Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Inventive Mechanics
Strong Visual Identity
Underdeveloped Narrative
Viewfinder is a mind-bending and brilliantly paced puzzle adventure that leverages its core reality-shifting photography mechanic to deliver a constant stream of "how did they do that" moments, successfully pushing the boundaries of first-person perspective gameplay.
Viewfinder | Release Date Trailer | July 18 on PC & PS5
Viewfinder | Gameplay Trailer
Viewfinder | Announcement Trailer | PC & PS5 | 2023
Spellbindingly surreal and stimulating to the end, Viewfinder is the freakiest form of photo mode in which every snap is a happy one.
Innovative puzzle design and truly astonishing visual trickery make this puzzle game a must-play-even if it doesn't quite have the space to make the most of its best ideas.
Viewfinder is fun while it lasts and has more than one moment that will leave players with a smile on their faces. It doesn't live up to its full potential, but it's still a solid game and one that will hopefully inspire others to explore similar concepts. It's easy to see how Viewfinder's picture-to-reality idea could be huge for something like a horror game or even a first-person shooter. Applying the brilliant idea at its core to something with a better story and more content would be the makings of an instant classic. What's here is still certainly worth the price of admission, however.
Sad Owl Studios has delivered a puzzling experience that's both instantly approachable and inventive enough to keep you guessing throughout. Viewfinder is simply wonderful – a breath of fresh air that shouldn't be ignored.
The entirety of Viewfinder, including completing its optional puzzles, only takes a few hours, but its brevity is a strength. The game has no unnecessary fat where you use familiar solutions to solve slight variations of puzzles you’ve already completed. Every level feels like it is trying out a new idea based on the core concept making it a consistently novel experience throughout.
Viewfinder stretches its entrancing central mechanic in delightful ways, constructing an engrossing, yet brief, puzzle-adventure that shouldn't be missed.
Some occasional frustration with mechanics and personal expectations not met aren't enough to prevent Viewfinder from winding up an all-round terrific debut from Sad Owl Studios. Crafting a game that is confident not only in the ideas it wants to explore, but in the execution that underpins it all.
