Take your mind back to 2017. The Nintendo Switch was launching with no small amount of hype but was rather light on launch titles. Then along came Snipperclips, a simple yet enjoyable co-op puzzle game that turned into quite the hit during the Switch launch year, winning multiple awards like IGN's best puzzle game of 2017 and being nominated for a ton more awards and accolades. The same year, we saw it get some pretty beefy DLC with the Plus Pack and with that, cemented itself not only as a great puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch, but arguably one of the best games on the console.
Snipperclips is a puzzle game that revolves around cooperation and experimentation. Players take control of Snip and Clip, two colourful paper buddies who use their ability to snip each other into shape to solve puzzles across 45 levels, with an extra 40 with the DLC Plus Pack. That's a nice amount of puzzles!
Snipperclips doesn't mess about with plot or complicated mechanics, instead giving players a few simple tools to solve the increasingly difficult puzzles. The main gimmick of Snipperclips comes from the ability to reshape your body to fit your needs. By overlapping the characters' bodies, one player can cut away the overlapping portion and reshape them into whatever they need to solve the puzzles. This ranges from fitting into smaller spaces, creating hook-like shapes to catch and carry an item, or a point to burst a balloon and hit a button. In addition to that, you can rotate a full 360 degrees and jump on top of your partner to come up with a myriad of creative ways to solve whatever the game throws your way.
Honestly, it's very satisfying when your freaky haphazard shapes turn out to be the perfect puzzles solving tool, and Snipperclips encourages that creative and slightly chaotic fun in a way that feels natural and rewarding, making it a joy to experiment and test out shapes and methods, especially on later levels. It helps too that the game's art style is clean, cute, and colourful, resembling something a child would make for an art project.
Whilst possible to play single player but swapping back and forth between characters, Snipperclips is absolutely made to be played with a friend. The very nature of the game empathises teamwork and clear communication, and working alongside your buddy or partner makes the joy of that "aha" moment when you figure out the answer so much more satisfying. It also leads to funny and sometimes ridiculous arguments and discussions. I can't tell you how many times I'd laugh my way through frustratingly telling my friend how I wanted him to cut my character, but that's part of the fun in a game like Snipperclips. Plus, it is a fantastic game for parents and kids to enjoy together.
On top of that, there is a host of 4 player puzzles in party mode, which admittedly are a bit too hectic at times, and a VS mode with interesting twists on games like Hockey and Basketball to fill out the game with some extra content and a bit of variety.
There are always a few issues when it comes to arts and crafts projects, and the same can be said for Snipperclips, even if they are minor ones. For one, the controls can be a bit finicky at times and can feel a bit irritating. When you're trying to find a solution, it can feel like the game is wrestling with you when you are just trying to finish up. The soundtrack is… well it can get annoying after a while. It's fine the first few loops, and by no means is it a bad soundtrack, it just starts to grind after spending more time than you'd like trying to solve a puzzle. Do they ruin the experience? Not at all, but they are annoyances that can sometimes dampen the fun nevertheless.
Snipperclips Plus: Cut It Out Together is a great puzzle game that’s got a healthy dose of experimentation, style, and variety that makes it a great game to enjoy with friends and for the price point, it's frankly an absolute steal.
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