When I first started working on the idea of a photography game, I absolutely wanted to make a VR game. I was already working full-time in VR and felt there was so much potential for cool VR games, not to mention that I felt I had an advantage, because of my previous experiences.

I actually had a prototype working pretty fast! The basic game loop was in, but after showing a few people, I had to come to the hard realization that the game was just not fun in VR. And it's quite obvious why!

First, the Good:

The mechanics themselves were not an issue. and the novelty of it was actually pretty fun! The slow, on-rails movements was quite comfortable and looking around for interesting things to Snap made for a compelling game loop. The diegetic menus looked good and made your feel like you were in some kind of Studio while reviewing your pictures.

The Bad:

Being a photography game at its core, I wanted the player to feel like he's holding a camera. Although this was possible using Vive or Oculus
controllers, it just wasn't the same with a Daydream or GearVR controller. In the end, the Gyro-based controls feel a lot better as an input method and the fallback on Touch-scrolling the screen works well for sitting game sessions.

The Ugly:

 Post-Effects have a HUGE presence in photography. Lens flares, Sun Shafts, Color Correction, filters, Vignettes, Depth of Field, and so many more are essential to creating a real Photographic atmosphere, and these things are just not available on Mobile VR devices because of hardware limitations.

In the end, VR just wasn't worth the sacrifice in Post-Effects, which make up the main look, feel and customization options in a photography game.