Game review: Snapshot

What is Snapshot?

If you ever fancied yourself as Nick Brandt, searching for that rare giant red panda to snap a photograph that will adorn magazine covers, then this is the game for you!  In Snapshot you play a wildlife photographer out on assignment trying to capture enough photographs to win the respect and admiration of your peers. Your photography work takes place in three stages; first you research a range of habitats like savannah and rainforests searching for an animal to capture, before preparing for that perfect shot by allocating your resources (dice) to habitats and animals. Finally, you take a photograph hoping the dice land in your favour, and you managed to click the camera before the animal bolted. Each photographer has a secret assignment from their publisher, like searching for the rare white rhino or capturing as many reptiles as possible for a feature article. This adds some strategic depth to your researching and snapping!

Is it fun?

Yes! At its heart Snapshot is tactical game about taking a chance. Each turn you are given six dice which you can allocate to exploring a habitat or taking a picture of an animal you have researched.  For example, you have located a golden eagle in the mountain range. You first need to enter the mountains, this requires a roll of four on a single die. Then, to capture the eagle, you need a score of eight from the cumulative score of as many dice as you like. The question is how many of your six dice do you allocate to the mountain and how many to the eagle? The game’s tactical element comes through the use of tracking tokens to push luck on your side (the intrepid photographer takes their time). As well as the secret assignments, there are bonuses on offer for capturing certain groups of animals. The first photographer to snap three animals from the Savannah gets seven extra prestige, for example. The decisions around which animals to go for and their worth (prestige) to the magazine add further depth.

Is it educational?

The game is based around four habitat areas and each of the species in the game broadly align to these areas. The game cards have a small collection of symbols which convey scientific details such as average lifespan, diet, place in the food-chain, all of which provide some useful information, especially to the younger player. The game’s difficulty system also hints at the rarity of a species, for example you need a score of eight to capture a white rhino picture, but only a three for the more common meerkat.

Conclusion

At its heart this is a family friendly fun game, it has a perfect amount of strategy for this target audience. The question is, do you collect some low prestige species to fill the magazine cover, or go ‘all-in’ to try and capture the rare and highly prestigious mountain gorilla?

Dr Louise Robinson is Lecturer in Forensic Biology and Dr Ian Turner an Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching, both at the University of Derby.