Big Brain Academy Wii Review – review of Big Brain Academy for Nintendo Wii – Does Big Brain work to improve memory and other brain functions?
I have a confession to make. I didn’t buy this game for my kids. I didn’t even buy it. My husband bought it for me because it looked like a fun, geeky trivia game we could both play on my kids’ Nintendo Wii. Little did we know it would be an educational tool that our kids would adore. Here is my Big Brain Academy Wii Review.
Big Brain Academy for Wii is designed to test and challenge five reasoning skills (Identify, Compute, Visualize, Analyze and Memorize). It does this by testing you with a variety of games in each category. On the surface it looks like a barrage of quirky games designed to process reasoning and mental quickness. The genius of the game is that it effectively measures your growth in each of the categories as you play them and even accurately measures your progress over time. The games are visually attractive and very easy to understand.
Upon registering, the first thing you do is take a test to measure your current abilities. You receive a “grade” and your goal is to improve your grade. Your results are accurately measured by the speed and accuracy of how you solve the games and puzzles. Big Brain “measures” your brain and shows you your strengths based on a pentagon-shaped graph. The more your brain looks like a pentagon, the more balanced your abilities are. My pentagon looked a little warped. It showed my skills in computing were very high and my visualize skills left a little to be desired! Once the testing is done, you’re free to try a myriad of tests and games to try to improve your overall scores. Once tested, you’re free to go through various games, medal rounds, and practice sessions. The practice sessions feature more fun variations of the testing games. It’s great to see your progress as you practice and then head back to test again to see if you improve. You’d be surprised how quickly you can improve your skills with some practice. It genuinely can help you improve your brain functioning and mental reflexes!
The genius of Big Brain Academy is that the games and tests are just as attractive to play for a 6 year old as they are for someone my age. My kids couldn’t put it down and we all loved the challenges of improving our categories. It was very interesting to see how each family member’s strengths and weaknesses differed. Another excellent feature is that the game is designed to accommodate large groups. Up to 8 players can play at a time and, since the testing sessions are short, the game moves quickly from person to person. Playing with a group of people reminds me of a game show. The only minor annoyance with Big Brain Academy is the chatter you get from “the professor” character in the game. You have to constantly hit the “A” button to progress through the game as you’ll soon get sick of the interruption.
The challenge to find a worthy educational video game is nearly as old as video games themselves. They’re often the dustiest games in the bargain bins at department stores. The proof is in the pudding with Big Brain Academy. Our kids regularly play this game after 2 years and often put new, non educational games aside to play it. I sincerely feel that aspects of my kids’ development with reasoning and thinking were helped by this game. Big Brain Academy teaches processing, quickness and accuracy. I’ve often heard about Wii games being used to help dexterity in senior citizens. I think Big Brain Academy would be a major asset to seniors as a mental sharpening tool. I hope you found this Big Brain Academy Wii review helpful.
