AAA Clock Review

Calling this an exceptional year for Nintendo Switch owners would be an understatement. Between first-party juggernauts like Metroid Dread or strong indie hits like Spiritfarer and Boomerang X, a war of the apps brewed beneath the surface. Kicking off with a humble Calculator, contenders suddenly arose to turn your Switch into a tablet. As Battle Calculator charged through the frontlines, RedDeerGames’s AAA Clock took an alternate route, offering players the clock app you never knew you needed. All I’m saying is, you better watch out. 

So, you might be asking: Henry, doesn’t the Switch already have an inbuilt clock you can find on the home menu? To which I say, no further questions please. Admittedly, there’s a few differences that set them apart, beyond AAA Clock’s $9.99 standard pricing. 

Unlike Nintendo’s default option, AAA Clock seeks to monopolise your time, taking up your entire screen to tell us the precise hour and minute we find ourselves in. With every 60 seconds passing, a small noise plays, informing you of this minute change. 

Getting winded

But wait, there’s more! Want to choose AM/PM or 24-hour time? Great, there’s options for both. Need an alarm clock? That can be set up with ease, though you’re out of luck if you hope to change the somewhat alarming alarm tone. Tough luck! There’s also 22 clock colours players can choose from, which can complement your Joy-Cons. Unusually, AAA Clock proudly boasts “full support for OLED technology,” but it’s unclear what exactly that does. Sadly, I don’t have an OLED Switch to test this.

Now, you may be wondering: does the AAA Clock do anything I can’t already do through my smartphone or PC? Mostly no, though it looked stunning when broadcasted through my 4K 120Hz television. However, there’s one surprising addition to AAA Clock here: there’s a hidden game. There’s no name given for this title – so I shall call it “Retro Game” as the devs call it – but you’ll play as Jelly, who’s trying to stop The General from attacking the Temple of Essence. 

There’s sadly not a lot to discuss here: the game’s about rescuing a mysterious artifact before The General finds it. Retro Game is a runner, and all you do is jump over enemies to get through the levels. Mistiming those jumps causes a collision, which also forces a restart. Jelly has three hearts and wields a gun, but during my repeat attempts, I could never restore health or acquire ammo to utilise these. There’s a nice Game Boy-era aesthetic here but sadly, little substance. Eventually, I gave up trying. 

Clocking out

Ultimately. I can’t say I expected much from AAA Clock. It ticks off the necessary features, bringing a functional clock to the Switch with some nice cosmetic touches, but after a tedious run of the Retro Game, I’m ready to clock out. AAA Clock might be the only best clock app on Switch, but when you can rely on your phone or a physical watch, there’s just no need for this to cost US$9.99. AAA Clock is frankly redundant and for now, that’s all the time I can spare for it.