Swapnote

Genre: Art Application / Communication Application

Players: 1, Local Wireless Functionality

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Review:

Swapnote is a free-to-play Art Application and Communication Application released in 2011 for Nintendo 3DS that allows players to exchange multi-frame 3D sketches, short sound recordings, and photos with one another. This Application is the successor to the original DS built-in software Pictochat, although it functions a bit differently.

Unfortunately, after Nintendo realized the application’s potential for abuse, and particular the potential risk children using it could unwittingly expose themselves to, they disabled the SpotPass features of this Application, instead allowing players to only use the StreetPass features – you can only exchange notes with others who are within range of your device and listed as Friends, and apparently you cannot specify which friends to send these messages to, which is a pity.

The features here are simple and user-friendly, but work well enough – you can jot up to four frames in a note, and the recipient will see them sketched out the same way you drew them, allowing them to see the progression of your art take shape. Users will only be able to sketch with one color per note, although additional colors will eventually become unlocked (still only one at a time though). Other features, like the use of 3D, photos, and sound recordings will also gradually unlock.

This is done through the Mii character Nikki, who regularly sends the user notes to guide them through the use of the software. This is a nice user-friendly way to gradually introduce younger players to the use of this software, and it has the bonus that Nikki is a surprisingly wholesome, lovable guide.

I will say that as a successor to PictoChat, Swapnote does feel a bit lacking in some areas – players cannot communicate in real-time, cannot communicate as a group, and cannot even have individual conversations – they can only blast their message out to any friends in range (again, thanks to the loss of SpotPass features). It’s still overall a nice evolution of this sort of software, but it definitely feels like more could be done here… though this is still more than we’ve seen added to the Nintendo Switch.

If you have a Nintendo 3DS and can get on the eShop before it closes, you might as well download Swapnote – it’s fun and useful, even if it doesn’t have quite as much functionality as you may want. And if you have friends who have 3DS handhelds as well, this can make for a nice way to exchange info… as long as you’re in range.

tl;dr – Swapnote is a free-to-play Art Application and Communication Application. This follow-up to the original Nintendo DS’ PictoChat may be lacking some features you would want, but it is nevertheless a nice free piece of software to have on your Nintendo 3DS, especially when you consider that the Nintendo Switch has nothing like it.

Grade: C+

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