Handpan

Genre: Music Creation Application

Players: 1

.

Review:

Handpan, released in 2021 on Nintendo Switch, is a Music Creation Application where players can play a digital version of… well, a handpan, a musical instrument that’s similar to a steel drum, playing musical notes by using a gamepad or the touchscreen to tap on the indentations on the vaguely disc-like instrument.

The instrument is represented by a 3D version of the object on-screen in front of a black background, and the notes sound… decent enough, I suppose.

Players can play using one or two different handpans at a time, with each one allowing players to swap between a handpan playing notes in A Tune, B Minor, C Scale, D Major, E Low, or G Minor. Play using the touchscreen works just as you’d expect, while players using a controller can only play roughly half of the notes with the face buttons or D-pad (depending on which handpan you’re playing), with the other half played using ZL or ZR and diagonal inputs on the corresponding analog stick. It’s a bit awkward and not at all natural-feeling, but I suppose it works.

And… that’s it. There’s nothing else here. No tutorials to teach you how to play some basic songs, no way to save performances, no way to alter the background appearance, nothing. This is pretty bare-bones, especially for a game selling for $10, though of course this is one of those games that has at times gone on sale for $2 to try to game the eShop into getting more visibility. I suppose if you want what is little more than a musical toy on Nintendo Switch, it might be worth $2… but I wouldn’t recommend spending more than that.

tl;dr – Handpan is a Music Creation Application where players can play a digital version of a handpan. Players can use a gamepad or touchscreen to play one or two handpans with a selection of different note scales, but otherwise this is a feature-poor Application that isn’t really worth the $10 asking price. I suppose some might find the $2 sale price decent, though.

Grade: C

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