is a brain training game developed by

Namco Bandai is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...

and tested by Dr. Kawashima, known for his

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

games '' Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!'' and '' Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!''.

Gameplay

The game is structured around a set of 15

minigames A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than th ...

which are used in the different

game mode In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shap ...

s. After selecting a profile (there are three slots for different users) a

cel-shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic th ...

3D Dr. Kawashima will accompany the player when browsing the menus and will explain the minigames. After playing each minigame in any of the

game modes In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-shap ...

, the player's performance is rated via a ranking of items found in nature, which includes creatures such as plankton, a whale, or a giraffe. All the statistics for each player are kept in the player's profile; the game offers the possibility of uploading this data so it is available both on both the official website and Facebook.

Game modes

;Brain Training : Presents the player with three minigames. Only available once a day. The outcome is logged, allowing players to track their progress. ;Brain Age : Presents the player with one minigame, after which, depending on the player's performance, the calculated Brain Age of the player will be shown. Just a limited number of minigames are suited for this mode and again it's only possible to play it once a day. ;Quick Play : Allows playing any of the unlocked games as many times as wished. ; Sudoku : A classic Sudoku game adapted to touch screen play; it is locked until the player achieves a ranking of Earth on any of the minigames. ;Challenge : Up to four players can select a minigame and compete in hotseat multiplayer.

Development

The game was originally developed in Japan for

i-mode NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and the packet- ...

devices, with the name 川島教授の全脳トレ (Kawashima Kyoju no Zen Noh Tore, ''Professor Kawashima's Full Brain Training''). Today there are already 11 games available for i-mode phones in Japan, plus an arcade machine with printable cards and online high scores. In 2007, the European branch of the Namco Bandai mobile division released the Java ME version, ''Brain Coach with Dr. Kawashima'', with a selection of 10

from the Japanese games and localized names per country. In 2008, the sequel ''More Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima'' was released, with 15 new minigames, high-score upload to

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, and Sudoku. An abridged version of the game is also available for purchase by

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...

cellphone subscribers. In May 2009, a PC version was also released with the name ''Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima''. Namco has announced a Windows Phone 7 version of the game. The minigames are designed, tested, and implemented by the Namco Bandai team in Japan. After selecting the most interesting ones, some components of the development team will go to Dr. Kawashima's Lab at

Tohoku University , or is a Japanese national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It is informally referred to as . Established in 1907, it was the third Imperial University in Japan and among the first three Designated National ...

, where every game will be played while monitoring its effects on the brain of the player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain Exercise With Dr. Kawashima 2009 video games Brain training video games IOS games Minigame compilations Video game clones Video games based on real people Video games developed in Japan Video games with cel-shaded animation Windows games Windows Phone games J2ME games