Brain training games on the market

Brain training games on the market
M3W project, Gábor Stöckert
The purpose of this survey was to find game types that could inspire games we could train
memory and mental skills with.
My sources were gaming aggregator pages (like Armor Games, Kongregate or Candystand), and
I looked into some of the brain training web pages (e.g. Lumosity) and mobile apps (e.g. Brain
Challenge).
I categorized the games by their genres, and I gave example links everywhere I could. I took into
consideration just those games which offered solid logical elements or demanded strong
attention. Therefore I have not considered for example the arcade platform games which may
have some logical elements as well, but they train mainly dexterity and reflexes.
Adventure Games
Adventure games have usually a strong background story, as the player has to help the
protagonist though the adventure. But there is an adventure game type in which the story is not
so important as logic and associations.
Example: http://pastelgames.com/index,games,flash_game,96.html
Daymare Town 3: Many objects - but where can I use them?
Those adventure games have a separate name ("escape room games"), in which the story is fully
kept under, and the game is just about the puzzles. In these games the player usually has to
escape from a closed space.
Example: http://www.kongregate.com/games/ainarsa/failed-memory-escape-4-island
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Failed Memory Escape 4: The story is secondary, the puzzles matters
Attention games
Attention games demand intensive concentration, the player usually has to observe small details
of a big picture. Attention games are for example the "spot the difference" games – in these the
player has to find small differences between two similar pictures.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Sommboo/music-box-of-life-1
http://differencegames.com/index.php?cmd=viewgame&gameid=99
Music Box of Life: Chasing small differences
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As their name shows, in the "hidden object" games the player has to find hidden objects in a
crammed space. The player has usually just a couple of minutes to do this.
Examples: http://www.gamesgames.com/game/Zoo-Break-Out.html
http://www.freegamesjungle.com/the_lost_child.html
http://www.candystand.com/play/legend-of-the-golden-mask
Crammed room in the Legend of the Golden Mask
Classic jigsaw puzzles are attention games as well, and we can find online versions of this kind
of games too. Some of the versions operate with deformed puzzle pieces, others use a timer.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/elefun/jigsaw-deluxe
http://www.kongregate.com/games/randomdragoon/not-to-scale
Jigsaw Deluxe: Playing jigsaw with a timer
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One popular minigame of the brain trainer mobile apps is the "bouncing balls" game. In this
there are several bouncing balls in the game space, and the player has to tell which ball bounces
the highest.
Examples: Both Brain Challenge and Lumosity have this game.
Quiz games, trivia games
Trivia games1 have found their way to the video games. Besides the traditional ones we can find
music quizzes and map trivias as well.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/eedok/nes-music-quiz
http://www.kongregate.com/games/master_machines/music-match
Music Match: The quicker the player recognizes the music the more points he/she gets
A very popular version is the geography quiz which shows blind maps:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/crafics/globetrotter-xl
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/European_Geography.htm
Globetrotter XL: Where are the capitals in the world?
1
A trivia game or competition is one where the competitors are asked questions about interesting but unimportant
facts in many subjects (http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/trivia-game). The trivia (singular
trivium) are the three lower Artes Liberales, i. e. grammar, logic and rhetoric; these were the topics of basic
education (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivia).
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The crossover of quiz games and associative games is a well-known minigame in which the
player has to type as much words as s/he can. The program always gives the first 2-4 letters of
the words.
Example: One minigame of the web page Lumosity
Another popular minigame is a mathematical one. In this, mathematical operations are falling
slowly down from above, and the player has to solve them before they hit ground.
Example: One minigame of the web page Lumosity
Memory games
Memory game means for most people that game in which the player has to find matching image
pairs, and he/she can check just two images at the same time.
Several online versions can be found of this game, but there are some interesting mutations as
well. One of them has characters and life points and so a more complex gameplay:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/shadem_com/pike-club-platinum
Pike Club Platinum: Memory game with life points and countdown
Another mutation is the crossover between the memory game and the mahjong:
http://www.greatdaygames.com/games/play/bryx/bryx.aspx
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Bryx: The player can remove just two similar bricks
There is a difficult memory game as well, this has very similar images, and the table turns 90 or
180 degrees in every minute:
http://www.novelgames.com/flashgames/game.php?id=59
Moving Memory: The table turns, so the task is more difficult
Symbols are appearing in another memory game type, and the player has to click always just on
that symbol that appeared last.
Example: http://www.toppuzzlegames.com/allpuzzles/picto.html
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Two screenshots from Picto: The player has to click on the symbol that appeared last (in this case the blue drop)
In the inverse of the previous game the player sees more symbols, after that the screen changes,
and one of the symbols disappears. The player has to find which one disappeared. Example: One
minigame of the Brain Challenge mobile app.
Simple but mandatory brain trainer game is the well-known shell game.
Example: http://www.gamesforwork.com/games/play-8558-Hen_Coops-Flash_Game
Hen Coops: Shell game with hens
One of the memory game types is the memory labyrinth. In this the player has to find out of an
invisible maze. The walls of the maze appear sometimes, so the player has to memorize them to
find out.
Example: http://armorgames.com/play/11890/where-am-i
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A screenshot from Where Am I, where some of the walls are appearing
There are several other memory game types in the brain training mobile apps and web pages.
One of these is a basic one, in which the player sees two kinds of information, and he/she has to
answer quickly to questions related to the actual information.
Example: One minigame of Lumosity. Colored letters and numbers are shown to the player, and
after that he/she has to tell the color of the letter, or if the number was even, or if the letter was a
vowel.
Another popular memory minigame is the memory matrix. The player has to observe a grid in
which some of the cells are filled. After that the player has to fill some of the cells on an empty
grid, recreating the earlier shown pattern.
Examples: Both Brain Challenge and Lumosity have this game.
Another basic game type is the crossover of memory games and attention games. Symbols are
flashing before the eyes of the player, and he/she has to tell every time if the symbol is the same
that flashed before or is it a different one. The player has to push a button for "yes" answer and
another one for "no", and the task is difficult, because the symbols are flashing very quickly and
they are similar to each other.
Example: One minigame of the web page Lumosity.
Strategy games
Strategy games are usually too complex to inspire brain training games, but there are some
expectations with simple rules.
One of these is a game type in which the player has to build a level from several pieces. The
level has to be built in a special way so the protagonist of the game won't get hurt on the level.
For example if a cube is rolling from one square to another, the player has to shepherd the cube
with the proper level pieces. To achieve this, he/she has to plan the way of the cube.
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Examples: http://armorgames.com/play/13246/cube-mayhem
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Remivision/wooden-path-2
Cube Mayhem: The cube will fall, if we not help its way
Logistic games are very popular strategy games nowadays. In these the player has to run a
pizzeria, a restaurant or some other kind of service. He/she has to click in a certain order to take
the guests' orders and to make the ordered foods from the ingredients. This task is simple but
hard, as the player has to keep several orders in mind.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/FliplineStudios/papas-taco-mia
http://www.addictinggames.com/strategy-games/hotdogbush.jsp
Hot Dog Bush: The player has to satisfy the guests' needs quickly
Chain reaction games are simple but popular strategy games as well. In these games there are
lots of similar game elements which react in a certain way in a small area when the player clicks
on them. In the area the clicked elements force other elements to response in the same way, so a
chain reaction can evolve. The task is difficult, because the player may click just a few times.
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Examples: http://www.herointeractive.com/starshine/index.html
http://www.kongregate.com/games/SilenGames/icy-gifts
http://www.kongregate.com/games/BGamesSite/nuclearoids
Starshine: The shine of the lighted stars can light other stars
Card games
Several card games can be found on the gaming sites. Most of these are too complex for our
purposes, but there are simple ones as well which could inspire us. Card games has simple rules,
and the part of the game is to memorize which cards were thrown and which are still in the deck
– and this is a good memory training.
For example this is a solitaire with a twist:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/BigFishStudios/fairway-solitaire
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Fairway Solitaire: Solitaire with different levels
Another example is shown below, which is not more difficult than the children's car card game:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/KnowInGames/bird-pax?acomplete=bird+pax
Bird Pax: The bird with the longer wingspan wins
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Logical games
One of the most popular game genres on the web. A very versatile genre, and as it makes the
mind work, they are very good inspirations for brain training games. I have tried to collect the
most popular game types, but the list is probably not complete.
A beloved game type is the symbol seeker, in which the player has to find the same symbol on
several levels. The levels are very diverse, and the player doesn't get instructions, he/she has to
listen to his/her instinct as well.
Examples: http://armorgames.com/play/4891/clickplay-2
http://www.ludobox.com/Hoshi-Saga-4,flash-game-2614.html
Hoshi Saga 4: There is no help, the player has to find out, the task itself
Associative games are inspired by other game genres as well. The player doesn't get much help
in this one, he/she has to try and think, listen to the associations his/her mind create. It can be
understood through examples, a very popular one is for example Doodle God, in which the
player has to create new elements from earth, wind, air and fire:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Badim/doodle-god-2
Doodle God 2: Creating the universe from four basic elements
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A peculiar game type is the title finder, in this one the player has to find movie titles in a
crowded picture:
http://www.empireonline.com/crypticcanvas/
An interesting associative game is the alphabet decoder, here the player has to find out which
letters were switched to what in the alphabet:
http://www.atksolutions.com/games/cryptoquote.html
Cryptoquote Challenge: Mixed alphabet
In Word Vine, the player has to arrange some words in a graph, but all the adjoining words has
to result in existing compound words:
http://www.miniclip.com/games/word-vine/en/
Word Vine: Graph of compound words
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Filling a shape is a common task in logical games. The shape has to be put together from smaller
pieces, by clear and simple rules.
Examples: http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games9/gameindex/shapefold.htm
http://onemorelevel.com/game/kerixep
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Onefifth/coins
Coins: The player has to fill a shape, but he/she can move a coin just to places with at least two neighboring coins
Another common task is building a closed graph from smaller pieces (which often can be
rotated). The game can make this task more difficult by further rules.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/rhino_games/happy-dead-friends
http://www.agame.com/game/Grid-2.html
http://www.kongregate.com/games/mrsneeze/colourshift
http://www.kongregate.com/games/ahnt/loops-of-zen
Colourshift: The player has to connect the proper light sources and lamps, he/she can mix the colors
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A closed graph is often a starting point in several games, but this graph is tangled. The player has
to untangle the graph by moving its vertices. The graph is untangled when none of its edges
cross each other.
Examples: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/511203
http://www.planarity.net/
Planarity: Untangling cutting edges
Another common task is clearing all the game elements from the levels along a certain logic, for
example, by uniting the similar elements.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Crash512/atomic-puzzle-2
http://www.kongregate.com/games/AtomicCicada/minim
Minim: The elements with the same numbers on them can be united
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Lots of flash games offer the same logical puzzles you can see in the puzzle magazines (e.g.
sudoku or nonogram2). Some of them follow the originals trustworthily.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Conceptis/mix-sudoku-light-vol-2
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Conceptis/classic-hashi-light-vol-1
Others create a small story around the puzzles:
Example: http://www.kongregate.com/games/BeardshakerGames/nonosparks-the-ark
Nonosparks: Nonograms in biblical environment
There are puzzle-crossovers as well, for example a nonogram game which is also a minesweeper
game: http://www.kongregate.com/games/MoonberryStudios/picma-squared
Picma Squared: Minesweeper meets nonograms
2
Nonograms, also known as Hanjie, Paint by Numbers, or Griddlers, are picture logic puzzles in which cells in a
grid must be colored or left blank according to numbers at the side of the grid to reveal a hidden picture. In this
puzzle type, the numbers measure how many unbroken lines of filled-in squares there are in any given row or
column (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonogram).
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A common game type is the "sokoban-like"3 game. In these the player has to push game
elements which move until they meet a wall or an another element. The player has to plan ahead
the way of the elements to put them in their places.
Examples: http://www.kongregate.com/games/SilenGames/ninja-painter-2
http://www.mylostgames.com/play/atomix
In Atomix the player has to push molecules together from single atoms
"Bejeweled-like"4 games are very popular now, in these the player has to switch colored gems or
other game elements. If three or more elements with the same color meet, they disappear from
the game. A mutation of this game type is when the elements doesn't reproduce, and the player
has to remove all the elements.
Example: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Gibton/blocks
Blocks: Three in a row will disappear, but the player has just a few moves
3
4
Sokoban (warehouse keeper) is a type of transport puzzle, in which the player pushes boxes or crates around in
a warehouse, trying to get them to storage locations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokoban).
Bejeweled is a tile-matching puzzle video game by PopCap Games, first developed for browsers in 2001. Three
follow-ups to this game have been released. More than 75 million copies of Bejeweled have been sold, and the
game has been downloaded more than 150 million times (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bejeweled).
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Flash and other web technologies made possible to model the Newtonian mechanics, and some
of the logical games use this. In these games the player has to count with gravity as well, and the
main task is usually to slice certain game elements.
Examples: http://onemorelevel.com/game/sliceee
http://www.kongregate.com/games/ozdy/vampire-physics
Vampire Physics: The player has to shepherd the vampires to the humans
Deductive reasoning is a central element in several brain training games; in these the player has
to make simple deductions. (e.g. if A>B and B>C, then A>C).
Example: One minigame of the Brain Challenge mobile app, in which the player sees two scales
with objects on them, and he/she has to decide which object is the heaviest.
In a similar deductive minigame the player sees a shape and a horizontal, a vertical, or a diagonal
line. The line is an axis of symmetry, so the player has to create the proper reflection of the shape
(or select it from many shapes offered by the game).
Example: One minigame of the Brain Challenge mobile app.
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