The first official Nintendo Switch stylus is surprisingly affordable

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After a low-key announcement last year, Nintendo quietly released an official stylus for the Nintendo Switch earlier this month. The stylus is currently only available via the UK store, so hopefully it pops up on the US side soon. 

The kicker here is the price: just £6.99, or around $9. Nintendo Switch accessories, peripherals, and games are all notoriously expensive, from Joy-Cons to charge adapters to replacement docks, so it wouldn't have been surprising for its official stylus to reach well into the $20 range. But for under $10, you can't hardly beat this little thing. 

This stylus ought to come in handy for avid Super Mario Maker 2 level designers, not to mention fans of menu-based crafting games like Terraria, Stardew Valley, and Minecraft. As its store page suggests, the stylus was also designed with games like Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training in mind - basically anything that lets you write solutions by hand. 

Incidentally, I love that the official listing uses an image of someone solving math problems to showcase the stylus, rather than one of the many colorful games that would benefit from added precision. Building levels and solving puzzles? Nah, mate. Basic arithmetic is where it's at. The cherry on top is that, slightly below that image, Nintendo cautions users that the stylus is "not compatible while [the] Nintendo Switch console is docked." I can't help but picture an exasperated player furiously scribbling on the side of their plastic dock, struggling to solve 4 + 8, worried they'll disappoint Nintendo. You monsters. 

If you're looking for a home for all your Switch accessories, here are the best Nintendo Switch cases you can buy.