Brain Tacho

One of the longest unanswered questions in the history of time is attempted to be answered through the game Brain Tacho.

Who’s better, men or women? OK, well this is a bit of a tricky one as admittedly guys are better at some things and girls are naturally better at others. So rather than testing your skills at replacing a flat tyre, explaining the off-side rule or how to apply make-up, this game focuses on testing both parts of your mind at the same time.

You start the game by selecting the language you want to play in, admittedly I accidentally picked German which was a bit of a problem – particularly as it didn’t ask what language when I tried to load it the second time round.

So, providing you’ve chosen the right language, the game asks you first whether you’re male or female. Then when the game loads you have a cartoon male or female character at the bottom of the screen.

The screen itself is split into two separate sections which run simultaneously. On the left hand side of the screen is the calculations side and on the right is the colour challenge.

The mathematical section asks you questions like 2+2 then gives you three possible answers, 1, 4 or 8. By using your keypad you must correctly provide the right answer to this question, for every correct answer you’re given a point, for every incorrect answer you get one step closer to losing the game.

The colour challenge gives you two coloured squares e.g. yellow + blue, then gives you three possible answers, purple, green and orange displayed on three arrows. By using the d-pad controls (either left, up or right) you can select the corresponding answer. As with the maths problem, you get a point for every correct answer, for every mistake you lose a life.

You have three lives in either section and also are running against a timer, which should you not give an answer will deduct a life from your tally. Regardless as to which side costs you your three lives, your game is over and your score’s added up. In a nice cartoon way you’ll be presented the score you’ve achieved as well as a funny cartoon with a bit of an amusing quote. No doubt this is to try and encourage you to try harder the next time!

Overall then, this game is ideal for anyone who likes to tax their brain. Whether you’re trying to improve your maths or testing your colour co-ordination skills, you’ll certainly be given a mental workout by doing both at the same time!

It’s pretty addictive and arguably will separate the men from the boys, or rather the men from the women. So why don’t you download this and test your friends, family or partner? There’s nothing wrong with a little competition!

Rating 70%

Positives

Challenges both halves of the mind at the same time using the maths and colour game

Clear graphics and entertaining pictures

Quite intuitive

Negatives

Very repetitive

No mini-games or alternative game to keep it fresh and addictive

Reaching a score of 250 will prove nearly impossible (I struggled to get into the double figures!)

There are plenty of alternative ‘brain training’ games on the market which do this sort of thing better

Some of the things written at your score aren’t appropriate for younger audiences

No way to re-set the game’s language should you accidentally select the wrong one (other than trying to work out the right option in the menu options)