Casio MG-777

The MG-777 was Casio’s third calculator game, although in some places it appeared around the same time or just after the BG-15 boxing calculator.

This time the LCD screen was much larger, on a 3×3 grid for the game(s) and actual calculator functions appearing below this.

It’s possible RAM was getting a little cheaper, or Casio just wanted to make a calculator with more entertainment value than they had previously, but the MG-777 came with three games, and a time function too.

Called the Try 3, the MG-777’s games included All Same, Stop the Seven, and Hit and Hit.

All Same involved the player attempting to make all the numbers the same through a combination of moving numbers around, sliding puzzle style.

Stop the Seven is a slot machine game where points are scored depending what winning combinations appear in the slot window.

The third game, Hit and Hit, is the most entertaining — it’s a whack-a-mole game with a twist. A circle appears on one of the nine grid squares and the player has to hit the corresponding key. The circle then changes to a number which the player has to find on the keypad in order to get maximum points. The more you score, the faster it gets.

Quite ambitious for 1981, the games are fun-ish, but lacked the playability factor of the MG-880 and MG-885 so wasn’t quite as popular. Nice examples of this calculator can still be found reasonably easily on eBay for ok prices.