Epic Brain
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| Epic Brain

It's got the word 'brain' in the title, so you'd be forgiven for thinking Epic Brain is just another in the ever increasing line-up of brain training titles, which must sell inexplicably well or else why would publishers keep churning them out?

However, Epic Brain is no run-of-the-mill brain game with algebra, spot-the-difference puzzles and a bloke in a white coat telling you your brain has apparently reached retirement age 40 years ahead of the rest of you.

It doesn't give you a load of brain taxing games and decide your ability based on how many you can answer within a time limit. Or how fast your fingers can translate those answers at least.

It is instead a more tranquil, relaxing affair, involving the solving of 'enigmas'. These enigmas are basically made up of five geometric shapes, most of which come with subtle differences. To solve them, you simply have to select the figure which is different to the rest.

There's no time limit for this. You can scroll from one shape until the next and contemplate each one for as long as you like. The most important thing is that you solve five enigmas in a row in order to complete one level. Once a level is completed, your brain is assigned a new rank - such as 'mega brain' and, eventually, the coveted 'epic brain'.

You do get to cock up a few times - in each level you begin with three brain lives, which means you can answer incorrectly three times before you're kicked back to the bottom of the brain tree.

If you start again, though, you're not just given the same enigmas to solve a second time, so you can't use trial and error to get through. To win Epic Brain, you really do have to have an epic brain. Or at least one that can differentiate when a shape is mirrored and when it's rotated.

This is what forms the crux of most of the game's enigmas. Figures are sometimes rotations of one another, or they follow some other rule that you have to deduce. These can be simple at the beginning, but they get far more obscure.

Each enigma gives you a hint before it begins, but these riddles only really give you a vague idea of what the link between shapes could be. The rest is down to your own powers of geometric observation.

Epic Brain is a very simply put together game, but it's also very effective at doing what it does. There's no need for fancy sounds and overly flashy visuals with such a format. Lucky, because you don't get them.

There are no extra modes, but there is a thoughtfully included Guest mode, which lets someone else play the game without you having to reset your stats.

The enigmas also seem plentiful, with few cropping up more than once, although it's a shame they don't vary much in format from one level to the next. The game at the start is essentially exactly the same as the game at the end - it just gets harder.

Still, while it's effective, you'll have to enjoy solving these types of shape puzzles to get anything out of Epic Brain. If you hated doing them in school maths lessons, this game will do nothing to enhance the experience for you.

But if you want a mobile game that feels like it's expanding your mind in some minute way, and which is completely easy and relaxing to play, Epic Brain is a more interesting choice than the average brain training title.

Epic Brain

Solve a series of enigmas - shape-based geometric puzzles - and progress from one brain level to the next. It's a simple, tranquil game if you like these types of puzzles, although a little bland to play for an extended time
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Kath Brice
Kath Brice
Kath gave up a job working with animals five years ago to join the world of video game journalism, which now sees her running our DS section. With so many male work colleagues, many have asked if she notices any difference.