With a new game called Viewfinder, a player takes a picture using an instant Polaroid camera, but place the picture in a different perspective and transform the image into a 3D object that can be manipulated or on a mobile environment.
UK-based developer Robot Turtle has shared details on Viewfinder, a “mind-bending” first-person adventure puzzle game.
Last year, student developer Matt Stark gave the world a peek at an experimental new game that would let you take photos of the world, print out a Polaroid, then superimpose the snapshot back into the world.
One year on, we got a fresh look at the game with a new name, Viewfinder, and a better sense of how this wild technology might play out in a full-featured game.
Stark has been busy since we last caught up with Viewfinder, acquiring a team of collaborators under the Robot Turtle umbrella.
That includes some properly slick, The Witness-adjacent environmental art, which gives the Polaroid effect so much more weight.
He's not just moving cubes and crates around anymore—he's shifting entire buildings and streets.
Stark posted a minute-long video on Twitter under the #PitchYaGame hashtag. It is part of the #PitchYaGame Awards started by Liam Twose last year to put a spotlight on games from indie developers.
The player takes a picture using an instant Polaroid camera, but you can place the picture in a different perspective and transform the image into a 3D manipulable object or a mobile environment.
In the clip accompanying the tweet for Viewfinder, one puzzle shows that a monochrome picture of a bridge can be used to make a real bridge materialize in order to cross a path.
Later on, the clip shows the player taking a picture of some boxes. Taking the Polaroid and turning it upside down, the boxes fall out of the picture onto the ground.
Viewfinder is reminiscent of the ‘forced perspective’ gameplay of Superliminal and the ‘recursive mechanics’ in Maquette.
However, reshaping the world is not just limited to the camera, as other clips show the player able to manipulate and bring to life environments from a painting and even a television display of classic video games.
Viewfinder might still be a ways out with no firm release planned, but it is exciting to know that one day, gamers can step inside to picture-perfect puzzles. (NP)
Tags: #photographypuzzle, #Viewfinder, #games