Big Pharma on the Nintendo Switch. What if you had it in your power to rid the world of disease, to improve the lives of millions, to ease suffering and cure the sick and earn a tidy profit? As the head of your Pharmaceutical Conglomerate, you have this power resting in your hands. Will you use it for good? Being altruistic may not be the best business plan. The uncomfortable truth (is there an ointment for that?) is that some remedies are more profitable than others and illness is good for business. Welcome to the world of Big Pharma!

Big Pharma Nintendo Switch Trailer
My first impression of Big Pharma was that it wasn’t designed to be played in handheld mode. The text is stupidly small and difficult to read. This was very apparent when playing the tutorial level. They also used words, which didn’t correspond to the controls or what I was seeing on the screen. The tutorial also makes the mistake of spewing everything at you at once. Then when you start the game you are lost on what you are meant to do.
The idea behind the game is that you are taking in ingredients and turning them into pills and other medications. You have to place your machines correctly, so your medication is potent, but doesn’t have strong side-effects. Good drugs equal profits. Placement of machines is like a jigsaw puzzle, with you having to make sure everything gets to the right place. But make sure you plan, there isn’t an undo option.

Money can be spent on staff. You can hire people to explore the deepest regions of the earth, to find the next best chemical for your medication. Researchers are used to unlock machines and upgrades. World events and other companies will influence and affect your market share. Once you are established you can try to complete missions, which reward you with everything from equipment to money.

The look of the game reminds me a lot of Theme Hospital and Rollercoaster Tycoon. There is no camera control, you just drag around the screen. Animations and characters all look good and remind me a lot of those games I used to play. The big mistake made was not utilising the touch-screen. You have to use a controller or joycons to move around.

Overall, I wanted to like this game, but it fell short. I hoped it would be Theme Hosptial on the Switch, but the controls and terrible tutorial make this a difficult game to like. Finally, please check out our gaming reviews. Also, don’t forget to connect with the Jabba Reviews team on Facebook or Twitter.
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