In Snapshot Adventures you play the role of a bird photographer. You have two main goals in the game: one is to fill your bird book with the best pictures of each species you can find and the other is to complete the campaign. And for a game about bird watching – it’s remarkably entertaining.
The game has over 85 real birds in it, and you have a limit of two stored photos for each. You keep two of your best photos for each bird - one in flight and one that’s stationary. Each photograph is rated in several categories and ratings are based on how well the bird is centered, how much it fills the frame, and its orientation to the camera. You get bonus points if it’s caught in action (preening, calling, eating, playing, or multiple birds). For instance, a simple shot of a cardinal looking at you is worth less than the exact same frame of it eating. The game’s formula scoring is excellent (and fair) at determining what is or is not a good shot. You can also receive demerits if your picture is too dark or the bird image is cropped.
As you take each picture you are assigned a star value and this is where a simple but clever game mechanic is introduced. After you take your set of pictures from a scene, you’re taken to the field journal. The previous best picture is displayed with its point value, while each “new” picture is superimposed next to it. You have no information on the “new” picture, so you’ve got to make a tough decision based on the point system listed above. Sometimes it’s easy to tell which one is better, often it’s a really close call and you end up losing points and having a less technically astute photo in your book. As you progress through the story and fill out your journal, you become addicted trying to beat your last point scores. This is the kind of gratification you get for a real “job well done”. There aren’t a ton of games out there that can legitimately give you this sense of satisfaction. Of course having your entire game permanently documented with photos is... perfect.
The campaign story itself is fine; just don’t expect an epic tale. You’re following in the footsteps of your grandfather who was a well known ornithologist. He disappeared in a plane crash while hunting a new species of bird. You go to some 18 or so locations and meet up with characters that fill you in on the mystery. Each location has birds that are realistic for that locale and each presents its own set of challenges - or just a new view. As you progress you get rewards for completing missions to help you take better pictures. Since there’s a short time limit that makes getting good shots difficult, add-ons like coffee (slows time) & stopwatch (halts time) help you compensate.
Scenarios can either be at night or during the day and you can choose to take pictures at night with no aids, but a flash attachment or night vision help. You also earn extras that help coerce the birds into more valuable action shots. Birdseed gets them to eat, a mirror gets them to preen; you get the idea. Since you only have six inventory slots (and some items take up two slots), you have to pay attention to your locale and mission goals to outfit yourself appropriately.
When you’ve completed a few missions in the story, it unlocks the Create-A-Bird feature. For just a casual game, this mode is fantastic. You have 18 classes of birds you can create, and within each class you can change most of the anatomical features and colors of a bird. For those of you who forgot your biology lessons, species is a subset of class. So you can hop in the Songbird class and by changing the shapes and colors, create a robin or a purple martin. There are millions of possibilities and the best part is you can upload your creations with the simple click of a button.
The developers use a server that stores all the birds that have been submitted. It also keeps track of how many pictures were taken of each. So far I’ve not seen my numbers go up, but it could be because there are a zillion birds out there already. In a way, if you come across your own bird, it’s like winning your own lottery. You do get the chance to photograph your bird after you upload it, but only for one (the first) photo session. Don’t make the same mistake I did and miss this singular opportunity after submission. The map will point out what habitat your bird will reside in, and when you load it, five to ten other user-made birds will also join your own. After that it’s just the luck of the draw. The create-a-bird area is separate from the main story, so there’s no concern of alien birds ending up in your home state.
