We’ve witnessed an exceptionally strong line-up recently on Switch. Between New Pokémon Snap, Famicom Detective Club, and this week’s Miitopia launch, that's without considering upcoming games like Mario Golf: Super Rush and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. It’s a great time to be a Nintendo fan and no matter your persuasion, this hybrid console has all of our bases covered. Or so you thought.
Ready to rain on this parade, Sabec Limited’s just unleashed their own portable juggernaut, giving us power over mathematics on the go. For the first time ever, Calculator has finally landed on Switch, and it’s everything you’ve ever hoped for.
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Read More: New Pokémon Snap Review: A Faded Image of the Past
What’s The Equation?
Now, I know what your first question is. Can we expect a 30-hour story-driven campaign with side quests, romance options and multiple endings? Well, I won’t spoil too much, but if you’re hoping to relive your school days writing 55378008 during maths lessons, you’d be in luck. Sabec’s official description is rather light, calling this “a scientific calculator with a clear easy-to-read multi-line display, which should help with those not-so-easy-to-do maths problems”. Boasting an “appealing modern and practical design”, they believe it’ll become popular with “all students and engineers”, and I have to agree.
Sure enough, Calculator does exactly what it set outs to. Additions, subtractions, multiplications, division, that fancy complicated stuff I was taught back in Year 10 which I definitely still remember, we’ve got it all. Though the Switch’s tablet-esque design doesn’t feel like a natural fit for such an app, I can’t fault the actual functionality. Better yet, you can play in docked mode too, giving our calculators the full 1080p 60fps experience it deserves, probably.
Make It Count
However, most of us own smartphones and PCs these days, meaning it’s fair to assume you’ve already got a free calculator app. So, you might be wondering, is there any benefit to this Switch variant that you don’t get with those? Unless you’re playing it through your TV in glorious HD, no, not really. Sabec’s scientific calculator does the job as well as you’d expect, but when you realise they’re charging £8.09 for this app, that’s a liiiiiiiiiiiitle bit steep. If you’re more of a physical games collector, can find actual scientific calculators for less on Amazon.
Verdict
Ultimately, Sabec’s Calculator is an odd one. Will it change the world? No. Will your friends, family, and colleagues ridicule you for spending £8 on a digital calculator? Almost certainly. Featuring a balanced roster of characters, quick load times, minimalist visuals, and a creative sandbox structure, Calculator accomplishes everything Sabec Limited set out to do. For that, I give it high marks.
4/5
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch