The Devil's Calculator is a new, non-profit math game by the creator of Synonymy that proves a sophisticated, challenging and educational indie puzzler for numberphiles and lovers of logic and brain teasers
In each level, you face a corrupted calculator with its normal arithmetic operators replaced by mysterious functions. Your objective is to use logic and algebra to reverse-engineer these obscure operators and calculate the "number of the beast", 666.
The game's difficulty curve is well-designed, gradually introducing new mechanics and concepts. The early levels serve as a gentle introduction, allowing you to familiarize yourself with the core mechanics. However, the later stages become significantly more challenging, requiring careful analysis and strategic thinking to overcome.
A key aspect of the gameplay that players enjoy is the process of reverse-engineering the unknown operators. You must experiment with different inputs, observe the outputs, and gradually deduce the underlying mathematical functions.
While primarily a puzzle game, the title effectively incorporates mathematical concepts and principles into the gameplay. Players highlight the game's ability to introduce and explore topics such as modular arithmetic, polynomials, and number theory in an engaging and accessible manner.