Brain Games
RIVER BENDER - May 2010
One of the nice things about personal computers and Internet are games that tax your brain, especially for an old codger like me whom they say needs to keep an active brain or it will wither away. Marilee and I both have noticed we're having trouble recalling names of old movie stars. She usually comes up with a name before me unless I can manage to get to my laptop and can google a few clues so it takes us both a little time. The joke goes about two old ladies in a nursing home who have known each other for years when one says "dear, I've tried and tried but for some reason I can't remember your name." Her friend stares speechless at her for several minutes and finally says "how soon do you need to know?"
Here are my favorite brain-taxing games:
Spider Solitaire
I used to enjoy playing simple Solitaire, until I discovered Spider Solitaire that comes with several versions of Windows. Simple Solitaire seems to be just a game of chance, whereas Spider Solitaire requires a lot of thought on how to build on suits, especially if you play the harder 2-suit game. I win practically all the one-suit games but only about 15% of the two-suit games which I prefer because of the challenge. I don't even attempt three suits. If you don't have Spider Solitaire in your PC, you can download it free at http://download.cnet.com/Spider-Solitaire/3000-18526_4-10911461.html.
Japanese Memory Game
How good are you at remembering things that you see for only an instant? Here's a simple online Japanese game that pops up numbers in little balloons from 0 to 9. You only get to see the numbers for a split second before they disappear, after which you must click on the empty balloons in numeric order from the smallest number to the largest to win. It's easy with only three balloons but gets harder as more balloons are displayed. After 10 trials it computes the age your brain is functioning. One gets better with practice. My best score is age 34 after initially running in the 50s. To play go to http://flashfabrica.com/f_learning/brain/brain.html.
Red/Blue Collision Game
How fast can you react to avoid a collision? Here's a cute game where you control a red square with your mouse to avoid it hitting blue rectangles moving about. Sounds simple but for some reason I can't seem to last much longer than 12 seconds. Perhaps with more practice I'll see a pattern. Go to http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html.
Golf Putting Game
There are lots of golf games on the Internet but here's one sent to me that I keep working on to improve my aim and so far the best I've been able to do is 10 consecutive holes which is not easy to do. I'm not a golfer so perhaps you can do better. Play it at http://www.matchpractice.com/game/
For each of these games I create an icon on my desktop for easy access for a diversion from whatever I'm working on, like perhaps during a long download or scanning your PC. To create an icon for a web page, go to the page then click on File, Send, Shortcut to desktop.
All of my past computer articles since 1998 are at http://pages.suddenlink.net/davew/dwindex.htm