No battles, no type matchups, no levelling. You sit on a moving cart and take photographs of Pokémon living their lives in the wild. New Pokémon Snap is one of the most genuinely low-stress options on the entire Switch platform, and for a child who loves animals and wants to feel like they are in a Pokémon world without the pressure of combat, it is a lovely pick. It landed outside the main list because the appeal is narrower than the ten above it. If your child specifically loves Pokémon and would rather observe than battle, this moves up considerably.

Overview
About New Pokémon Snap
New Pokémon Snap is an on-rails first-person photography game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. It is a sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap. Players explore an archipelago in an autopilot hovercraft and photograph Pokémon in order to conduct research about their ecology.
Story setup
A budding Pokémon photographer travels to the lush and varied Lental region, invited by the esteemed Professor Mirror and his assistant Rita to join their ecological research. Working from the Laboratory of Ecological and Natural Sciences, the player is sent out across the region's islands to observe and photograph Pokémon thriving in their natural habitats, from jungles and deserts to reefs and caves. But the survey has a deeper purpose. The professor is investigating the mysterious Illumina phenomenon, a strange, glowing radiance that certain Pokémon and rare flowers exhibit, a wonder last documented in an explorer's travelogue a full century ago. Venturing through each island by day and night, the photographer sets out to capture these elusive creatures on film and help unravel the long-forgotten secret behind the luminous phenomenon.
Reference
At a glance
- Released
- April 29, 2021
- Platforms
- Nintendo Switch
- Genres
- Simulation, Adventure
- Play modes
- Single Player
- Age rating
- ESRB E
Media
Screenshots
Click any screenshot to view it full size.
Playing together
Multiplayer & game modes
New Pokémon Snap offers various play modes for different gaming experiences.
Play Modes
Single Player
Content
Age ratings
How rating boards around the world have classified New Pokémon Snap. Open a board for its content descriptors.
ACBG
CEROA
CLASS_INDL
ESRBE
GRACALL
PEGI3
USK0
Also in our guides
Often listed alongside New Pokémon Snap
Titles that appear in the same guides on this site. Grouped by where they show up, not by recommendation.
Coverage
Featured in our articles
This game appears in 1 article on this site.
#12
Game data and imagery provided by IGDB.com
