Snipping-and-Cliping with Snipperclips Plus
As Snipperclips Plus so vividly proves, charming and original indie games can be among a console’s best offerings. This cooperative multiplayer game elegantly blends unique puzzle-solving with addictive, clear-cut gameplay. It’s fresh, it’s fun, and now is available at retail.
The small team at SFB Games, in collaboration with Nintendo, have produced one of the most clever and imaginative games to come along in recent memory. This expanded version of the original Eshop game includes more than 30 new stages, new challenges and new features. Get ready to spend hours upon hours of fun with you and up to three of your friends with Snipperclips Plus.
Game Details
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: SFB Games
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Puzzle
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Say hello to Snip and Clip
The lovable duo of Snip and Clip is who you’ll play as in Snipperclips Plus. Both Snip and Clip have a strong resemblance to popsicles, and they are every bit as charming as they look. From the get-go both Snip and Clip’s personalities shine. Clip sports a rather dapper bow tie, and Snip is sassy with her knee-high boots and fashionable scarf.
My favorite aspect of these two characters is the fact that they are expressive without saying a single word. They giggle and jiggle if they brush up against each other, smirk playfully as they lop pieces off each other and even put on a sour puss face when squeezing down low. I feel like I could reach into the screen and squeeze them! They are so irresistibly cute.
Snipping your way to victory
Snipperclips Plus‘ central gameplay draws on the staple of most childhood memories, cutting coloured construction paper into various shapes and sizes. In this addictive puzzle game, you’ll snip and clip each other to form a variety of shapes to solve the game’s many puzzles and challenges. It’s easy to do, just overlap one character with another and it will trim them down to size.
When you first start the game, There is a brief 10-minute tutorial to help get you started out. Aside from that, there are no other tips or instructions given. While this may sound like a bad thing, it’s actually quite good. I found that by doing this, Sniperclips Plus forces you to be creative, experiment and, most of all, have fun.
A world of fun with new content
World mode is where the bulk of Snipperclips Plus’ content lies. This 1-2 player mode takes you through five worlds, each with 15 levels to complete, for a total of 75 levels in all. For the first three worlds, you’ll have access to nine puzzles in each world, of which you need to successfully pass five in order to unlock the remainder.
Complete ten puzzles in any given world and you’ll be allowed to move on to the next. This allows you to pick and choose puzzles that interest you, as well as bypass those giving you a hard time. Puzzles are quite varied, too, and while some are founded on the same core mechanics, no two puzzles challenge you the same way.
Some puzzles require you to rotate and snip the characters to form certain objects, while others task you with activities like dunking a basketball through a hoop. There are more creative levels, too, including one called “Princess Power-up,” which is set-up like a classic arcade game. Here, my partner and I had to cut a safe path through material while avoiding enemies, enabling the princess to collect three diamonds. You also have to use your head, literally, to move the princess using a joystick suspended from the ceiling.
The 30 new levels contained in Snipperclips Plus don’t just build on previous levels. They contain many new ideas as well such as using a cannon to blow apart a jar and stopping four cars at the correct zones simultaneously. It’s these creative scenarios, which make Snipperclips Plus quickly become addictive.
Communication is the key to being successful
Effective communication is key in Sniperclips Plus‘ co-operative multiplayer modes. I found it most effective to talk my way though the puzzle out loud, so that my partner and I could work our way through the puzzles. Often times this results in hilarity.
In one scenario, my partner and I had to catch a hopping frog and reunite it with its babies on the other side of a wall. In order to catch the bouncy critter, my friend and I came up with a plan to carve ourselves into a pot and a lid. Verbally walking through the steps to mold ourselves into these shapes was amusing enough, but trying to capture the unruly creature turned out to be even funnier.
Get the party started
If you are looking to mix things up, the game has a Party mode, which adds two more players into the mix (for a total of four). You begin with a base list of 12 Party levels, and nine more can be unlocked after you beat World mode. Snipperclips Plus adds an entire world of levels to Party mode, which are beefed up challenges of levels from the first five worlds.
Party levels offer more complex puzzles specifically created for groups. Again, your collaborative efforts are put to the test as you and your friends work together to solve original puzzles even more elaborate than before. While Party mode is designed for four players, it’s also possible to play it with just two.
In this case each person controls two characters, and you swap between them by pressing the “Y” button. You can place a character in any desired position, and when you swap out, they’ll retain that pose until you regain control. Party mode is obviously more fun with four players, but that requires four people with four controllers to be in the same room (there’s no online option).
Arcade style fun with your buddies in Blitz Mode
For even more fun, Snipperclips Plus includes a 2-4-player light competitive mode called Blitz, featuring a total of six mini-games: Basketball, Hockey, Dojo, Roundup, Territory, and Keepaway. My friends and I would often visit this area to unwind after having our fill of puzzles and enjoy Blitz’s relaxed arcade-style gameplay.
One of my favourite mini-games is Hockey. If you like air hockey, then you will love this mini-game. Here, you’ll hit a puck back and forth trying to outsmart your opponent with fast ricocheting shots to score in your opponent’s net.
With two players, the action plays out much like a standard game of air hockey, but at four players the game really gets intense. Like Pong, every hit makes the puck move faster, so matches quickly become a test of reflexes. You’re also able to snip off pieces of other players using the same cutting mechanic used in the puzzle modes, adding a whole new layer of strategy into the mix.
Let your creative juices flow with Stamp Mode
New to Snipperclips Plus is Stamp Mode. In this relaxing mode, you dip your character into various colours and paint a picture. Cutting into different shapes allows you to create some rather interesting designs.
This mode really allows you to be creative with out the worry of having to complete objectives. It is truly amazing what you can create when you put your mind to it.
Final Thoughts
Snipperclips Plus is a blast to play, no matter if you go it alone or bring along up to three of your friends. The gameplay is very accessible, and since it only uses a handful of buttons on the Joy-Con controller it’s not too intimidating for very casual players to get started.
What’s more, the game tests your puzzle-solving skills in challenging and creative ways, making you think and laugh at the same time. Without a doubt, Snipperclips Plus will give you hours of enjoyment at a very affordable price.
+ Charming characters, whimsical music, and colorful hand-drawn graphics
+ Intuitive accessible gameplay
+ One of the best multiplayer games on the Nintendo Switch
– Little reason to revisit levels once you have beaten them
OVERALL
Gameplay: 5/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 3.75/5
Overall Rating 4.2/5 (84%)
Get Snipperclips Plus or Snipperclips Plus Digital Download for Nintendo Switch
