Thinking with snapshots?

Indie game developer Arthur ‘Mr. Podunkian’ Lee should be awaiting the inevitable recruitment call from Valve, after releasing the tech demo embedded above.

The elusive designer hasn’t confirmed whether the video shows a side-project, a game currently in development or simply some inspired messing around with physics. The tech doesn’t even have a name as yet, with the video simply titled “a screenshot can do things in this tech demo”.

It’s best if you watch for yourself, but essentially Lee takes Valve’s portal ball and runs with it. While portals link two points in space, the screenshot concept links both space and time, so an event can be replayed and manipulated multiple times. The possibilities are mind-boggling, with the prospect of fiendish time-bending puzzling elements of Braid married to the sheer physical problem solving of Valve’s classic.

We await a follow-up with interest.