Have you ever wanted to see if you could get any smarter than you are now? If you’ve been paying much attention lately to the television, you may have noticed and increase in the number of ads for products and services that are supposed to increase your brain power. The idea is that exercise makes the organ stronger, faster, more reliable, et cetera, no matter what organ it is so the brain is no exception
A website called Lumosity offers games that are supposed to make you smarter, or at least exercise your grey matter. But it offers only a free trial, so I went in search of a free alternative that won’t cost a dime but will still offer somewhat of the same experience. What I found is called FitBrains. FitBrains is based along the same lines and on the same science as Lumosity with one major difference.
While both of them offer a ‘premium’ account that lets you track your progress and other useful tools, and both offer a free trial of their full services, FitBrains will still allow you to play their games every day even if you don’t purchase the upgraded account. This, essentially, means that you get the benefits of playing their brain expanding games, without the tracking tools and other things you may or may not care about. More importantly, it means you get those benefits for free!
FitBrains has a limited number of games, but from the ones I played I was able to see how they can help expand your brain function in the areas of memory recall, overall brain agility and even in your creative ability. Every day you play, you get better, and presumably smarter. The graphics in most cases are simple but sharply executed so you’re not going to be subjected to endless games of Pong, for example, and the sounds are high quality without being too complex. I found that some of the games did get a bit repetitive, but I am assured by the FitBrains big brains that this is actually a good thing, and it makes sense in the context of exercise for any part of your anatomy, including your grey matter. Most of the games are timed, as well, to intensify your ‘workout’ so to speak. Bear in mind, also, that all the games are played in the browser, so you don’t have to download or install anything.
Each game offers various skill levels (usually beginner, intermediate and expert) that will make the challenges progressively more difficult, and each game offers its own unique benefit to your brain’s growth as well. For instance, the Uber Brain game is designed to help increase all areas of your brain while the Zen Rock Garden game (my favorite) helps to strengthen mental flexibility and sequencing skills. Every one of them has something to offer and since you can play them without having to pay anything, you can switch between them when you feel the need from boredom or exhaustion on a specific exercise. After all, if your arm is getting sore from those weights, you switch to leg lifts or jogging, and the brain is no different.
Overall, I was very happy to have found FitBrains as it offers the best of both worlds, in my opinion. You can get the free games and continue improving your brain function without ever paying a dime, and if you’re really that excited about tracking your progress you are possibly the sort of person who would enjoy making your own pie charts and graphs anyway so you don’t really need to get the premium membership. For those that do want it, it’s an option. This is much like the modern F2P (free-to-play) MMO and other online games that have taken the Internet and the PC gaming community by storm and the added bonus here is that while you’re having fun, you’re getting a least a bit smarter every time! Until next time, my friends.
- Start exercising with FitBrains here
