Classic children’s card game turned digital and against the clock. Improve your memory under pressure and share your scores on facebook. Here at Droid Gamers, I find it my duty to give a completely unbiased opinion of the games I review. I intend to carry on doing what I think is right, but I shall also try to point out some rather important facts.
Snapper, isn’t exactly a game I’d rave about on twitter, in fact a few followers may remember me complaining a lot about this particular game. Yes, it is a game designed for the younger gamers out there, so as a 23 year old gamer, it’s not designed to be for my age group, and i have taken this into consideration for the majority of the review, but there are some very annoying points that escape the game completely.
First annoying point. When I first installed the game, I was immediately informed it was no longer supported and I should download the other version which was previously a paid app, but made free by popular demand. This is probably my own fault for jumping head first into the Droid Gamers community and picking out a random title from the list to review, so I’ll let this annoying fact slide for now.
Annoying point number 2, the “card packs”. As this is essentially a game of matching pairs, you can choose what type of card to use, whether its flags across the world, or cars, there’s a few packs to keep you occupied which would be a good thing…. if you weren’t left with this….
Every single icon on that screen does absolutely nothing except display a little message saying “card pack installed”, which ironically is annoying point number 3. So, rant aside, it’s time for a review from a slightly different perspective. I’m talking about the view, from a parent or child.
Snapper itself does seem quite inviting to young children, it’s bright, friendly, intuitive. Sure it is just a digital version of matching pairs against a clock, but that’s a good thing. It helps develop memory and hand-eye coordination, and offers a challenge at the same time. The card packs can also be quite educational. For example if you’re using the Flag pack, you can call out the country when you get a new pair. Here’s the usual review layout, going into slightly more depth.
Features:
- 2 Game Modes
- 3 Difficulty Levels
- Bonus Image Packs
- Facebook, Leaderboards
Graphics and audio: This game is certainly more appealing to children and younger gamers, as the whole thing looks very… “story book”. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as for younger people, bright vibrant color and not too much detail are quite friendly and inviting. There isn’t really much to say on graphics as it is literally just a few images you have to match, and card games don’t exactly look good with full 3D OpenGL rendering.. I’m not sure it’s even possible to do it.
The audio side of things is certainly noting to write home about. There’s a “swoosh” sound when you match a pair, an annoying set of beeps when you finish a level, and an even more annoying countdown beep when time is running low. If you really must play this game, I strongly recommend extreme use of the built-in mute option.
Controls and Interface: The main interface is about as simple as it gets for a card game. The main menu itself has very few options, and it’s very well labeled, so it’s very difficult to get lost looking for things. When you’re actually playing the game, there is also very little to distract you from playing. There’s a clock, your score, and the current level. Nothing else to get in your way.
The controls really couldn’t get any easier, simply press on the card, and it flips. Press anothe card and if you have a pair, they disappear. there’s no tricky multi-touch tomfoolery involved, no complicated key presses, just poke it.
Gameplay: The gameplay is very very simple, find a matching pair before the time runs out. If you fail, it’s game over. There isn’t really much replay value unless you want to simply beat your friends using the score board. As a tool for children however, it seems there is a slight educational value to it, such as helping to improve memory by literally trying to remember where the car was last time you saw it.
As a closing statement, while I personally didn’t enjoy the game, please remember I’m a 23 year old gamer. Also I’d like to point out I’m a father. Snapper certainly isn’t a game for me, but if I could trust a child with a $500 miniature copy of my life, my son would certainly find it quite entertaining… at least for a short while.
Overall: 2/5
Developer Website: Warsi Solutions
Direct Market Link: Snapper Memory Pairs
Click QR Code to enlarge for easy scanning: {rokbox}images/stories/QRCodeLibrary/QRSnapper.png{/rokbox}
