Behind The Lens #1: A View of Viewfinder

Welcome to Behind the Lens, a series of blog posts focused on various aspects of what exactly is going on when it comes to creating Viewfinder!

Over the next few weeks we will be diving deep into specific topics, whether that’s puzzle design, world inspiration or in game lore, you can expect some great insights into different aspects of the game.

So what is Viewfinder?

After more than four years of game development, a lot of iterations, and with still a long laundry list of things we want to do and improve, we are releasing Viewfinder.

We are quite happy that the game has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and we want to show everyone the world we’ve created. There are things we wished we could have done differently but generally we are very proud of the team we have, and the game we’ve made.

We also want a vacation, and we want to rest after all of the anxiety and the stress of making a game. It is very hard, but it's also one of the most rewarding things we've ever done and sharing it with you all is so exciting. Right now, we're saying NEVER AGAIN, but of course in a few months we'll find another idea that sparks our imagination, and pushes us to make that idea a reality.

• It is a single-player puzzle game with a narrative. You can skip the narrative, but the cat will remind you from time to time to give you context. It has 5 hubs, and more than 70 puzzles spread out. There are also additional optional puzzles for players who are focused on those experiences.

• We did multiple rounds of private testing for Viewfinder throughout its development. The puzzles alone can take around 3h~5h of average playtime. With the narrative and the story, it was around 5~7 hours. After setting the demo live during the Puzzle Game Festival and Steam NextFest, we wouldn’t be surprised nowadays if someone finishes the game in 20 minutes, go Speedrunners!

• There is no one solution for each level, (see: speedrunners).

• The cat will not help you, since cats don’t help. They were born cute. They exist to be cute. The only way the cat can help you is if you decide to pet them, as some science says that purring helps relieve stress. So pls pet them to your heart’s content and take in those purry vibes

• There are a lot of chairs in the game, and you can spend a lot of time sitting in those chairs. It is very therapeutic, we highly recommend it.

• You can probably figure out now that we put a lot of things in the game to help you relax. We know this game can be stressful, so we wanted you to relax too. We also wanted to relax while making this game.

• We are heavily inspired by games such as Portal, The Talos Principle and Outer Wilds. We know of the similarities with games such as The Witness, Superliminal and Antichamber. We are heavily influenced by SUPERHOT, just in general.

• Full Mouse + Keyboard Support. It is best experienced with a controller as we put a lot of thought into the haptics and wanted to make sure it felt like you were taking a photo with your controller.

• It is not a sandbox experience. Due to the technology of placing photographs in the simulation, there are limitations and performance issues depending on what computer you’re