The gameplay becomes richer and richer the more you advance. However it can be a little bit repetitive. What is more the graphics are very realistic and the story is exciting and touching but I was personally more interested in the puzzles. I haven’t got much to say, but my favorite thing were definitely the mechanics. They were varied and fun and the foto-placing mechanic is so great because it is just so seamless

super fun, lots of little easter eggs to find (i enjoyed seeing the glitch museum).

Mind bending. Charming. Rewarding. If you love games like Portal or Superliminal -- this is right your alley.

This is a great game that plays with perspective, Three Dimensional Space, and cuteness to form a fantastic puzzle game. Highly recommend, it's not a looooooong game, as a very capable puzzle player I finished it in about 5 hours; more if I decided to get all achievements (which I'm not obsessed with, so didn't).

🥇 Absolutely Brilliant – 100% Completed in 7 Hours 🥇 Viewfinder is a perfect balance of calm, creativity, and mind-bending moments. The game isn’t too short or too long, just the right length to stay fully engaged and amazed throughout. Every level is thoughtfully crafted — some easy, some that really make you think and each chapter brings in a fresh mechanic that keeps the experience feeling new. It starts simple but ends in pure, adrenaline-filled brilliance. I’m genuinely in awe. If you’re looking for a game to unwind and be amazed, this is it. 🫶

Well this made me cry. I'll try hard not to spoil the game: There's a lot of questions that are presented in this game; Where are we heading with climate change? What are the solutions to fix it? Is there a magic wand fix? ect. However; Viewfinder's real question is at the end of the game. Humanity, as of this review date: 06-2025, is making rapid advancements in AI technology. It's so fast, that we ourselves will have to ask a very important question soon. Viewfinder explores this question at the end, which is why the game made me feel sad as I didn't have a choice. It's also why i recommend it.

Mind-bendy in the best of ways. I had a lot of head-scratchy moments but it was never frustrating or disheartening. I had a lot of fun figuring these puzzles out, and checking out every available little secret I could. If you liked Superliminal, you'll love this.

Viewfinder is a mind bending puzzle game, told through abstract spaces and photographs. Pretty visuals, complex puzzles that require you to really think outside the box and common perspective to solve. Decently challenging, with a thought provoking story line. I enjoyed it, but it didn't *hold* my attention, I put it down several times before finally finishing it.

This is a very unique puzzle game and the gimmicks are fun. If you like relaxed, not very hard logic games and like the artstyle then definitely pick this one up. As for the story and voice acting, I had to mute it and turn off subtitles because it really doesn't fit. Thankfully doing so doesn't really affect the game.

portal vibes, puzzles are a bit on the easier side and theres no such humor. cryptic story has the good feels ending

Really cool game, really fun mechanics too, would recommend to anybody

Fun twist to a pretty calm puzzle game. The voice acting of the protagonist and her colleague is somewhat grating, though you hear it less and less as the game goes on. Its also quite a short game. Going for the 100% achievement won't prolong the game time much either. If you enjoy puzzle games and find this on special, give it a go.

Good game, unexpected and surprising levels. No impossible puzzles, game offers help if needed

Excellent puzzles, super creative and with complementing visuals. There is a cat, you can pet it, thumbs up from me.

beautiful game amazing story graphics are beautiful i will say its a bit expensive but it was an experience 10/10 i love it

Mind-bending puzzles and a Deep and sad story. One of the best games I've ever player 10/10.

Atmosphere and the programming part of the game is that I'm shocked about, made this truly unique for the people who likes to play some puzzles and room around while doing them. Magnificent gameplay! 9/10

It's a very fun game, the graphics are still nice looking on the lowest settings. It's quite a detailed game and full of adventure. Honestly would recommend.

Stunning! Actually reminded me of Superliminal - just more polished with this undeniable atmosphere that is hard to come by in games nowadays. Thank you Sad Owl Studios, well done my brain hurts <3

The game has amazing visuals and fun puzzles tho I think there's a few u gotta think extra hard (lazy me just checked a walkthrough video), the story is okay although didn't get much from it, and the background music is not the best so I just muted it, after a while of gameplay the visuals were getting boring and I didn't find it as fun as in the beginning... Overall: 6/10

A short and sweet puzzle game with a neat gimmick / core mechanic. There are enough complications introduced throughout the game that things never get stale, though after beating the game and all the optional challenges, I find myself wishing there was more.

Very underrated puzzle game. well worth the MindFuck it will give you. I would say that it rivals or outdoes portal in its innovation to the puzzle-game genre.

Very fun puzzle game with endearing soundtrack and characters who add depth to the world around you

sure it may be short but it is by far one of the coolest puzzle games I have played.

ok little puzzle game. I did not like the "story". The puzzle idea is great. I am curious how this plays in VR. I expect it would be cool.

not too difficult, very fun to play, cool concept

Loved it. The puzzles are clever, some are a bit challenging (but not THAT much), and many others are easy and let you just enjoy the journey.

A really cool game with a pretty environment and a fun mechanic. Lots of reviews seem to dislike the story and voices but personally I liked having this cat accompany me throughout the puzzles. I find this game has a lot of charm and is generally well executed. (P.S. IDK why steam says I have less than 2 hours of playtime, probably my steam deck not updating but I did finish the game entirely)

very peaceful and fun. i played this game and forgot about it for a year and now i remember it being fun so ima play it now.

Viewfinder does one thing - one "gimmick" although I'm loathe to call it that because it is this beautiful piece of gaming slight of hand that you don't see that often. Portal, Unfinished Swan, Stanley Parable.. it sits among those in the brilliance of its core concept. I do wish there was a bit more after you finish it. It ends at the right spot, but it feels like there are challenges and more complex solutions to be toyed with and used for interesting level design. It doesn't diminish the game at all though, just makes me hope they revisit this concept. Highly recommended.

很有创意的解谜游戏，可以和superliminal相提并论！

Really sweet game. Some of the puzzles were almost too easy, and there were a 2 or 3 I got stuck on and I had to look online. Overall, beautiful, great gameplay, decent story. The timed ending sequence was challenging, but I got it after a few tries. Overall completion time: 4 hours. Highly recommended if you like puzzles.

Only like 3 hours of content which is questionable for the price. But space manipulating mechanic is very original and cool, so giving it a thumbs up.