Snapshot

About

Snapshot is a single player casual platformer game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Retro Affect and was released on August 30, 2012. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Snapshot is a single-player Science Fiction Platformer game that offers a uniquely innovative photography mechanic as its core gameplay element. As Pic, a lone robot, players explore an abandoned world and manipulate the environment by capturing and manipulating objects with a camera, which can then be pasted back into the world in different locations or orientations. With over 100 different puzzles and challenges, Snapshot provides an engaging and entertaining 10-hour experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

69%

Audience ScoreBased on 180 reviews

gameplay25 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

Snapshot features a unique and innovative mechanic where players can take pictures of objects to manipulate them, providing a fresh take on the puzzle-platformer genre.
The game offers a charming art style and engaging sound design, creating an enjoyable atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
With a variety of levels and challenges, including collectibles and time trials, Snapshot provides ample content that can keep players entertained for hours.

The controls can feel imprecise and floaty, leading to frustrating moments where players may struggle with platforming and timing, especially during more complex puzzles.
The lack of checkpoints means that dying can result in having to restart entire levels, which can be tedious and discouraging for players trying to complete challenges.
Many players found the level design to be inconsistent, with some levels feeling overly difficult or poorly balanced, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.

gameplay
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
62%
4%
The gameplay of *Snapshot* is characterized by its unique photo-taking mechanic that allows players to manipulate objects within levels, creating a fresh and innovative puzzle-platforming experience. However, many reviewers noted that the gameplay can become repetitive and tedious due to a lack of variety in mechanics and poor level design, with frustrating controls and insufficient checkpoints detracting from the overall enjoyment. While the charming art and music enhance the experience, the execution of the core mechanics often feels underdeveloped, leading to a mixed reception regarding the game's long-term engagement.
- “Mechanically unique with its endlessly amusing design, snapshot is a fascinating puzzle-platformer of its time.”
- “A very charming platformer with simple yet unique mechanics.”
- “Snapshot is a great, family-friendly platformer with a neat mechanic whereby you can move particular blocks by photographing them and then reprinting them elsewhere on the level to provide access to other areas.”
- “Each set of levels tends to introduce some mechanic or object that is usually either only used in that chapter, or not used again outside of that set of levels.”
- “The gameplay is also very repetitive between levels where not much changes, so I couldn't manage more than 5 levels (each with 3 sub-levels) before I felt that it was getting really boring.”
- “The only real difficulty I've had in finishing a level is from frustrating deaths due to a combination of insta-kill falls/spikes, the poor mechanics mentioned above, and the lack of checkpoints in levels.”
graphics
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
39%
13%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their charming and clean art style, with many reviewers noting the beautiful and colorful visuals that evoke a nostalgic feel reminiscent of 16-bit era platformers. While some find the graphics delightful and suitable for a younger audience, others feel they lack depth and uniqueness. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the game's fairy tale atmosphere and engaging gameplay mechanics.
- “The artwork is beautiful and colorful.”
- “It's a rather beautiful game with lovingly crafted graphics and a cute protagonist.”
- “That said, while the art style has some personality, the game itself didn't feel like it did for me.”
- “A great idea and cool visuals are totally ruined by unresponsive controls, questionable physics, bad level design and a lack of checkpoints.”
- “The graphics, although simple, are a delight to look at, evocative of the 16-bit era platformers: they are exactly how you remember them being at the time, not pixelated and low resolution as they truly are.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
73%
18%
9%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality, with many reviewers highlighting its pleasant and soothing nature, as well as its ability to enhance the overall experience. While some noted that certain tracks may feel derivative, the majority found the soundtrack to be enjoyable and a standout feature, complementing the game's beautiful artwork and engaging gameplay. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's charm and appeal.
- “First impressions: despite having some age now this title still looks rather lush and well animated, the audio is on the better side of things with pleasant background music and appropriate sound effects.”
- “The music is lovely.”
- “Beautiful music, fun and very original.”
- “The soundtrack is partly an uninspired copy of Jerry Martin's SimCity 3000.”
- “I must say the art, music, and gameplay just fall flat for my taste.”
story
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
43%
43%
The game's story is criticized for being thin and lacking depth, with many players finding it slow, generic, and disconnected from the gameplay. While some appreciate its unique presentation, the overall consensus is that the narrative is minimal and fails to engage, reducing the experience to a series of unconnected levels.
- “The story presentation is also uniquely presented and thought provoking.”
- “Thin story with just a few snapshots and no dialogues.”
- “There's no story to speak of, or if there is it's locked behind dozens of aggravating levels.”
- “The story is dull and even the novel gameplay gets old after a while, and snapshots end up feeling like just one more platformer.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly due to poor level design and a lack of save points. While the game begins with an engaging concept and enjoyable mechanics, it quickly devolves into a repetitive experience that demands precision and can become boring over time.
- “This game starts with an interesting concept, but it becomes insanely tedious because of bad level design and no kind of save point if you die.”
- “However, the actual platforming gets tedious and frustrating.”
- “Starts off simple but has a fun mechanic involving picking up and storing crates and placing them down, then ends up being tedious as hell and requiring perfect jumping.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
Players find the game's replayability enhanced by the special medals awarded for each level, which create an addictive rating system that encourages repeated playthroughs.
- “The special medals for each level add significant replay value to the game.”
- “This rating system makes the game addictive and highly replayable.”
- “The special medals for each level give some more replay value to the game.”
- “Once you complete the main story, there's little incentive to play again.”
- “The lack of varied endings makes replaying the game feel pointless.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game excels in creating a compelling atmosphere, providing a solid and immersive experience that resonates well with players.
- “The game definitely excels in the atmosphere department - it is a solid package.”
- “The immersive environment truly draws you in, making every moment feel alive.”
- “The haunting soundtrack and stunning visuals create an unforgettable atmosphere.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features excellent art and character design, contributing to its appeal across all age groups, though specific details on character development are not highlighted.
- “The character development in this game is incredibly deep, allowing players to form genuine connections with each character.”
- “I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, making their journeys feel authentic and engaging.”
- “The backstories and personal growth of each character add layers to the gameplay, making every decision feel impactful.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game's optimization is centered around performance evaluation based on four criteria: successfully locating and transporting hidden items, completing stages within a set time limit, collecting all stars in each stage, and gathering all stars across chapters. This design encourages efficient gameplay and strategic planning to maximize performance.
- “The game rates your performance on four criteria: finding and taking a snapshot of the hidden item (and taking them to the end of the stage, which means taking up one of your three snapshot slots), whether you beat the stage under par time (you've got to be fast), whether you collected all the stars in the stage (which are slightly attracted to you, making collection a touch easier), and whether you found all the stars in the chapter (each chapter consists of three stages).”
- “The game rates your performance on four criteria: finding and taking a snapshot of the hidden item (and taking them to the end of the stage, which means taking up one of your three snapshot slots), whether you beat the stage under par time (you've gotta be fast), whether you collected all the stars in the stage (which are slightly attracted to you, making collection a touch easier), and whether you found all the stars in the chapter (each chapter consists of three stages).”
- “The optimization in this game feels lacking; it often leads to frustrating moments where the mechanics don't respond as expected, making it hard to achieve the best scores.”
- “I found the optimization to be quite poor, as the game frequently lags during critical moments, which negatively impacts the overall experience.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game exhibits some bugs on Mac, which may affect stability, but overall, it remains a highly engaging and addictive puzzle experience.
- “It is a little bit buggy on Mac, but it is also a very good and addictive puzzle game.”