Game Review: Pupperazzi

Release date: 2022
Version played: Xbox Series X in 2022

An adorable arcade photography simulator from Sundae Month, and published by Kitfox Games, Pupperazzi was released in 2022. In order to try and fill out the Pupperpedia, you are tasked with taking photos of all manner of dogs — all different breeds, doing different activities, wearing different things — across a small handful of levels, each with four separate weather or time of day versions

+ it’s not quite as involved as New Pokémon Snap, but the principle is the same; you find dogs in various situations — having a snooze, eating a banana, riding a bike, etc — and you take photos of them to fulfil various requests
+ the various lenses and filters available make for some fantastic photographs, but generally most of the time a simple short zoom lens and slightly brighter ‘Velvet’ filter gets the best photos for you, the player, to enjoy. I only really used the more wild lenses and filters to fulfil requests.
+ you can dress the dogs up. This is ostensibly used to accommodate for requests – “I want to see a dog observing proper motor scooter safety!” means find a dog wearing a helmet, or put a helmet on a dog – but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find some well posed pups who I just couldn’t resist dressing up for a better photo

Step one: Receive the request.

Step two: Make sure your subject looks their best.

Step three: Work your magic!

– as it stands, a few days after release, the game is very unstable. After my sole 3-hour session of taking some incredible photos, the game has not once worked on my Xbox Series X and that appears to be a wide spread issue. I really wanted to show off my incredible photos
– you don’t play as a human photographer, despite there being humans in the game. You play as a sentient and monstrous living camera with arms and legs. I did not like this

> Yes, you can pet the dogs. You can pet ALL THE DOGS
> This was free on Game Pass, and in that regard it is an absolute must play. However, the price tag in the store of AU$24 is obscenely steep.

Should you play this game: If you can play it on PC or Xbox with Game Pass then give it a go, and I promise you will not regret the few hours or so it takes you to discover what the game has to offer. Otherwise, wait until there is a significant price drop, or a huge content addition to justify paying what it currently costs.