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Brain Age: Concentration Training |OT| More RAM for your brain!

japtor

Member
You can read my previous posts on the matter but yes. Remembering strings of numbers (and even strings of letters, not words) is much easier now. Feel able to recall lists of items more clearly and keep track of mentally created lists better, too.
I feel like I've had similar improvements too. I think a big thing for me is that it's made me more conscious of when I'm distracted, whether that's from playing the game or just taking into account the stuff said in the little lectures. It's helped me get some shit done quicker, when I decide to get started in the first place at least (helped in concentration/focus, but I'm still a procrastinator).
 

Tyeforce

Member
So the last two levels of Block Head, 59 and 60, are killing me. I try to finish one level a day, but I can't get these last two no matter what. :( I just want to finish Block Head so it's over with and I don't have to play it anymore, lol. If anyone who's finished either of these levels could give me some hints or something, that would be awesome. I know it's kind of cheating, but I think I've gotten more than enough brain training from trying to figure these levels out and failing so many times, lol.
Anyone? D: I've been hating not being able to finish a level of Block Head these last few days. ._. Just giving me the first few moves to lead me in the right direction would be awesome.
 

donny2112

Member
59:
left
left
bottom-left
right
up
right
up-right
down
bottom-right
down
down
down
left
left
left

WIN

Key is cutting him off on the left, and then he goes off on a merry chase of 1s. Then work around to clear out the right heading down, but block him off from going too far while giving him some blocks to waste time with at the top while you seal off the bottom of your area.
 

Tyeforce

Member
59:
left
left
bottom-left
right
up
right
up-right
down
bottom-right
down
down
down
left
left
left

WIN

Key is cutting him off on the left, and then he goes off on a merry chase of 1s. Then work around to clear out the right heading down, but block him off from going too far while giving him some blocks to waste time with at the top while you seal off the bottom of your area.
Those directions don't lead to winning when I try them... ._. When I get to "bottom-right," there's only one block below and another to the right, so I think you got something wrong there, or perhaps a little before that point?
 

donny2112

Member
When I get to "bottom-right," there's only one block below and another to the right,

When you get to "bottom-right," you should be on the top right corner piece, going to the bottom of the two blocks on the right.

Edit:
On right-up-right, you should be going right (back to the block you already landed on), up (to the left corner piece), and then right (to the top right corner piece).
 

Tyeforce

Member
When you get to "bottom-right," you should be on the top right corner piece, going to the bottom of the two blocks on the right.

Edit:
On right-up-right, you should be going right (back to the block you already landed on), up (to the left corner piece), and then right (to the top right corner piece).
I'm following it just as it says, but I'm still not getting anywhere close to winning. I end up at, like, 24 to 37. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong... I'm going the exact directions that you listed. =/
 

donny2112

Member
I'm following it just as it says, but I'm still not getting anywhere close to winning. I end up at, like, 24 to 37. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong... I'm going the exact directions that you listed. =/

We're talking about this puzzle, right?

20130413_114817.jpg

Visual Solution
 

Tyeforce

Member
We're talking about this puzzle, right?



Visual Solution
Oooh, okay, it was my bad. I kept misreading one of your directions. I can be a bit dyslexic when it comes to directions sometimes, lol. ._.

Anyway, thank you! I really appreciate it! Hopefully I'll be able to solve 60 on my own now that it's the only one left. There are less blocks in that one, so it should be easier.
 

donny2112

Member
Anyway, thank you! I really appreciate it! Hopefully I'll be able to solve 60 on my own now that it's the only one left. There are less blocks in that one, so it should be easier.
You're welcome! If you figure out 60, let me know. Have gotten to only losing by 1, but don't see any way to make that up, and going other ways just keeps making me lose by more. :lol

Edit:
Could not get past losing by 1, so found a Japanese site with all the answers, including 60. (Just looked at 60, but good to know if "helplessly" stuck on a different one, there's a fallback place. :) )

http://enjoygame.at.webry.info/201209/article_49.html

#60 solution, if you just want the answer.
 

Tyeforce

Member
You're welcome! If you figure out 60, let me know. Have gotten to only losing by 1, but don't see any way to make that up, and going other ways just keeps making me lose by more. :lol

Edit:
Could not get past losing by 1, so found a Japanese site with all the answers, including 60. (Just looked at 60, but good to know if "helplessly" stuck on a different one, there's a fallback place. :) )

http://enjoygame.at.webry.info/201209/article_49.html

#60 solution, if you just want the answer.
Thank you!! It looks like that site has solutions to Peg Solitaire too, which is good because I can't for the life of me solve stages 58 and 59, lol.
 

Tom_Cody

Member
This game challenges me in a way that no other game has. It is so bizarre to feel you're brain cooking after a round of Devilish Calculations.
 

Tom_Cody

Member
I have been playing this pretty consistently for the last two weeks and I'm loving it.

I had originally purchased it a few months ago but I got turned off at the time by the 'challenge'. In this second run with the game I have gotten into the rhythm of how the game is meant to be played.

It's shocking how accurate some of the advice that the game gives you can be. Getting stuck on a single level used to feel frustrating but now I trust the game enough to know that staying on a single level for a while can sometimes be the best thing for you. It is amazing how you can get stuck on one level for most of one 5 minute segment and then suddenly begin to shoot up.

I have definitely seen benefits in my real life as a result of my time with this software. It really is amazing. It's a shame that the presentation was not successful at grabbing most players. Once you spend a week or two with this you really come to appreciate it.
 

donny2112

Member
Been greeting guests thanks to Homepass (finally!), but hadn't really played the game much since the last update. As a testament to it's "stickedness" for improvement, stayed at the same level in Devilish Calculations and went up a level (and finished above 85% @ 5 minutes, so next time will go up again) in my secondary profile to now match my main profile in Devilish Pairs. Was fully expecting to have regressed in both (especially Pairs, where a moment of frustration can quickly turn into five wrong answers), so was very pleasantly surprised to see some of it sticking. Long-term RAM upgrade! Woo-hoo! :D
 

Lindsay

Dot Hacked
I got this game a couple months ago but am finally playing it for reals for the past couple weeks. I've found that ya all weren't kidding when ya said this games packed with content! Already hit my limits btw x.x I know I'm supposed ta keep positive an gradually move up but theres no way I'm passing 3-back anything lol. Can your training grade go down a level? I finally made it to B but its hanging on there by a thread. I think Blocks are my fave Devilish exercise. btw the Relaxation Mode games suck... the other stuff I've unlocked so far is good but I am sooo bad at words in space.
 

donny2112

Member
The relaxation games do suck. :lol Yes, your grade can go down. I started a second profile just so that I could keep playing without fear of my first profile losing its status (which I have had happen as transitioning between levels where one training pushed it up and another brought it down...). The word games are very dependent on it recognizing your letters quickly. Just try to figure out what it recognizes and what it doesn't and sort of "game" the game to get by. Not my favorites, either.

As said by others, the Block Head and Peg Solitaire are great games in themselves, so maybe do one or two Devilish Trainings a day (or even none) and still hit the side games that you do like each day. That's a big advantage of getting the download version, since it's always there, but it definitely costs more than you can find the cartridge version for at times.

Glad some more people are getting into it! Hope it eventually comes to EU, too...
 

Lindsay

Dot Hacked
22 days in a row now but still 18 more until all the stuffs unlocked x.x

Sticking with halfway through Grade B forevers since I can't go up from here. I thought 4 mice would be easier since its still the same amount of hiding spots but now with more likeliness of hitting a mouse. I thought wrong! Pairs 10, Blocks 6, Cups 6 all a dead end! Can't go up, usually go down but bounce back. Still fun!

Today I got Calculations x100 which is as fun as ever but lately I also recently unlocked the unfun Change Maker & Word Blend. Word Blend is just the worst thing ever. I hope Calendar Count and Clock Spin don't return... or really anything else from BA2. That games games were largely unfun compared to BA. How the heck do ya even score higher then 95 on Piano Player anyways? I got stuck on that score way back in the day an once again in this game now!

The word games are very dependent on it recognizing your letters quickly. Just try to figure out what it recognizes and what it doesn't and sort of "game" the game to get by. Not my favorites, either.
I do l like Word Attack but ya I've been having ta relearn how to write stuff the Brain Age way like b's & e's!

As said by others, the Block Head and Peg Solitaire are great games in themselves, so maybe do one or two Devilish Trainings a day (or even none) and still hit the side games that you do like each day.
I'm up to the first Hard mode Block Head and it was painful. Not to sure how much further I care ta go with that one. Peg Solitaire I can see getting pretty fiendish to... btw should I even wanna know what Klondike/Spider Solitaire's Hard mode is like? I like 'em enough on Normal but am wary of the next level!
 

clav

Member
I enjoyed the first two Brain Age games.

Thinking of picking this one up, but the price is pretty steep as I still don't even have Mario on my 2DS.

Wonder if this will ever go on sale.

edit: This "game" came out last year, and there still isn't a price drop?
 

donny2112

Member
edit: This "game" came out last year, and there still isn't a price drop?

Nintendo doesn't really do price drops much. The first was really that 5 games for $10 permanent price drop last month, I think. If you want it physical, it's not too hard to find cheaper (e.g. Amazon @ 25% off), but digital is really the best way to go here. Only way to get a "discount" on that now is to wait for a sale on eShop credit (e.g. Best Buy has had 10-20% off a few times in the past 6 months), and then use that to buy online. Great game, if you put the effort into it, but the price isn't friendly to get people to try it who aren't already gung ho about it.
 

donny2112

Member
Very nice! :)

Not even up to 100 days on a single profile, yet, for me. Want to get back to it and start a third profile to see how much has been retained, though. :)
 
I got this game from the Club Nintendo rewards, and it's been my redeemed game. Lots of fun. I try to play only 30 minutes a day, get in 4 devilish trainings, a couple brain training, and do block head. Quite fun.

I thing I noticed was that I could never do Devilish Reading correctly. I was stuck on level 3 for the longest time, having the words just fall out of my head. When I started associated the word with another word, thus making a short phrase, I was able to boost past the levels! Funny how a making a simple relation allows me to recollect the words more easily now!
 

donny2112

Member
Yep, I tend to make a sentence with three word groups at a time. Makes it much easier to recall the individual words than remembering the full context for each word.

Glad some people picked up the game with the CN rewards! Digital really is the best way to go with a game like this. Great game and very happy to see it get a little more exposure. :)
 

donny2112

Member
Want to get back to it and start a third profile to see how much has been retained, though. :)

Have now started a third profile as Geordi LaForge (^_^), and there's definitely been some sliding back, as expected. I'm having trouble keeping 6-back in my head when I had routinely hung out at 7-back (and even 8-back some) previously. This is only my third day back, though, so there's a good likelihood it'll improve again over time. Glad I came back to this again, as my attention at work with cell phone, amiibo-hunting, and, you know, work had been showing some declines in the last few months outside of big projects. Also got it digitally ($20 for someone to get the code for 600 coins on CN! (^o^) ) for another family member to get them to do it daily and hopefully see good improvement with their ability to retain what the teacher says/homework/etc. in school. High hopes!
 

donny2112

Member
Wow, it's been a year since I was on the third day of Geordi! I'm now on the third day of Worf (deleted Geordi's profile) after another long time away, and am in the same situation! :lol

  • Had felt like my retention of strings of numbers was not as solid as it should be.
  • Felt like my ability to focus on task was sliding.
  • Self-control was getting a little loose when it came to policing my sporadic thoughts crossing my mind (e.g. why not get an ice cream, why not get this while I'm out, etc.)

3 days in. On Fast 6-back. Feel like I'm a fraud there at really keeping the rolling 6 numbers in my mind consistently and wondering how I ever will get back to 7-back (or 8-back!). Reading this post from 2015 gives me hope, though!

Again and again, great game, everyone should try it out and see how it pushes them. Digital is the way to go here. Really hope EU gets it before 3DS support ends in 2018! A mobile release wouldn't be terrible, either, with Nintendo's mobile movements. Just a really wonderful, meaningful addition to cognitive capability for users. Highly, highly recommended. Love this game.

Edit (Sept. 14, 2016):
On Day 5 of Worf (skipped some days) and somehow am back to 7-Back! I do not feel like I've mastered 6-Back, so to get back to 7-Back this soon is amazing to me! Wow! Love this game. It helps!

the_city_on_the_edge_of_forever_1927.jpg
 
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