Where to get it

2022 · Sundae Month · Adventure · Indie

Pupperazzi

Timed Xbox exclusive

Who will photograph, pet, and tell these dogs they're good boys and girls if you don't?? The world NEEDS you in Pupperazzi, the dog photography game!

Released: 20 January 2022
Platforms: Nintendo Switch Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X/S macOS
Genres: Adventure Indie Photography Simulation
Developers: Sundae Month
Publishers: Kitfox Games
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: First person
Themes: Action Kids
Age ratings: PEGI 3 ESRB E GRAC 15+ACB PG
Languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish (Spain), Turkish
Time to beat: 2hmain story4hcompletionist

About

Pupperazzi is a photography game developed by Sundae Month and published by Kitfox Games. The game was released on January 20, 2022 for macOS, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Nintendo Switch port was released on April 6, 2023. Players control a humanoid camera, earning followers by taking photos and sharing them on the in-game social media site, dogNET. Pupperazzi received mixed reviews upon release.

›Story

Welcome To Your Life As A Freelance Pupperazzo

Snap photos of dogs while maintaining your social media presence. Will you hound celebrities in public, or would you rather be taken seriously as an artist? Perhaps you just want to show your friends the cute dog you saw while you were out. It's your choice which direction your career goes, don't screw up!

Dodge between people and obstacles as you try to capture canine beauty on everlasting digital photos. Double jump across buildings to get that lucrative shot of a local dog celebrity just trying to live their life. Slow motion zooming helps capture mid-air moments that actually make you feel something.

When you finally give up your dreams of a stable life as a photographer, commiserate with other amateurs through local multiplayer dog-spotting competitions.

True beauty comes from within, but we think in-game photos are major competitors.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Pupperazzi is a photography game played in a first-person view. Players control a humanoid camera, earning followers by taking photos and sharing them on the in-game social media site, dogNET. Players get feedback on photos that they share on dogNET, receiving comments from their followers. Photos can be shared as many times as the player wants, but sharing too many results in followers calling them spam.

To progress through the game, the player needs to earn followers, which unlocks upgrades, locations, and different times of the day. Players can accept photo requests, which are rewarded with golden bones and followers upon completion. Golden bones are used to buy upgrades from vending machines, enabling the player to complete more complex photo requests.

Development

Pupperazzi was developed by indie studio Sundae Month. The idea of the game was created during an internal game jam as an arcade-style photography game. Development lasted from late 2018 to 2019, but the project was later scrapped. The team liked the game's concept and revived the project in 2019 to work more on it. Lead developer Isobel Shasha stated that the team wanted to preserve multiplayer, but it became "too complicated" and "just ultimately wasn't possible".

The game was announced by a trailer on May 24, 2019, with a later release date on Steam that same year. On August 25, 2020, Kitfox Games was announced as the publisher of Pupperazzi during the Wholesome Snack showcase of the Wholesome Games event. On June 12, 2021, a trailer was released during the Wholesome Direct of E3 2021, showing off a location called Muttropolis. On August 10, 2021, the game was confirmed to launch on Xbox One and be available for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Reception

Pupperazzi received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Jill Grodt of Game Informer gave the game a 7.25/10, describing it as a "wonderful game to jump into", but believed that the game didn't always convey things clearly. GameSpot's Jessica Howard gave the game a 5/10, praising the game's concept, but criticizing the overall experience, calling it "incredibly empty". She also criticized the roughness of the frame rate, the jerkiness of the camera, and the lack of content in the game. Marcus Estrada, reviewing for Hardcore Gamer, gave the game a 3.5/5, saying that the game "immediately impresses", but was disappointed by the lack of content.