Wow, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to write up such thorough feedback! And there are really actionable items to me.
Yep, I did think of storing the photos. In fact, I already have the code to save the photos to the computer or photo gallery on the phone. Some screenshots were actually snapshots during my playtest. But I disabled it in the posted game for both technical and privacy reasons. I will rethink keeping this feature in the final game.
As for the spyglass, you don't need it to see the dwarf. To use it to see "things," click on the spyglass, it will be placed on the side of McKenzie's head. Then, my secret "algorithm" of scoring the photos will be revealed! The key objects to be scored may be rendered in solid white with a black outline, like an ink drawing. All the hot spots that my code checks for scoring are shown as tiny hot pink dots. In general, the more pink dots are included in the photo, the higher the score will be, although each dot may have a different weight and even directional weight. Note that Grandma gives McKenzie the spyglass when she says she wants to get a higher score. So, the spyglass has something to do with getting higher scores. Player may or may not be able to figure it out, but it does not affect the game flow in any way, regardless.
With the spyglass turned on, you may also see some random flying particle trail effect, like what Finn (Grandma's golden retriever) sees in the barn intro scene. (The story in the final game will later reveal that Finn has been sneaking into the game so many times that those magical things follow him out of the portal, and they need to do something about it.)
Click on the spyglass again to toggle it on/off anytime. However, as Grandma tells McKenzie, once you take a snapshot, it will disappear for that run. This constraint makes the player to weigh spending more time watching through the spyglass searching for hot spots vs. just capturing the current fleeting moment they don't want to miss.
But I should (and plan to) add more stuff for the player to see with the spyglass, in case the player never looks in the direction of the photo hot spots. Perhaps some collectibles, like spinning coins. :D
Yep, I started making the game solely to, as you say it exactly, "be able to just wander and enjoy looking at beautiful things for the sure joy of it." And I even plan to make those worlds into VR for myself to go in to just chill. :D The photo-scoring was added only to make it more like a game, so it's more likely to be shared with others. Well… I am really glad my game found you!