25 Best Photo Scavenger Hunts In Games
From wildlife surveys to landmark checklists, plenty of games turn photography into a playful hunt where each shot unlocks new discoveries, rewards, or story beats. These photo-driven tasks often ask you to frame specific creatures, capture rare behaviors, or track down exact angles on a map, and finishing the set usually gives you gear, currency, or juicy lore. Whether you’re snapping animals, urban icons, or mysterious phenomena, the fun comes from noticing details you might otherwise miss. Here are standout games where the camera becomes your best quest tool.
‘Pokémon Snap’
You travel through guided courses and photograph Pokémon in their natural habitats while riding a rail vehicle. Points are awarded for composition, size, pose, and how many of the same species you capture in one frame. Food and items let you trigger special behaviors that count for bonus scoring. Completing species sets unlocks new routes and late-game courses to finish your photo catalog.
‘New Pokémon Snap’
The sequel expands to multiple regions with day and night versions that change what you can capture. Requests from characters ask for specific behaviors or moments, turning each outing into a checklist of situational shots. Photo evaluation considers pose rarity, direction facing, and background elements. Filling out your Photodex and completing requests opens new research levels and alternate paths.
‘Beyond Good & Evil’
Your camera doubles as proof of life cataloging for every species you encounter across land and sea. Each confirmed shot earns credits and gradually funds story progress through a science institute patron. Some creatures only appear under certain conditions, encouraging careful exploration and timing. Completing the full species album brings payouts and upgrades that support the main missions.
‘Dead Rising’
Photojournalist Frank West earns prestige points for capturing dramatic moments during the outbreak. Shots are scored in categories like horror, drama, and brutality, pushing you to line up risky scenes. Boss encounters and survivor rescues often hide opportunities for high-value photos. Building PP through photography helps you level faster and unlock movement and combat perks.
‘Dead Rising: Off the Record’
Photography returns with expanded scoring that rewards humor, violence, and erotica categories across sandbox missions. Combo weapons and psychos create staged opportunities for high-value compositions. Side activities and challenges often ask for specific documentation to complete. Improving your photo performance yields faster leveling and new abilities to aid exploration.
‘The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’
The Pictobox lets you shoot characters and enemies to populate the Nintendo Gallery with carved figurines. Each subject requires a clear portrait, so you hunt down NPCs and rare foes to complete the collection. Trading in the right pictographs earns you figurines and detailed lore entries. The upgraded color camera enables more subjects and makes the gallery hunt viable across the whole sea.
‘The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask’
The Pictograph Box is used for a contest in the swamp region that demands specific subjects or angles. Winning entries grant prizes, and different people around town request targeted photos tied to sidequests. Some tasks require disguises or timing to get the correct shot. Completing these photo requests folds into mask rewards and regional progress.
‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’
The Sheikah Slate camera fills the Hyrule Compendium with creatures, materials, and weapons. You can track items once they’re photographed, turning the album into a practical scavenger tool. Sidequests also ask for exact landmarks or rare wildlife shots. A full compendium gives you robust reference data and helps with resource farming across the world.
‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’
The Purah Pad camera continues the compendium hunt, adding new entries and interactions across caves, sky islands, and depths. Certain side adventures ask for images of ruins, murals, or elusive fauna. Captured entries can be targeted for sensor tracking, streamlining future gathering runs. Completing photo sets ties into regional quests and unlocks helpful traversal or crafting benefits.
‘Watch Dogs 2’
The ScoutX app turns San Francisco into a citywide photo checklist for landmarks and notable citizens. Each successful snapshot grants followers and cash, feeding into your progression. Some landmarks require specific positions or parkour routes to frame correctly. Completing the app’s list helps unlock cosmetic rewards and fast access to late-game upgrades.
‘Marvel’s Spider-Man’
Landmark photography spreads across Manhattan with fixed locations to capture for tokens. Each landmark registers when framed properly, and tokens feed into suit and gadget upgrades. Some challenges also ask for action shots during side missions. Clearing all landmarks gives you a clean city map and resources to round out your build.
‘Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales’
Photo activities continue with neighborhood requests that need specific storefronts, murals, and community spots. Completing these shots awards activity tokens and strengthens local reputation. Seasonal decorations and time-of-day shifts change how you line up certain photos. Finishing the set adds cosmetics and encourages thorough exploration of each borough.
‘Life Is Strange’
Optional photo collectibles appear in many episodes, each one requiring environmental observation and light puzzle solving. You look for visual cues and align perspectives to trigger the prompt. These photos become permanent entries in your journal with commentary. Completing the full episode set grants trophies and fleshes out character insights.
‘TOEM’
This monochrome adventure revolves around helping townsfolk by photographing exact objects, creatures, and situations. Each region has a card of requests that advance once you submit the right shot. Some tasks require setting up interactions or waiting for specific weather. Completing request sets earns stamps that unlock transportation and access to new zones.
‘Umurangi Generation’
Levels present objective lists of items and themes to capture under time pressure. Lenses, zoom, and exposure settings matter because scoring checks framing and content tags. Hidden bonus objectives reward creative composition and environmental reading. Finishing each contract unlocks new equipment and harder scenarios with tighter constraints.
‘Beasts of Maravilla Island’
Your journal tracks every species and behaviors you photograph on a biodiverse island. Each animal has multiple poses and interactions to collect for a complete entry. Environmental puzzles often gate rare behavior shots. Completing the album unlocks narrative payoffs and thorough bestiary notes.
‘Alba: A Wildlife Adventure’
The phone camera identifies birds and animals across a Mediterranean island as part of a conservation campaign. Photo confirmations populate a nature guide and persuade townsfolk during petitions. Specific requests ask for elusive species and require careful listening or patience. Filling your guide supports restoration goals and unlocks community improvements.
‘Monster Hunter World: Iceborne’
A camera tool lets you document endemic life and capture rare poses for research entries. NPC requests ask for very specific conditions, such as creatures performing unique actions. Photos contribute to research notes and award decorations or room cosmetics. Completing sets encourages revisiting locales with different time and weather.
‘Monster Hunter Rise’
The camera returns with quests to photograph endemic life and certain monster behaviors. Some requests specify armor skills or lures to trigger the right moment. Successful shots fill an album and can be displayed in your room. Finishing these tasks grants materials, awards, and cosmetic unlocks.
‘Forza Horizon 5’
The Horizon Promo feature turns every car you photograph into a catalog entry. Festival playlists frequently include weekly photo challenges with specific vehicles and locations. Meeting the exact angle and location requirements completes the card and gives seasonal points. Building your promo album unlocks rewards and makes it easier to track missing manufacturers.
‘The Crew 2’
Live photo ops roll across the map with rotating objectives like stunts, vehicles, and landmarks. Each task lists conditions you must satisfy in one frame, such as speed, activity, and scenery. Completing photo ops grants followers, cash, and parts for progression. The rotating list keeps the scavenger aspect fresh as you travel between disciplines.
‘Far Cry New Dawn’
A side quest asks you to revisit iconic spots and recreate pre-collapse photographs using the same angles. Each location has a posted snapshot to match, turning the task into an alignment puzzle. Completing the set awards gear and paints a before-and-after portrait of the region. The hunt nudges you to explore corners of the map that you might skip otherwise.
‘Jurassic World Evolution 2’
Park management includes driving into habitats to photograph dinosaurs for contracts and research. Objectives specify species, group sizes, and behaviors like hunting or social interactions. High-value shots deliver cash and increase your park rating. Consistently meeting photo contracts accelerates expansion and unlocks advanced facilities.
‘Gravity Rush 2’
Treasure hunts use player-shared photo clues that show a small scene or landmark detail to locate. You compare the hint image to the environment and then capture the treasure spot to claim rewards. Story and side missions also include tasks where you must photograph suspicious activity. Completing hunts earns currency and materials for upgrades.
‘Afrika’
Your assignments send you to track and photograph specific animals with rating systems for pose and proximity. Income from photos buys better lenses and equipment for tougher subjects. Some species require patience at watering holes or dawn outings. Filling requests unlocks new regions and expands your field guide.
‘Penko Park’
This theme-park safari has routes where you snap quirky creatures and collect stamps for behavior variants. Upgrades like a grappling tool or flashlight reveal hidden subjects and secret paths. Completing album pages requires capturing specific states, interactions, and environmental triggers. Finishing sets unlocks lore entries and alternate route modifiers for deeper runs.
Share your favorite in-game photo scavenger hunts in the comments and tell us which ones kept you chasing that perfect shot.