Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training

Learning disguised as fun? Nope. This is a brain tingling buzz unashamedly delivering what it promises.

As much as Jack Thompson might suggest otherwise, there are many games on the market that aren’t all about violence and death. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training is one such example. A game that in all its subtly is designed to train your brain.

Apart from having a title that looks like it should belong on a bottle of pills. Brain Training takes the player through a series of daily training exercises. These are an assortment of mini-games involving math, quick counting and reading. At the end of completing one of these games you can put a stamp on your calendar so you know you’ve done at least some training for the day. After a nice warm up you can do a brain age check to see how old your brain is. This is based from the results from a few successive mini-games judging you on accuracy, time and brain power.

Times and stats are recorded on a daily basis. This is an indicator on whether or not you’re improving your thinking prowess over the course of a month. It’s a great way to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie. The fun doesn’t stop there however. Brain Training allows more then just one person to play and here’s where the games strength lies. Grab a friend or partner and play on the same cartridge. Now compare pictures, best times and graph stats. All the more evidence to prove you’re the dominant sex in the brain department.

As an extra bonus, Brain Training supports a nice assortment of Sudoku puzzles in the form of basic to intermediate. The download option will allow you to download more from the net once you’ve completed them all. This was simply the icing on the cake and adds longevity in the form of free content!

Brain Training isn’t however without its faults. Many times when going through a Sudoku or calculations game a three could quickly turn into a five or a four into a smiley face that represented Uncle Jim after he’s downed nine beers. This can become extremely annoying as wrong answers punish you in the form of added seconds on your overall time. The good news is that the more you play it the more you’ll understand how to write the number quickly and correctly.

Whilst Brain Training won’t be eating up all of your game time, it will be taking a regular spot in your DS. Brain Training is a game that actually makes learning competitive and fun. A game we recommend for people looking for something new.