Paparazzi Snapshot

In a somewhat ironic twist, the paparazzi seem to be almost as talked about as the celebrities they get paid to 'pap' these days. Which, if nothing else, makes Paparazzi Snapshot a topical game.

And to our moral-free ears it sounds like an appealing one, too. Snapping virtual Britneys and Winehouses then selling their pictures to the highest bidders – it seems like a suitably debauched and voyeuristic way to while away the hours, if you ask us.

Of course, being a mobile game there are a few limitations to the format and Paparazzi Snapshot ends up being less about photographing moving celebrities going about their lives and more about searching their homes for incriminating items. But even if it's effectively a glorified bout of Spot the Difference rather than the high-adrenaline game than you might be hoping for, it's still a neat concept and something quite unique to play.

Each new assignment begins with a briefing from your editor, then has you breaking into a celebrity's house or rummaging through their bins to get photos of their stuff. A list of what you need to photograph is displayed at the top of the screen, so it's just a case of slowly scrolling around a scene cluttered with objects to find what you want, and clicking to photograph it. There's a time limit to finish within or it's game over, although it's pretty generous so doesn't really present much of a problem.

In fact, this section isn't what you'd call a tricky challenge – the only difficulties are presented by not being able to identify certain objects. For instance, a 'clump of hair' is pretty tough to spot on a colourful screen full of clutter, especially when you don't even know what colour it is. Then there are slightly ambiguous objects such as a 'football' which turns out to be a tiny American football. Thankfully, you can use the money you've earned money to buy hints, which translates into a big finger that comes and points to your next object. Not so much a hint as the solution, then.

Moving on, the next level in an assignment is a pretty straightforward Spot the Difference game. The screen is divided in half and you must find and highlight 20-odd differences against a much tighter time limit than before. The more you get, the higher your ranking from your boss at the end of the level.

Then, after this round, you finally get to do the sort of papping worthy of a restraining order. The celeb you've been stalking turns up, but rather than making your job easy and striking a few poses they pop up and down behind bushes and go sprinting across the screen, making it tough to keep them in your camera crosshairs. Super-swift reactions are therefore required because a second chance isn't normally possible – you're somehow using a camera from the 1960s which takes a few seconds to wind on after each shot.

At the end of the round, your photos are judged on their worthiness. A front page photo is what you're going for, obviously, although you might need to make do with a third page slot if you messed things up a little with regards to your shot.

Despite the multiple parts to each of the game's four assignments the process is still over very quickly. There's replayability in beating previous scores and earning awards and the object placement in levels seems slightly different each time you replay, but it doesn't stop this being a fairly limited experience.

That said, the idea and execution of Paparazzi Snapshot remains both refreshing and original. It's really just a simple test of observational skills and quick reactions, while tighter time limits and perhaps an option to just replay your favourite sections of the experience would have been welcome, but it's a likeable game while it lasts.

True, it doesn't really feel like it presents much of a challenge – more just a string of quite entertaining tasks to complete – and isn't the perfect shot at a paparazzi game by an means. In its defence, it does capture the essence of the compelling nature of a Heat double page spread featuring celebrities crawling out of nightclubs or letting it all hang out on the beach. It just happens to share some of that publication's disposability, that's all.