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Train Your Brain |
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Videogames with tricks and treats |
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by Susan Arendt |
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Time to say goodbye to long, lazy days in the sun, so you can hunker down and hit the books. If you want to warm up before trying to pop into high gear for schoolwork, try these fun brain-training games. In some cases, all you need is a cell phone..
1. Little Shop of Treasures
In the find-the-object game Little Shop of Treasures, your goal is to earn cash to fix up your new antique store by uniting your customers with the "treasure" of their dreams. Using either the number keys or the touch screen (depending on your phone), you'll comb estate sales and pawnshops to track down the rubber ducks, African masks, and other assorted goodies that your customers want. Each location has hundreds of items to choose from, so finding everything within the
Platform: Mac/PC/Mobile
Publisher: RealNetworks
Price: $20 (Mac/PC), $3 per month (Mobile)
Rating: E
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2. Fit Brains
Fit Brains (fitbrains.com) is a free collection of brain-training mini-games you can play on your computer. Games like Paradise Island and Deep Blue Expedition are designed to improve cognitive functions such as language, memory, and visual, and spatial skills without sacrificing fun. The mini-games vary from decoding travel-themed words in Travel Quest to matching tiles to track down suspects in Crime Scene Shuffle. The Fit Brains site even monitors how well you score in areas like Logic, Concentration, and Memory, and converts the info into the Brain Balance pie chart, allowing you to know with just a glance which areas are your strongest and which could use some work.
Platform: Mac/PC
Publisher: Vivity Labs
Price: Free
Rating: Not rated
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3.Surviving High School
School is more than just homework; it's a series of choices that you make every day.
Do you do your homework or blow it off to hang with your friends? Should you ask the cute guy out on a date, or play it cool and hope he asks you? Surviving High School is all about those choices, and every decision you make affects the outcome of the game. Think of it as a kind of Choose Your Own Adventure story, but with colorful, cartoon graphics. Playing mini-games and answering questions advances the plot, but if you don't like the way things turn out, you can always replay it—too bad real life doesn't have that option! The game is regularly updated with fresh content too, so your High School life will never be dull.
Platform: Mobile
(major wireless carriers)
Publisher: Vivendi
Games Mobile
Price: $3
Rating: Not available
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"Train Your Brain" has been edited for shojobeat.com;
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