Pupperazzi review: A polaroid-sized distraction

It's rare to find games that let you kick back in today's action-heavy offerings, but Pupperazzi, from Sundae Month and Kitfox Games, is one of the few titles that dares to be an exception.

It is a peaceful exploration adventure game about clicking photos. You play as a walking camera (that's right), determined to grow popular via the power of photography and social media! It's an odd concept but also quite charming.

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Step into Pupperazzi's doggo paradise

Taking place across a handful of uniquely-themed cel-shaded areas, the game encourages our cameraman to explore the environment at his own pace. The highlight of the title is the variety of adorable canines littered across the map (including hidden ones tucked away in corners).

Fluffy and cuddly (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

These lovely critters respond to your interactions, like following you after being petted or picking up thrown items like frisbees. Initially, players will start off in a cove, where they will be taught the ropes of the game - from controls to progression, and finally, photography.

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Say Cheese!

Each level varies in theme and scope (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

The protagonist can move around freely in the 3D environment and also obtains double-jumping ability near the start of the game to allow for easier platforming. There are only five different areas and all of them are pretty small. However, they do offer a decent sense of verticality. And these pockets of space aren’t really wasted either, for they often hide items or "Bonks" to find.

Platofrming is key to seeing all that each area has to offer (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

The former includes goodies for the pups to interact and play with, such as sticks, frisbees, tennis balls, wind-up car toys, and more. Bonks, meanwhile, are golden bones and act as a currency of sorts to purchase new items from the vendors dotted around each map.

Speaking of the levels themselves, there are five: Cove, Boardwalk, Muttopolis, Mellostone, and a final one that I won't spoil because it’s pretty unexpected.

Bark for the camera! (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

Since the game is all about clicking pictures, players can employ different types of lenses and filters to spice up their photos. The Fish-Eye Lens was my go-to equippable since it has a large field-of-view, but since it can’t zoom in much, I had to resort to the standard or shorter lenses when needed. Films also range from standard black-and-white to all shades of single-color tints and inverted colors.

They're weird but cool (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

Progression is also easy to grasp: Upon arrival on each map, players will obtain a handful of requests from NPCs (non-player characters). Completing these objectives rewards players with bonks and new followers on DogNet, the game’s social media platform. Uploading pictures will also garner comments from fans and, depending upon the type of the subject in the photo, earn you points.

Show off your photography skills on DogNet (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

These points are then added to a series of respective gauges that the picture’s subject matter correlates to. Take a photo with different mutts lounging about? You’ll get a point for the Group Pic category. Snap a shot when jumping? The Extreme category gauge goes up a little. Capture moments without any dogs in it, and the No Dogs gauge increases. New areas and items can eventually be unlocked by meeting a specified number of follower requirements.

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I spy a good boy

Woof! (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

The main motive for capturing the cute dogs in action are the aforementioned objectives - these range from photographing a dog with a certain lens or filter to patiently waiting for the right moment of animation to be triggered to snap a shot. For example, you might need to photograph two dogs with a bone each in their jaws. Or, you might need to snap a dog’s photo when they're asleep.

Take your pick (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

There are several different types of dogs in the game, including dalmatians, pitbulls, borzois, corgies, dachshunds, golden retrievers, collies, and more. Most of the popular breeds seem to be here. They can also eventually be outfitted with different accessories such as hats, collars, and dresses to make them more photogenic.

Can it get any cuter than this? (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

There is even a Puppypedia that keeps track of the dogs and other activities captured in the frame, but there is no incentive for the player to continue. In fact, there’s no point in purchasing the extra lenses and films when you can get by perfectly fine with what you have. In a nutshell, they are cosmetic.

Paired with a colorful cast of NPC requesters, wonderful puppers and increasingly expansive and whacky environments, it all makes for a decent diversion. Unfortunately, for everything it does well, there are a few shortcomings as well.

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Not enough meat on the bones

Look at them stylish outfits (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

Pupperazzi is a very short game - you’ll see all it has to offer in two to three hours max. As such, the game’s base asking price of $20 is too steep, considering the barebones content and shallow systems. While you could stick around and take some more pictures, why would you?

The dogs themselves, while cute, exhibit mostly rudimentary behavior. I’m not expecting this game to be a Nintendogs replacement by any stretch, but they don’t do anything beyond follow and stand/walk around. Certain items can be used to make them enact the animation you want, such as sleep or face a given direction, but again, there’s no foundation here to make that effort worthwhile.

On that note, the final area is very disappointing for how unique it is - there’s not much to see there.

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Graphics and performance

The game runs well without any hiccups (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

The game was reviewed on a PC having the following specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core i5-8300H @3.9 GHz
• RAM: 8 GB DDR4 @2333 MHz
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 4 GB
• Storage: 500 GB NVMe SSD

From a technical standpoint, it's a simplistic game, with a clean and simple artstyle depicting small areas that don't have much going on in them. There should be no trouble running it on any system that's even remotely contemporary.

The game is not completely free of bugs either. A couple of times, I found that the followers progression objective refused to update upon completion.

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Conclusion

Sweet but short and forgettable (Screenshot from Pupperazzi)

Then again, the same could be said for the game as a whole - strip back the lovely exterior, and you’re left with a shallow ecosystem which loses its charm quickly due to the repetitive gameplay loop. Akin to the countless snaps you’ll take, Pupperazzi is a short-lived moment that’s fun to remember but fades away into the labyrinthine recesses of memory.

The game is now part of Xbox Game Pass, so subscribers of the service can give it a shot. For the rest, we recommend you grab this one on discount if you really love dogs.

Final Verdict (Image via Sportskeeda)

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PUPPERAZZI

Reviewed on: PC.

Platform(s): Windows, Xbox One & Series X|S.

Developer(s): Sundae Month.

Publisher(s): Kitfox Games.

Release Date: January 20, 2022.