Frequently Asked Questions

SnapMonster is a free AI game that turns a photo of any real object into a one-of-a-kind battle monster card. Snap a mug, your sneakers or your dog — the AI generates a unique monster with its own art, element and powers, and then you battle friends or the CPU.

Yes. It's free to try and you can make your first monsters with no sign-up. A free account unlocks more energy to generate, collect and battle.

No — SnapMonster runs in any modern browser. You can also install it to your home screen as an app (PWA) for a full-screen, app-like experience.

Any modern phone or desktop browser — iOS, Android, Mac and Windows.

Not to start — your first monsters need no sign-up. A free account lets you save your collection across devices and earn more energy.

Tap Snap, take a photo of any object (or pick one from your gallery), and the AI turns it into a monster with original art, an element, stats and a signature power. It takes about 30 seconds.

Any clear photo of a single object — a mug, a plant, your sneakers, a toy or your pet. The clearer the subject, the more the AI has to work with when designing your monster.

Not at all. The AI generates the artwork, name, element and stats for you. You just take the photo.

Yes. Tap “🎲 No camera? Pick one”, then choose an object from the list — or let “🎲 Surprise me” decide. No photo needed.

A vision model reads your object — its shape, colors and vibe — then generates the monster's art, element type, stats and a special power around it. Every result is unique.

On iPhone every browser except Safari needs its own camera permission, and it can be off by default. Open Settings → Chrome → Camera and turn it on (same for Edge or Firefox), then come back and try again. Safari is not affected by this.

Safari uses the system camera directly and normally just works. If the screen stayed black, close any other app that is using the camera and try again. It is also worth checking that Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Allowed Apps → Camera is on. Or simply pick an existing photo from your library.

Open Settings → Apps → Chrome → Permissions → Camera → Allow. The 🔒 icon in the address bar is a different setting: it controls live camera access for a website, which SnapMonster does not use, so changing it there will not help.

Settings → Apps → Samsung Internet → Permissions → Camera → Allow. Same idea as Chrome — it is the app's permission, not the website's.

These apps open web pages in their own built-in browser, where the camera often will not open at all. Tap the … menu in the top corner and choose Open in browser. Everything works normally there, and your monsters are still waiting for you.

On a computer we open an ordinary file picker rather than a camera. If nothing happened, the picker was most likely cancelled — click Snap / upload again and choose an image file. No photo handy? Tap “🎲 No camera? Pick one” and choose an object instead.

Build a team of monsters, then battle a friend in a private online room or fight the CPU. Each monster has an element and stats, and matches are turn-based.

Yes — create a private room and share the code with a friend, or play solo against the CPU.

Fire, water, grass, earth, electric and normal counter each other. A favorable matchup deals about ×1.5 damage, an unfavorable one ×0.75, and a neutral one ×1 — so team-building matters more than raw stats.

No — all battle outcomes are decided server-side (the server is authoritative), so card stats and results can't be faked from the browser.

Yes. Every monster you make joins your collection. Collect rare cards, build a deck and show off your favorites on your profile. You can also send a card to a friend as a gift card with a personal message.

Only if you set a username — then you get a public profile page (snapmonster.io/u/yourname) and you control what's shown (cards, follower lists). No username means no public page. We recommend using a nickname, not your real name.

Monsters that players release, or that are lost in a failed fusion, end up in the wild. Every day you get free spins on a board of them, and whichever monster you land on joins your collection. Guests can spin too: the monster is held for you for up to three days until you log in.

Yes, but only with a restore code. Open your restore code, copy it and keep it somewhere safe. On the new phone, paste it on that same page to pull your collection back. A free account is safer and easier: your monsters sync by themselves and a lost code cannot lock you out.

Energy (credits) is what powers AI generation. You get some free with a daily refill, and an account gives you more. Playing and battling don't cost energy — only generating new AI monsters does.

Create a free account and verify your email — you'll get more starting energy plus a higher daily refill.

Your photo is shrunk to a small image on your device and stripped of location/metadata before anything is sent to the AI. After your monster is made, we keep only a tiny, low-res thumbnail in the monster's birth record, to show what the monster was made from. Anyone who opens the monster's details can see it, and it stays with the monster if you release it or pass it on to another player. It's removed when the monster itself is deleted. Separately, the before/after card shows your photo next to your monster: opening its Show off the transform panel uploads the card to create a share link, and anyone with that link can see it. Shared cards are deleted after 180 days, or when you delete your account if you made them while signed in. Read our full privacy notice →

SnapMonster is intended for ages 13 and up. It's family-friendly — no real photos are ever shown publicly, and we keep data collection minimal.

Open Me, tap Edit profile, then Delete account at the bottom. You're signed out on every device right away, and you have a grace period (24 hours by default; the exact time is in the confirmation email) to change your mind before your account and the data tied to it are deleted. You can also email [email protected].

It shares the love of collectible monster battling, but every monster is generated from your own world — your stuff, your photos. SnapMonster is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Nintendo or The Pokémon Company.

Email us at [email protected] — we read everything.