Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
One of the bountiful hits of the Nintendo DS handheld gaming system isBrain Age , a game that purport to keep your nous in shape by putting you through a serial of genial exam — math problems , drawing picture , Sudoku puzzles and more . A alike concept pervadesBig Bang Brain Gamesfrom Freeverse Software , a collection of attractively realized puzzle games for Mac OS X.
Like Big Bang Board Games before it , Big Bang Brain Games comprises several different titles in one — in this case , Echo , Fallacy , NovaSweeper , Reaction , Remembrance , and Sudoku . They ’re all resplendently show with 3 - five hundred computer graphic , feature Freeverse ’s trademark irreverent wit and humor , and marry together quite well . They also integrate with . Mac , so you’re able to show off your puzzle - solving skill to friends and family .
Each game in the serial publication integrate a close to Greco - Romanic surroundings ; you ’ll find as your hosts characters like Sol , Luna and Wisdom . And while variant on these games have survive on computers for almost as long as there have been computers , Freeverse has done its safe to keep them up to day of the month and eye - capture , using a veritable ocular feast of 3 - D art and stunning speck effects ( thanks to the use of the Unity game railway locomotive that powers these single games ) . The game are a bit light on soundtrack , but there are enough sound effects and dialog to keep your ears lock , as well .
Echo is a call - and - response computer memory game — you view Spheres ( major planet on marble columns ) light up , voice off and occasionally move around , and then you essay to retell the shape you see . ( This is a plot I ’ve been playing with estimator in one form or another since I gotMilton Bradley ’s Simon gamefor Christmas when I was eight . ) Sudoku — the enormously democratic numerical variation on crossword puzzler , where you have to adjust non - repeating episode of phone number into rows and columns — also mystify the Big Bang Brain Games treatment .
NovaSweeper is Freeverse ’s court to that most basic game that will be instantly familiar to every Windows user — Minesweeper — while Remembrance is an update variation on Concentration , in which you see the emplacement of wag , which are turned over and have to be blame up in selfsame pairs .
All of these I ’ve account so far are pretty much straightforward , although very stylish , homages to countless games that have come before them , and if you ’re conversant with puzzle game , you may be put off by the relative lack of gaud here , although more than 50,000 puzzle in Sudoku are certain to keep even the most voracious turn dweeb busybodied for a bit .
Gone FissionReaction has you snap molecule apart in as few move as potential for the low — and therefore , best — grievance .
Reaction is my favorite offering in this solicitation , and it ’s relatively fresh , at least to me . In this game , you ’re award with a grid contain particle of varying sizes . Your goal is to pop them all in the fewest number of pawl . It ’s a bit like a game of marble play on a chess game board , perfect with ruminate pieces , warp holes , and more . It ’s enormously rewarding when you click one and create a chain chemical reaction that will assoil the intact board ( plus , you get a Hole in One award ) .
A really singular entering into the Big Bang Brain Games catalog is Fallacy . Fallacy is a multiple - choice game that tests your knowledge of logical fallacies — fresh fish for numberless debate and arguments on the Internet over the years . I eff this has been a pet project of one of Freeverse ’s founders for yr , so I ’m well-chosen to see it done , and done well .
These disparate games , which all appear in a single folder but exist as separate applications , do well to talk with one another . one by one , they ’ll track your advance — games you ’ve won , answer you ’ve get right and so forth — make a share tally that shows you your overall “ brain usage . ” The better you do , the higher the number , so you have an alibi to go back and play back games over and over again .
What ’s more , if you have a .Mac account , Big Bang Brain Games have a one - click system for uploading a unexampled Web Thomas Nelson Page to your .Mac home page that shows how well you ’ve done .
Despite the richness of nontextual matter and limited effects present here , Big Bang Brain Games runs on a all-inclusive variety of system — it ’s a Universal Binary , so it works natively on Intel Macs , operate just fine with the relatively limited graphic capabilities of Mac minis and MacBooks , and only requires a 600MHz or faster processor .
On their own , each one of these games would easily merit a $ 10 , $ 15 or $ 20 shareware registration fee , so it ’s a real steal to get all six for $ 30 .
The bottom line
Big Bang Brain Games might miss a bit of novelty for experienced puzzle gamers , but it ’s a gorgeous collection you may try out for yourself at no cost via a free demo .
