I’m a simple man with simple wants, and if you stick a cute dog into a game, you’re going to have my attention. However, what if instead of one dog, there were several, all hanging out in a variety of environments, and all you need to do is pet them, take pictures of them and just simply bask in the whimsy of living in a society where dogs may or may not have replaced humans? That’s unconfirmed, but I’m seeing a lot of dogs and not a lot of people.
Kitfox’s upcoming Pupperazzi looks like such a brilliant game. Like the fantastic pun suggests, you control someone who’s taken it upon themselves to take some lovely pictures of cute puppers, because if you don’t, who will? As you take pictures, you’ll unlock new filters and equipment, while discovering plenty of new breeds of dog along the way. It looks absolutely adorable, and exactly what the world needs.
Without being the guy still bringing up everything that’s happened over the past 18 months, sometimes it’s nice to just have a game that’s just unabashedly adorable. It’s a game that’s perfectly content to offer some wholesome good fun, as you get lost in the sea of cute dogs who totally want to pose for photos, unlike those unreliable real dogs. Looking at you, mum’s french bulldogs.
It also seems to be the latest in a growing trend of games that focus almost purely on photography. Games like New Pokémon Snap, Umurangi Generation and NUTS all center on photography as a core gameplay principle, each varying in how cute/serious they are. While Pokémon Snap isn’t a new concept, the idea of photography in gaming has seemingly allowed developers to incorporate more environmental storytelling in their games.
While only being able to take pictures might, on the face of it, limit players on how they can interact with the world, it plays a huge role in how it supports players to find their own interpretation of the world. For a game like Umurangi Generation, you could focus on the doom and gloom filling the world, which is there for those who want to see it, or you could use your camera to focus on your friends, trying to enjoy themselves in spite of everything around them.
Either way, Pupperazzi has a chance to expose this new genre of gaming to a more mainstream audience. Sure, Pokémon is a huge franchise, but not everyone is going to get out of bed for the opportunity to pop a picture of Pikachu on the ‘Gram, but everyone loves dogs. A game about taking photos of dogs should surely be the perfect mix, and the fact it’s even coming to Xbox Game Pass is like the icing on the cake. There’s no reason for people not to try it. So yeah, all other upcoming games should be cancelled now. Any leftover developers should be put to work ensuring that Pupperazzi arrives as soon as possible (within reason, no crunch, people).
I’m just really excited, okay? This game looks adorable.
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