No, this isn’t a game about spelling vaguely rude words by turning a calculator upside down. It is, however, an ingenious numerical puzzler starring a charming sentient calculator.
Calculator: The Game may look pretty basic but it hides a fiendish challenge, especially if you’re mathematically challenged (like we are). It’s a bit like the numbers round in Countdown, but with much more inventive ways to get to that all-important target figure. Instead of Rachel Riley, you get help from a smiley little calculator AI, who learns of new functions hidden away within its retro circuitry as you progress.
It’s not just adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing – the game is given interesting extra twists so that it never feels like you’re stuck in a maths exam. The pleasingly silly Calculator character adds personality between puzzles, too.
Get stuck on a level and there are hints to use up – thankfully – but sometimes you can muddle your way through just by exploring all of the combinations available to you. It’s all very satisfying, and gives you the feeling you’ve transformed from a total dunce to a maths genius along the way. Calculator: The Game is an unassuming thing, but it’s actually packed with charm and is a rigorous test of logic and brainpower. A very pleasant surprise indeed.