Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together! Review

Forget the big name titles; some of the Nintendo Switch’s best games can be found on its online marketplace! Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together! by Nintendo and SFB Games has to be the standout for me. It’s a simple and adorable local multiplayer game, which is something not commonly found these days. While it was more in common with early days of gaming, now with the rise of online pushing multiplayer gaming to new heights, it’s practically a thing of the past. Thankfully, the appeal of this is something Nintendo really see:  the joy of sitting down with friends and family to play a game and experience it together is still something many people wish to hold onto, and it can be extremely fun too!

Snipperclips is a bit like a team building exercise disguised as a fun and adorable portable game. Much like all team building exercises, you work together for a common goal and find you and your partner’s strengths and weaknesses along the way. The difference with Snipperclips however is at the same time, you realise how frustrating you and your partner find each other and how difficult even the simplest task can be. Soon your happy team building exercise has turned into a whirlwind of betrayal and desperately attempting to cut your friends to pieces. In a good way, of course…

Featuring simple controls and a simple yet extremely delightful art style, the puzzles in Snipperclips are anything but simple at times. Starting off quite easy (for example, in the first puzzle you are presented with dotted lines and are expected to cut your team mate to fill out a shape.) they quickly progress, increasing in difficulty. On occasion this will see you spinning on the spot clipping segments out of your companion trying desperately to fit a shape or solve a puzzle.

My partner and I often ran into the issue of having cut off slightly too much of our bodies to fill the shape, or suffering a fit of random betrayals. Fortunately, the game gives you the ability to reshape, quickly making yourself whole again, or you can simply just take away your most recent mistake if you and your team mate are more calculated snippers. Another small but wonderful feature in Snipperclips is that there is no time limit, so you can take as long as you want to reach your goal. In a way, this is an oddly relaxing experience in what can be a rather turmoil-filled situation.

Puzzles aren’t just about filling shapes though. More often than not, you’ll have to use your shape to overcome obstacles, like getting a basketball into a hoop or spinning your shape to control stationary doppelganger chickens to get an egg to the awaiting nest. The latter of these two examples was almost the start of World War III in my house, with each of us insisting our way was the best way to do it and sentences such as “no, your other left” and “just tilt gently. I said gently, not flip it to Mars!” being used before the inevitable snips of betrayal started.

Snipperclips isn’t just all puzzles though and this is another place where this brilliant little game shines. Remember those several other game modes I mentioned earlier? Well, let’s take the time to look at them, because there’s a little something for those out there who can’t help but snip and clip your partner.

Blitz mode is a game dedicated to competition, for 2-4 players there are numerous ways you can compete with friends. One of these is a battle mode where you must prove you are a cut above the rest by snipping your friends out of existence! Starting out with three lives each you have one simple goal, to be the last shape standing.

Saving the best for last, finally we have party mode. This is a massive 2-4 player cooperative set of puzzles. If you thought coordinating with one other person was like going 12 rounds with a wild Honey Badger, getting three of your friends to listen to you is a real nightmare (nobody would think poorly of you if you just poisoned their cordial now, honest). There is also an option to do this mode with two players, each person controlling two of the shapes, but this proves to be equally as slow as playing the main game as a single player.