Brain Age is not really a “game;” gee, what a way to start a game guide. But never the less, I will try to take Brain Age off the GameFAQ’s front page by providing a complete guide/FAQ/tips, whatever.
Also, I only played this game on the DS Lite, whatever that means.
And remember, while I will try to help you reach that perfect 20, you will need to use your own brain; I’m quite happy with my 20, for now.
Short guide, I know.
Basic Info
What’s there to say? Hold the DS on the side. Just like a book. If you want a challenge, hold it horizontally.
You need:
- A brain; a good, drug-free one preferably
- A DS pen; not your finger
- A clear voice; for the full game
- No distractions; turn TV volume down, close door, etc.
- Patience; will take 20 days to complete (unless you cheat)
This game is meant to keep your brain fresh and sharp. The theory is, if you don’t use it, you lose it; just like your muscles. So here is what you should do: play all the training games every day, and once you are done, go use your cat or dog as freeweight. That will keep you going till the end of time!
Also, it does help to play when your mind is at its best, or close to it. I mean don’t play when you are starving, or when you qualify as the living dead from staying up all night.
If you want high scores, you must be fast.
Also note, the training games are not the same as the brain check games.
Sudoku is just an added feature, but it is pretty cool.
Have others around you? Are they gamers? It doesn’t matter, let them try the brain check too! It is neat, though for me it only causes confusion from others.
Only do the voice exercises when no one is around, need I say more?
Practice makes perfect!
Use the Quick Play first, duh. These are the games you play with family and friends. Of course they don’t offer much, but it is a taste of the full versions. They are limited, but you can play them as much as possible.
Quick Brain Age Check
Say the color you see, do not care about what the letters spell out.
This is a simple voice exercise, called the Stroop Test. The objective sounds simple, but you will get tripped up a bit. This is what I do: I look at the center of the DS (between the two screens) and say whatever color I see. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a flawless method, but it helps. Whenever I focus on the word, I usually read the word. This is the best method for me, but feel free to try whatever you like. I can at least get 30-ish everytime.
I don’t know what the grading system is, but obviously you need to be fast and correct.
Don’t get too scared if you end up with 80s on your first try, it doesn’t matter, at least for now.
Quick Training
Only one exercise here, Calculations x20. You do know how to do math, right? No derivatives, or areas, or square roots. Just addition, subtraction, and multiplication. The highest number I remember was 81 (9×9), and the lowest 0. So it ain’t hard. The ability to input numbers is really good, the only problem is that you are on the clock. Expect to have five seconds added a few times, or to get a few right too, as the game is not perfect. The software will accept the first correct answer, but if you put down something wrong you will have only a few mili-seconds to hit erase. Also, if you get the problem wrong, you don’t have to correct it.
Another thing, the game will try to trip you up. Example: one equation may be 6+5, and then the next is 6-5. Or: 8×6, and then 6×8. Doesn’t seem like much, but when your brain is racing it does get in the way.
My tip is to look at the next equation, answer the current one, and keep that pace going. I know it sounds hard to write and not look at what you’re writing, but you will get use to it, I hope.
Anyway, you are scored on time, and each missed equation adds five seconds to your total time. I can get 16-20 easy. I don’t know how to get rocket speed. I guess you got to do each problem at .5 seconds.
Quick Sudoku
*Don’t play it here, play the “real” thing on the main menu*
This is the real game, the meat and potatoes. This is what will have the most affect on your very own prefrontal cortex, but also other regions of your brain. Dr. Ryuta Kawashima will be the severed head helping you along your journey to the perfect brain age.
First, create a profile, and follow all other instructions. Also note, you can have up to four people on one card. Or you can have four different profiles for you to really train hard.
Note that usually before training the floating head will either ask you a question, ask you answer to an older question, or ask you to draw your horrible depiction of simple things. No, these don’t matter at all, you can just put big X’s on every screen. But it is cool to see how well you can draw a giraffe and toilet.
You have some options and you can look at graphs of you progress, or miraculous decline. The Brain Age Check is the main feature, so lets cover it first.
Brain Age Check
There are two sections you get to play from, either “I Can’t Speak” or “I Can Speak.” These offer slightly different tests. You will get only three.
“I Can’t Speak”
These are the fun tests you get to use to train your prefrontal cortex. Only three are given at the start, but here are all of them.
Calculations x 20
Here is my copy and paste from the quick play section:
Only one exercise here, Calculations x20. You do know how to do math, right? No derivatives, or areas, or square roots. Just addition, subtraction, and multiplication. The highest number I remember was 81 (9×9), and the lowest 0. So it ain’t hard. The ability to input numbers is really good, the only problem is that you are on the clock. Expect to have five seconds added a few times, or to get a few right too, as the game is not perfect. The software will accept the first correct answer, but if you put down something wrong you will have only a few mili-seconds to hit erase. Also, if you get the problem wrong, you don’t have to correct it.
Another thing, the game will try to trip you up. Example: one equation may be 6+5, and then the next is 6-5. Or: 8×6, and then 6×8. Doesn’t seem like much, but when your brain is racing it does get in the way.
My tip is to look at the next equation, answer the current one, and keep that pace going. I know it sounds hard to write and not look at what you’re writing, but you will get use to it, I hope.
Anyway, you are scored on time, and each missed equation adds five seconds to your total time. I can get 16-20 easy. I don’t know how to get rocket speed. I guess you got to do each problem at .5 seconds.
Calculations x 100
This is the last test x 5. Shoot for 90 seconds to unlock Hard mode.
Reading Aloud
Oh great, my favorite test. Listen, unless you really want to read little phrases from timeless classics, avoid this test. You don’t have to read aloud, but whatever.
Read. Read fast. That is all I can say.
Low To High
This is a cool game. You will have only a brief moment to look at the boxes on the screen and try to memorize where the numbers are. When the boxes are closed you get the time to poke the boxes from low numbers to high. Easy right? Wrong. After eight, good luck. And sometimes there is a bit of luck involved.
I have no advice for this. I guess just try to remember where the highest number is, and then count up from the lowest. Of course this all must be done in the period of about one second. I’m not sure if time matters, I don’t think it does.
I’m also not sure how the total is figured. If you get past eight, you did good.
Head Count
This test is really good. The goal is to keep track of how many people are crammed into the little house, of course as some leave and some enter.Easy? No. You get five chances, and the tempo is upped each time.
The trick is to interpret each group as a number value. Example: 3 in the house and 3 enter, 3+3=6. Or: 4 in house, 3 leave, 4-3=1.
Don’t let 2 coming in and 2 going out trick you, it means no net gain or loss.
Also, it is hard to keep track when more than three are moving. Just know that the maximum number in a group is five.
Five times, and a score from zero to five, that’s it.
Hard is very hard.
Syllable Count
This test is easy. If you know where each syllable is, and I could see how some wouldn’t, all you need to do is recognize each syllable and keep a tally of each (whether it be mental or out loud). I get tripped up when there are a whole bunch of syllables, so count carefully.
Speed counts here, so be quick. And each incorrect answer takes 20 seconds from your total time.
Triangle Math
Okay, this is how it goes: if you got two + signs, add the first two numbers and the last two, and then add those two answers together. It is usually addition for the first eight, and then subtraction is thrown in for the last two. Take the minus signs as you would in normal math. Example: 5-6= (-1). And a minus sign in the bottom will also change the second answer.
The only really hard thing about this is keeping track of both numbers as you use both in a second equation. Basically half the equation is in your head.
Don’t worry if you fudge up the first time.
Time is the factor here, wrong answers add 20.
Time Lapse
This is really tricky. First off, remember that you are going from top to bottom; secondly, don’t get the four hands mixed up. The goal is to find out the difference in time from the top clock to the bottom one.
I figure out the minutes hand first. I find out where the difference will put the top minutes hand, and then find out where that puts the top hours hand. If the hours hand is moved to a different hour, then I put my stylus on the new hour. Then I count (not touching the screen, duh) the hours until I reach the hour displayed on the bottom screen. I know, it sounds complex, but I really struggled with this test until I used this system. I would usually miss by only one hour, so it is tricky to do this from the hip.
Speed and wrong answers affect your score, have fun.
Power to you if you got something better.
Voice Calculation
This test is okay. The only differences from the written portion is that this time you must say the answers, duh, and it adds division. So freshen up on your division and you are good to go.
My only beef with this test is that is somehow mistakes my 8s for 3s. I don’t know why. It did it everytime! Weird.
Okay, three rules for Sudoku.
Here they are:
- All rows have each number 1-9
- All columns have each number 1-9
- All 3 by 3 boxes have each number 1-9
Let the game notify you when you get a number wrong, it sucks if you don’t.
For Quick play, I don’t recommend doing this first, especially if you don’t get how to play. Instead, go back to the main menu and choose Sudoku. Go to “How to Play” and after that go to the tips tab next to BASIC. And then the tips tab next to INTERMEDIATE. And then do the boxes on the top in both difficulties. If you still don’t get the picture, you need to refer to the great book, “Sudoku For Dummies.”
Actually, I learned a tip or two from the tips, who would of thought.
Anyway, don’t play this on quick play, it just wastes time. Just play in the Sudoku section, at least you will be making progress.
You are scored on time, duh, but you also take 20 minutes for each wrong answer you make. Though it only matters if you are trying to beat high scores, as Sudoku is not training you brain, I guess.
Not much I can say here that isn’t explained in the tips sections. At least I added a little bit, come on.
*Secret*
Finish an intermediate puzzle to unlock advanced puzzles, oooooooo!
Unlockables/Misc
Here they are the, the only goals and achievements in the game. You get them by collecting stamps. You get a stamp for doing at least one training session everyday. One can even get a HUGE stamp if you do three! OOOOOOOO!!!!!
1 STAMP Low To High
2 STAMPS Head Count
3 STAMPS Syllable Count
5 STAMPS Tip Options (WOW!)
7 STAMPS Stamp Designer [I made a smiley face :)]
9 STAMPS Head Count *Hard*
11 STAMPS Calc. x 100 *Hard*
13 STAMPS Triangle Math
15 STAMPS Time Lapse
17 STAMPS Triangle Math *Hard*
20 STAMPS Voice Calc.
I hope those are all right. Just get 20 stamps!
For the download feature, you can battle someone in Calculations x 30.
Say, “Glasses! Glasses!” while on the main menu.
Credits/Copyright
To reach me, contact me at: Russellxray@aol.com
OR: lunatic_252000@yahoo.com
Please put Brain Age in the title, thank you,
TheGum
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