Grade:

Transfiguring Adoption awarded this game 4 Hoots out of 5 based on how useful it will be for a foster/adoptive family. [Learn more about our Hoot grading system here]

Game Info:

• Rating: ESRB – E for Everyone, PEGI 3+
• Genre: Adventure, Simulation, Shooter
• Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
• Studio: Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc./HAL Laboratory, Inc.

From the Cover of New Pokemon Snap (2021) by Nintendo:

“Become a Pokemon photographer! Spot Pokemon in their natural habitats and catch ‘em all on camera! Get your in-game photos scored by the professor! Create your very own Pokemon Photodex! You can edit your photos and share them with the world!”

Transfiguring Adoption’s Overview:

The target audience appears to be children that are 6 and up, depending on your child’s gaming ability. This is a great game for any family to enjoy with very few triggers or sequences of violence common with many games. While there are no overt ties to foster care, there is a positive relationship built between children and a competent, trustworthy adult as the main character (who is implied to be a child as the average Pokemon Trainer in-world starts their journey at age 10). This is also a great low-adrenaline game as well that still can have some of the stylings of a first-person shooter game since the object is to swivel around, zoom in on targets, and take photographs.

Caregivers can give special attention to positive interactions between characters (humans and Pokemon alike), problem-solving skills, and the ability to creatively adapt to situations. For children that have endured trauma there can also be excellent conversations about forming positive relationships with safe adults or mentors, adapting to challenges and change, and connecting feelings to behavior for themselves and others because of the interactions that take place in this unique game.

NO SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION!!!

** Spoilers Could Be Ahead **

How Is This Relevant To Adoption & Foster Care?

The main character in this game is tasked with helping the prestigious Professor Mirror in helping collect data on the local Pokemon populations via building a Photodex, a mechanism similar to Pokedexes of other games where the player develops a portfolio of each Pokemon species’ behaviors, appearance variants, and other unique pieces of information. This journey is inspired by an adventure book written and left partially incomplete by a famous explorer. Over time the player works with a research team to compile new information about this region and the Pokemon that live within it to solve the mystery of the “Illumina Pokemon” that legend says protected the planet from danger in the past.

At face value this does not appear to be a game that would appeal to foster children but, let’s be honest, the Pokemon franchise has been exceptionally successful across multiple generations now and is clearly not disappearing anytime soon. Another reason this game may appeal to your child is because your child will be able to easily see themselves in the main character they can personalize with a name and appearance before they even start the game. This game will allow your child to act with confidence and independence in a way they may not feel able to in real life. Another reason this game may draw a crowd is the low-adrenaline experience trundling through these beautiful, peaceful levels. Sure there are occasional Pokemon jumping out but this is vastly different from other games where stakes feel higher and character or comrade death is a potential risk. This game overall feels safe and welcoming in ways that your child may desire to feel as they navigate coming into your care and learning to feel safe.

Discussion Points:

• Respectful Relationships
  Children that have endured trauma often do not see adults as a source of comfort or safety due the abuse or neglect they have endured. Due to these experiences children may struggle to form positive, respectful relationships with safe adults. This is especially true when working with a sibling group where one sibling has had to step in and be an auxiliary adult in caring for the siblings, resolving conflict, and sometimes even caring for their parents in some ways. Seeing the main character, Rita, and Phil have positive, respectful relationships where the adults are seen as mentors and leaders can be a great experience for a child that has seen too many movies with incompetent, uncaring, or even dangerous adults. Professor Mirror and Todd Snap both provide positive associates with adults with appropriate relationships with children and can help your child see that safe adults can be trusted.
• Adapting to Challenges and Change
  Don’t we all wish we had a do-over in life? Or like in this game that we could re-do a level for a better outcome? While we may not be able to pause, reset, or delete embarrassing or painful files, human beings can learn to adapt in the face of challenges or change. For children that have endured trauma, it’s often hard to “keep going” when they make a mistake due to past experiences. Moving forward is hard when you can’t talk to your mom when you want or go laugh with your sibling when you need a break because you are in foster care. It’s easy to just want to give up. However, caregivers can work with their children on understanding how to watch for opportunities for growth instead of avoiding feeling defeated or like a failure. I loved the basis on how Professor Mirror gives notes on photos with a strength based perspective. As I played the game this calm demeanor often encouraged me to keep playing even when I felt frustrated by not completing a photo request. The prompts for changing my approach or settings were immensely helpful and reflect how a caregiver can offer a calm, strength-based approach to helping their child solve problems.

• Connecting Feelings to Behavior
  This may seem like a very basic concept, but for a child that has endured trauma the skill of identifying cause and effect can be as difficult for them as it may be for you to understand why your teenager is making excited-pterodactyl noises at 10:00pm in response to a TikTok video. They are missing the connection between the two because they haven’t been given the opportunity to experience it themselves. When a child has endured trauma this restructures the brain to rely more on the fight-or-flight responses that kept them safe. So instead of taking the country-road processing path to the prefrontal cortex to make decisions and responses they are taking the expressway to the limbic system to act quickly and get to safety. This is great when avoiding abuse or surviving neglect… but not so great when they are out of that environment. The great news is that children can be taught to take the country road with lots of patience and practice from a loving caregiver that can help them connect their own feelings to their behavior, like they do when they connect how a Pokemon may feel or react when given stimuli from playing music, interacting with other Pokemon, having an Illumina orb tossed at them or a Crystal Bloom, or a Fluffruit.

Cautionary Points:

• Limited Online Interaction With Strangers
  If you have a membership to Nintendo Switch Online your child may activate some online features that allow them to give points to other players with neat photos and edits. This is extremely limited to a thumbs up/down type feature and does not allow comments so overall this is a pretty low risk. The only thing I could find that will need extra monitoring is ensuring that your child does not include too much personal information in their character name (i.e. – no last names, DOB, etc.) and there is one short sentence area they could potentially personalize to put personal information. This fillable area includes a pre-typed message about being a beginning photographer but an extra creative child could put Snapchat handles or phone numbers with the character allowances. There is no prompt for this, but again if your child struggles in that area that may be an area to closely monitor.

• Very Limited Risk of Cyber Bullying
  If you have a membership to Nintendo Switch Online your child may activate some online features that allow them to give points to other players with neat photos and edits. This is extremely limited to a thumbs up/down type feature and does not allow comments so overall this is a pretty low risk. I also could not locate a way to search for individual players so there is a lower risk of cyber bullies seeking specific players and targeting their photo profile.

• Some Cartoon Violence
  Since most Pokemon interact with each other there is plenty of room for conflict and shenanigans. As a result there are some sequences of Pokemon antagonizing or fighting one another. This is all limited to very tame cartoon violence without blood or lasting consequence (i.e. – visible injury, death, etc.) but if your child is prone to mimicking violence seen in media this may be an area to monitor your child and prepare for discussion about appropriate interactions.
• Some Sequences of Elemental Danger
  Many Pokemon use elemental-based attacks so this may be potentially triggering if your child is extra sensitive to such elements in gameplay. The games are done in natural environments with wild Pokemon as well and while the character never appears to be in danger, some children may not be too keen about levels going into volcanos or deep ocean depths.