Game: Pupperazzi
Genre: Adventure, Simulation
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows, macOS) and Xbox One/X/S)
Developer | Publisher: Sundae Month | Kitfox Games
Age Rating: US Everyone | EU 3+
Price: US $19.99 | UK £17.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: April 6th, 2023
Review code used, with many thanks to Popagenda PR.
Pupperazzi is a first-person photography game all about dogs. Take creative, cute and action shots to publish on dogNET and increase your social media following.
Will the playful pups make perfect poses, or will it be a photo failure, and my followers fade?
Your New Career – A Pupperazzo
The game launches straight into your first objective, a request to take a photo of a very cute Bichon Frise called Sea Dog. On-screen instructions explain how to move and use the camera.
With a successful photo, the objective goes gold, and you get a reward; it could be another request, some in-game cash (which are golden bones called bonks) or a new ability. Some objectives require the use of additional items (e.g. sticks or bones), and you need to find these within the location or from the shop.
Generally, it was relatively easy to understand and meet the objective, but a few took me more than one attempt. However, I completed others without realising what I’d done!
One of the most adorable aspects is the ability to pet the dogs. With a very stretchy arm, you can reach out and give them a pat – it’s so cute!
dogNET
The one thing the game doesn’t explain (or maybe I missed the instruction), is to load your best (or worst) shots onto the social media platform dogNet. This will gain you followers, who (similar to real life) will pass judgement on your photo. You must gain followers to open up new areas and special requests.
Your first target is to gain five followers. This will give you access to the shop and vending machines dotted around the various locations.
There are different types of followers, each wanting specific types of photos. The shop sells lots of different lenses and numerous film types, and eventually, you will have access to different times of day, which all help to meet your followers’ demands.
However, not all the techniques will please all your supporters. Load too many photos, and it becomes spam, and you will not gain any new followers.
Puppypedia
I like collecting things and was delighted to find that Pupperazzi has a puppypedia which needs completing.
Not only does it contain the different breeds of dogs but also actions, emotions and outfits.
Unfortunately, the order of the puppypedia is very confusing. It would be easier if it were split into different categories. However, I like the way it tells you what the required photo is about.
Fashion!
You can’t change your character, but you can put outfits on the dogs. From sweaters to rain boots, from bow ties to party hats – there is a wide selection to ensure the pooches look their best!
The World of Pupperazzi
There are five main locations in Pupperazzi, each with its own distinct and different vibe. You start at the lighthouse, and eventually, when you have enough followers, you can go to the moon (which does have lower gravity when jumping).
You can leave an area at any point; you don’t need to complete all the objectives first. On returning to a location, you will have some new objectives to complete, although eventually, the requests run out. However, you can still take photos and load them to dogNet.
The other locations on the map are home and shop. Home is the only place to view your gallery of saved photos and check the puppypedia.
Gameplay
The controls are shown on-screen at the start, but I didn’t find using the camera (which uses ZL & ZR) totally intuitive. However, there are some excellent options to help gamers, like autorun and reducing movement speed. It was also possible to stop movement whilst taking photos, but as the dogs sometimes ran towards the camera, I found it frustrating not to be able to back away a bit.
The game autosaves after a completed objective or when returning to the map. However, to ensure that the puppypedia updates, it’s best to quit the game when on the map. The text is slightly small for handheld, with no touchscreen functionality.
It took a couple of hours to get to the credits but about 6-8 hours to complete all the objectives and puppypedia.
Conclusion
Pupperazzi is a relaxing and charming game to play. The overall adorable nature of playing with, patting and taking photos of all the different dogs easily outweighs a couple of frustrations within the game.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot 