Customer Reviews

Brain Spa

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Seeing the past reviews had me curious, so did a check for more reviews & info. I love it! I tried the game "Brain Booster" but didn't like it at all. I bought "Mind Quiz" which is ok, but boring. This & Brain Challenge are my favorites & happy.
This one has:
Main area is divided up into buildings in a town from an aerial view.
Logic/Calculation: "Gray Matter Market" - find the 2-4 items w/price tag that add up to $ total.
Perception/ID: "Cotex Cleaners" - match the picture of the article of clothing to the circulating articles of clothing.
Logic/Relational: "Cranial Candies" - put the colored candy pieces in the box so they create a pattern with like colors touching.
Memory/Visual: "Dendrite Diner" - remember the pictures of what the customers order & serve them (so far seen over 8 at a time)
Language/Categories: "Neuron Newstand" - match 3 of the newspaper/magazine headings to their common theme. (Had up to 15 at a time so far)
Perception/Comparison: "Frontal Lob Factory" - decide if the 3 toys on the conveyor belt match the picture, reject/accept them. (seen 2 rows so far)
There are at least three more buildings that are "under construction" because I haven't unlocked in the 30 min I played. Everything is timed of course & there are daily tests as well as obviously graphs to show your progress. The animation is colorful, bright & positive. The instructions & in-game responses are given both in speech (nice acting) & typed text.
The power plant holds the daily test of different categories & the Town Hall holds the high scores (I see 13 different high scores). From what I can tell, if you score high enough, you get keys in every area & then can challenge the mayor.

Computer:
I have a 2.4 core2duo Intel, 1 gig RAM, Home Premium Vista & had no problems with the demo & the game cd.

legacygames com - 1 hour free demo & also 7 free online flash games: match color candy, newsstand, market, lab factory/toys, cleaners, spelling & auditory memory (simon using classic music).

6/2009 - I forgot to mention that as you play, it automatically gets more challenging or easier depending on the score of the previous game.
Also, unlike many new games, this one thankfully does not have a limit in installs & after filling my HDD & having to replace/mirror it, it worked beautifully including the save file.
11/2009 - The characters give you cute comments about having not seen you in a while & feel bad for you if you don't do you best, always cheerful & sure you'll do better. They are ecstatic if you do well or a new high score, almost surprised any human can do so well! ;-) I have never gotten annoyed by any repetitious acting lines which is a welcome surprise.
2/2010 - On the box, in very small print near the requirements, it says, "contains technology to prevent copying & that may conflict with some disc & virtual drives" It's not Securom or Starfoce though, nor did I have to enter a key & you don't need the disc to play once it's installed.

I am an older lady who began having memory problems, but I was determined to keep my mind in shape. Initially, I wasn't sure Brain Spa was what I wanted. I couldn't visualize the idea of a town being the basis for brain therapy, but since Brain Spa arrived, I have enjoyed it tremendously. It does NOT make you feel like a 5th grader. The games are not hokey. In fact, each "business" is a challenge and I am improving daily. There are many extras that you earn as you improve. Scores are kept track of and even plotted on a graph. Brain Spa is a wonderful therapy tool. And it works!

a useful tool for keeping my brain function in good order particularly after having 3 tumor surgeries. a right engaging game for a 50 year old with limited attention span.

My kids have "Brain Age" for their DS's, but I'm over 50 and can harldy see that little screen. So I bought "Brain Spa" for me. I've been playing it for six months now, and this is an incredible program. Other reviews have mentioned the different types of puzzles offered, so I'll skip that list and just emphasize that each puzzle is different and exercises different parts of your brain. I really like the little blurb after each one which explains just what brain part you just exercised, and why that's important, especially as you get older. (ahem)
In addition, I'd like to emphasize that some brain games give you the same kind of puzzles you saw on an SAT test. Brain Spa, on the other hand, works your brain in a very entertaining non-IQ-test manner.
You are only "competing" against yourself, and if I've been "away" for a week, I'm chagrined to find my scores dipping. The proof, for myself, that this program really helps limber my brain, is in the word game "Scrabble". I play against the computer in the CDROM version, and for years we've been evenly matched at the third level. Then I started playing "Brain Spa". Now, I routinely beat the computer by 100+ points at the same level. The hardest game for me on "Brain Spa" is the one with math, my lowest scores of all of them. Yet, if I play it consistently, I can see my scores inching up. I highly recommend this game. For real benefits, though, to see improvement rather than staying the same, you may, like me, need to play it at least every other day. In other words, I think of "Brain Spa" as part of my exercise regimen, just like getting on the stairmaster. My only criticism is that it is not available for the MAC. Hello out there - I have several more people I'd give this to as gifts if it were available for the MAC!

I bought this and Brainiversity in hopes of exercising my rotting brain being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere and all in Afghanistan.

I enjoyed this game, it was well made, and I think it does the trick,

However if I had to pick between the two games, Brainiversity is a better product.

While this game has more extras put in it like the town and things to click on to associate exercises to tasks that help out the town and putting on a tag with everything you do by making an exercise not just seem like an exercise, brainiversity to me seems like a product designed with more practical exercises with none of the extra cartoony attachments that brain spa comes with.

Practical exercise would be like making words out of given letters, how fast you do simple arithmetic, associating and memorizing names with faces. (brainiversity)

Cartoony extras is like going to a supermarket and needing to spend the exact amount of money you have on choices of products, memorizing who ordered what at a diner, matching clothes at a dry cleaner, and remembering an audio sequence correctly played by different parts of an orchestra. (brain spa)

So if you're looking to buy more of a game, by this, but if you're looking to buy more of a brain exercise, get Brainiversity, or like me, get both.

Personally I think brainiversity is more fun also. But that's maybe I don't really care for the extra cartoony stuff.

They're both essentially the same programs in delivered in slightly different ways.

I think Brain Spa would be even better for an entire household. Keeping high scores and names of players, the game encourages you to get better at math, logic, and memory. You could get a little competition going at home. Great for getting children more involved with their studies and keeping adults sharp.

Brain Spa has been a hit with my 4 and 11 yr. old daughters. They both are intrigued and challenged by the various brain games. I find that they take pride in practicing so they can beat their previous test scores. This game is a great booster for self confidence--

I guarantee this is from people who didn't even try the game...

They simply judged a book by its cover, the type of people if it's not dull
dry and boring, it must have no value. This game will absolutely increase your memory, increase your calulation and logic skills. But on the condition you actually try it a play it for a month, unlike any of the negative reviewers on here I guarantee you did. Get it and use it, and let the results speak for themselve, but if you poo poo it like they did, you don't have to put the time in required to improve your mind. They can certianly go back to watching television while your getting smarter.

This game is incredible. It helps you get the cob webs out of your head, teaches you things in a fun way, and test you against yourself. It is Well worth the money. My son made me get it and I'm thrilled he did. Good for anyone and everyone.

I bought this game as a stocking stuffer for my husband for Christmas. Based on other reviews, I thought it would be a fun and interesting little game but it was not really what I expected. It was more simple and boring than I had hoped. Had a cartoon-ey look to it, and was just not really interesting. He played it once, and so did I. Don't waste your money.