Ludography
Battle Calculator cover

2021 · Sabec Limited · Puzzle

Battle Calculator

Nintendo exclusive

A game that is fun to play together and uses your brain a little.

Released
2021
Platforms
Nintendo Switch
Genres
Puzzle
Developers
Sabec Limited
Publishers
—
Themes
Party
Age ratings
GRAC ALLPEGI 3ESRB E
Languages
English, Japanese

About

Calculator is a software calculator released by Sabec for the Nintendo Switch, a video game console, in May 2021. It was widely criticized for its US$10 price point and platform, with critics noting that better-suited devices featured free software with equivalent functionality. As an Internet meme, Calculator became one of Metacritic's best-rated games for the Switch by user score. It was cited as an influence on subsequent utility software releases on the Nintendo eShop.

Media

Battle Calculator screenshot 1

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

Calculator was the first Sabec app to go viral. It was widely criticized for its price point, which was more expensive than some physical calculators, while not offering more features than free alternatives for smartphones and personal computers. Publications that criticized Calculator's price–performance ratio include CNET, Engadget, Eurogamer, GameSpot, Gfinity, Kotaku, Nintendo Life, and TechRadar. Several critics questioned its usefulness, as there were devices better suited to use as calculators.

Musgrave considered it not to be the company's worst release and highlighted the comedic aspect of using a calculator on a gaming platform. Henry Stockdale, in his review for Gfinity, noted that the app's widescreen layout felt unnatural for a calculator. Adam Vjestica, writing for TechRadar, considered Calculator proof of the faulty maintenance of the eShop, saying that "the bar is so low, that as long as a game works, it'll be allowed to slither onto the eShop, even if it stinks up the joint in the process". He believed that the number of low-quality releases, as well as the media coverage they attained, hampered the visibility of higher-quality indie games.

Legacy

Following the popularity of Calculator, Sabec released further non-game software on the eShop, including a xylophone, a handpan, and Spy Alarm, which uses the Joy-Con's infrared sensor to detect motion. The company also developed licensed games based on the British game show Bullseye and the character Popeye. Calculator has been cited as an influence on other non-game products coming to the eShop, such as the note-taking software Notes released by Game Nacional in June 2021. In August, it spawned the multiplayer game Battle Calculator by Blacksmith DoubleCircle, in which up to four players compete to compute a given number as quickly as possible.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Nintendo Switch5 August 2021Worldwide

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Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.