by Matt Gadfield

Created on: May 06, 2008   Last Updated: May 11, 2008

The gaming world has seen many new titles intended to improve the mental capacities of players, and Brain Train is a new release in this category.

From the graphics, I would say that this game is ideal for children. The colors are bright, and buttons are large, legible and easy to click. There were no problems with lagging images, and the game very helpfully detected that the computer used to test it was not capable of running the more advanced effects. It responded with a pop-up menu asking if the player would like to turn special effects off, a clear and easy to understand message that other programmers would do well to learn from. I was impressed to note during installation that the developers have used industry-standard file types such as the Ogg media format, rather than proprietary and incomprehensible ones. Installation and removal of the program were quick and painless processes, with none of the drawn-out waiting found in some games.

The game has as its central conceit a train that you fuel by playing various mini games. These can include puzzle solving, memorizing items a la Kim's Game, and mathematical problems. Each mini game lasts for a relatively short space of time, so the title will be ideal for children with a limited attention span. There are other games alongside this, with a similar style and content which will enable the player to rack up more points. Animal characters appear with requests that the player help them, this help being given by playing further games. The game will teach hand-eye coordination skills along with developing what might be termed mental agility, the ability to deal with situations as they are presented rather than rapidly becoming out of ones depth. It is definitely geared towards the bright but nonacademic, with little or no general knowledge content but plenty of puzzles requiring reasoning. The mini game involving sliding a monkey around on ice to collect food stands out in this respect.

I would have to give the game a 4/5. While it will keep its target market satisfied, as they grow older they will begin to become frustrated with the talking animals and the fact that you need to read each piece of text even when it has no direct bearing on playing the game. That said, were the developer to produce a more sober version of the game aimed at adults they would probably do rather well, as the tasks would be equally valid for older people seeking to keep their brain active. My other criticism would be that it is rather US-centric, with questions on Baseball for example that will mean little to those who have never played the game. I can only assume that the sports content is intended to encourage the less academically minded to get involved, a task it may well achieve at the risk of alienating players who have little interest in sport.

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