I love brain training games and Brainiversity is one of the best. It's bare-bones design is very appealing. Edison the talking lightbulb is adorable and makes you feel like you have a friend when you play. I like how his words are 'garbled', not actual words..really cute. The only drawback is during some games (like Wordmaker) he repeats himself the whole time you are playing, which is distracting. Therefore I usually turn his voice off (nice to have that option).
There are many different games to play, and all are in big, bold, simple graphics which are appealing. You won't be squinting at the screen! The music is WONDERFUL, sweet and simple, and stops during the actual "tests" which is good (no distractions).
As you progress, different games are unlocked. You get a daily test each day composed of 4 tests. At the end it is recorded on your own private graph. Then you can play all the games individually and each one is recorded on your own private graph for the individual games, too. You can then play again as much as you want (but it is only entered on your graph(s) once a day).
I am 46 and reasonably intelligent and I do not find this game too simplistic or repetitive. I thought for sure the Spelling Test, for example, would be ridiculously easy but it isn't! It's multiple choice and they have come up with some long complicated words to challenge me. I'm guessing the game is created to grow along with the user. A young speller's words would probably be easier, and as you progress, the words get harder. This makes for endless gameplay w/out getting bored.
Similarly the other games get harder as you progress.
This is a sweet and simple yet challenging game, one of the best brain train games I've tried (and I've tried many). Die-hard "experts" will find it too easy, and it does not inundate the user with statistics (like reaction time etc; there is none of that here). It would be a great game for kids and also for seniors. It's not intimidating, its friendly and easy to play.
Highly recommended for all but the most advanced (advanced brain train enthusiasts should try mybraintrainer.com).
You can download a trial version off the internet. No doubt you will be hooked. I bought this as a gift for my sister on her birthday as she fell in love with it playing it just once on my PC. She is 48. Brainiversity
I agree with the other reviewers that the games themselves are fun and challenging. There's one big flaw in the program though, and it's with the scoring system. Specifically, there doesn't seem to be much (if any) penalty for providing wrong answers. In essence what this does is puts a mammoth emphasis on being quick, while relegating accuracy to a byproduct. In other words, you're better off guessing versus spending more than a second to think of the right answer. Here's a concrete example.
There's a memorization and matching game called, "Remember Me?", where the player is given a minute and thirty seconds to re-associate as many faces to their respective names as possible. The results of 3 test runs are as follows:
* In a run involving zero guesses and where I took my time to actually process and memorize the information, I scored an 80% or "Good" mark (17 correct answers, 0 wrong answers, 100% accuracy)
* In a run where I guessed 75% of the time, I scored a 100% or "Perfect" mark (28 correct answers, 25 wrong answers, 53% accuracy)
* In a run where I just chose a random answer (basically closed my eyes and clicked the mouse like mad), I scored a 92% or "Exceptional" mark (24 correct answers, 41 wrong answers, 36% accuracy)
These kinds of results are not relegated to this one particular game, either. The best strategies to obtain the highest scores for every game in Brainiversity is either to just flat-out guess the answer or take a "best effort" approach where it's far more important to be really quick than accurate. Also, there is no option to change how your scores are weighted.
Having said all of this though, Brainiversity can still be worthwhile to play IF you "don't cheat" and consciously make the effort to actually THINK about the problems presented to you. Still, because the penalty for a wrong answer is so insignificant, the in-game tracking of your progress won't be as accurate as it should be.
If you'd like to have a fun way to keep your mind sharp or even improve your mental skills, then this is the game for you. If you're just looking for mindless entertainment, look elsewhere.
I've tried a number of the puzzle-type games which have the word brain in the title and some are fun, some are not. I really wanted something that would be both fun and actually track my results so that I could see how I am doing. I downloaded all the free trials and from my testing I found that Brainiversity was the best. Unlike the others I tried it isn't childish or overdone.
When you look at these games you have to think, is this going to get annoying on day 7 let alone day 120? This game does not make you click a bunch of crap to get between the practice games and tests, and doesn't make you wait for any animation either (which some others I tested did). I do recommend turning the voice sound off on the lightbulb character in the options menu. Some might say that it lacks the cool graphics that others have, and they'd be right, but the graphics don't distract from the game this way and it is more likely to work on old computers.
From the score history and graphing, to the random jokes and interesting facts that sometimes show, there are a some well-designed features. The feature that ties it all together is the score and progress tracking. Without that it would be amusing but I wouldn't use it every day. Because of the tracking I want to see how I'm doing each day, and that's what will help you stick with it and see some improvement. And this game is all about improvement rather than just focusing on your score itself.
I recommend at least trying the trial version to see if you like it. - Brain Games - Brain Exercises - Educational - Memory Games'
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