Behind the Lens is an upcoming game set in the world of Earth published by InsideUp Games and designed by Danielle Reynolds and Charlie Bink.

It shares some of the same DNA as Earth, like closed drafting, but otherwise entirely new mechanisms and gameplay.

The aim is to snap photographs of flora and fauna by adjusting your camera to the required settings for the subject. Your camera has 5 rows and columns of tiles which you’ll manipulate to align setting tiles matching the picture cards in your view finder.

Draft an action card each turn which lets you take a new setting tile and add charge to your battery which you’ll use to slide tiles in your camera to get to the desired setting. Action cards also give you a single use action you can activate at any time during the game – these might help you adjust your camera, but also scout for new pictures or curate your award cards.

This was a real brain burner! The puzzle of getting your camera to the right settings with available charge is challenge enough, but you also need to think about the tile you’re going to finish with in your hand – this will be added to your journal to grow skills which increase the acclaim you’ll gain when taking pictures which use that setting. But remember, taking those settings from your camera reduces the tiles of that type available to to set up for pictures and score that extra acclaim!

The good bits

🧠 A real brain burning strategy puzzle

🧩 Satisfying tile sliding mechanism

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Low player interaction (good or bad, you decide!) with simultaneous gameplay.

🔁 Varying awards and assignments will give plenty of replayability

📸 Super thematic gameplay

The bits to bear in mind

⏪ It’s not easy to keep track of your moves when sliding settings, which can make resetting your turn challenging

🎲 A little bit of luck-based with the picture cards and action cards available to you

This was a prototype copy of the game that doesn’t include the solo mode, but I think with the limited player interaction this will lend itself wonderfully to solo gameplay.

Disclaimer: As this is a prototype, final production will differ. Behind the Lens was kindly loaned to me for review by InsideUp Games, but all thoughts are my own