Portal, that spin-off of Half-Life that boosted the first-person-3D puzzle-narrative genre in the mid-2000s. There have been a slew of these first-person-3D puzzle-narrative titles in the almost 20 years since Portal’s release and I have one question… why has the term “Portal-like” not caught on so that I don’t have to keep typing out “first-person-3D puzzle-narrative title”? Anyway, developer Sad Owl Studios and publisher Thunderful have released their Portal-like title, Viewfinder on the Xbox… finally.

“Challenge perception, redefine reality, and reshape the world around you with an instant camera. Viewfinder is a new single player game offering gamers hours of interesting and fun experiences while uncovering the mysteries left behind.”

Viewfinder had already seen a release on Steam and the PlayStation back in 2023, but now it is available on the Xbox, with a Switch version is coming soon too. The best way to sum this one up is a mix of the praised Portal and the sublime Superliminal. And yet, it has a rather unique identity all of its own. “Mind-bending” is term that suits as a descriptive, and I reckon most of the reviews of the game from 2023 most probably used it too. It is also a term that I’m going to try to avoid using in my review.

The goal of each level is simple, reach a teleporter to exit. However, getting to that teleporter can be as difficult as it can be mind-bending (I failed already). Viewfinder’s main gameplay hook is pictures/photos and this is where the similarities to Portal come in. The photos here are this game’s portals, you place them in the game world and walk into them. Where the Superliminal likening comes in is how placing these photos also plays around with your perspective on the game world. You have to use these photos to solve the game’s many puzzles. When you place a 2D photo in the 3D environment, that photo becomes 3D that you can walk into and interact with. As a brief example, you can take a photo of a wall, rotate the picture 90° and place it over a gap in the floor to create a bridge to walk across the gap.

The puzzles start out pretty easy and Viewfinder’s difficulty curve is pitch perfect. You begin by using photos that you just find lying around. Eventually, you are introduced to things like a photocopier, a fixed in place camera and eventually, a portable camera that allows you to take photos at will. Even then, Viewfinder keeps throwing in more mechanics to keep the gameplay fresh and interesting… and it really likes to mess around with your perceptions. I’m trying not to reveal too much as spoiling this game will ruin the experience. It’s best to go in as blind as possible and just get lost in its uniqueness. As more and more elements are introduced, the puzzles begin to become increasingly devious. There’s always this great moment when a new mechanic is introduced and you have to play around to work out how to use it. Then there’s the “click” that sounds in your brain as you work out how to use this new mechanic to solve the puzzle.

The mind-bending (I’ve failed again) elements of Viewfinder feel highly unique and even just messing around within the game world and the photos is pure fun. There were times when, even though I worked out how to solve a puzzle, I felt like making some M. C. Escher-like structures and try to walk through/around/in them by taking numerous photos and placing them in the game world. It took me around four hours to get to the end credits, and that was with me trying and failing to solve puzzles, to then just try, try again. You do get a very handy rewind function so that you can go back and fix any mistakes you make… or if you just feel like messing around and making M. C. Escher-like structures. Like taking a photo of a photo and photocopying that photo within a photo and placing it in the game world to take a photo of a photo within a photo that was a photocopy…

While I did finish the game in about four hours, I was pulled back in to get all of the achievements… and there are some really tricky ones that will have you testing your grey matter and scratching your head. Viewfinder is packed with amazing little touches and details, like jumping into a classic Metroid-like screen or playing with a (non-copyright infringing) Tamagotchi. Viewfinder is short, but not too short and (as I mentioned), going back to mop up all the achievements was really fun and one of the best 100% completion experiences I have had in a while. I was left wanting more. You can go back and replay any of the levels, but I would’ve liked a free-play mode where you could go into any level armed with the portable camera and unlimited film, just to mess around with the core mechanic and create some maddening and mind-bending (failed again) playgrounds.

It has taken a while for this game to reach the Xbox, but it really has been worth the wait. One of the finest and most enjoyable puzzle games/Portal-likes I have played since Superliminal. And yes, you can pet the cat… but not the melon.