I was looking through my DS collection the other day, when I realized exactly how many games wanted you to play them every day. I mean, yes, of course developers want you to love their games and play them all the time, but these games actually promote daily play as a feature. And we all know who to blame for that! (I'm looking at YOU, Brain Age!)

Anyway, I figured this would be a good enough experiment for the site. It's not really an "experiment" because I'm not really trying to figure out anything. I guess you could call it a "research project." Or a "case study." Or a "waste of time."

For the next 1 or 2 weeks, I'll be providing daily updates (I hope) chronicling my progress through 5 DS games: Planet Puzzle League, Picross DS, Big Brain Academy, Brain Age 2, and our old buddy Brain Age 1.

Much in the spirit of the Brain Age Chronicles, this new project will have fancy charts (this time, courtesy of Apple's Numbers trial).

So, what are we waiting for? Let's begin!

Picross DS

Picross measures its progress in times, so I'll be using seconds in the charts. I've only got four of the five modes unlocked right now (although I'm sure that will change.)

If you're unfamiliar with Picross, Google it, because it's hard to explain.

The first mode is Nonstop Time Attack, which presents you with 5 different 7x7 Picross grids that you have to solve in as little time as possible. Today it took me 52.89 seconds, which is actually my second highest time! GO ME.

The next mode is No X Marks, which is exactly the same as Nonstop Time Attack, except you can't place X marks anywhere on the grid. X Marks in the game help you determine where NOT to place blocks, so it's a little more challenging. I made a few mistakes, which adds additional time, so I ended up with a time of 64.02 seconds. Ugh.

Error Search is an interesting mode. It displays 5 nearly-completed puzzle, with some blocks in the wrong places, or missing altogether. IT'S UP TO ME TO PUT THOSE BLOCKS IN THEIR PLACE! (sorry.) I completely rocked this today, coming in at 38.26 seconds! Zoinks! Jinkies! RARI'M ROVER RHERE! (Scooby Doo references.)

Memory displays a single 7x7 grid for 30 seconds, and requires that you memorize the numbers outside the box to properly fill in the correct squares. (I bet you wish you'd clicked that Google link now!) Today's was frighteningly easy, and it only took 2.92 seconds to complete. THE CHART IS GOING TO LOOK WEIRD FROM NOW ON.

Please wait while we process the Picross DS chart. I'm just kidding. Here it is.

I know, it's not exciting. Also, the size of the charts will vary, because of (REASONS GO HERE.) Onward!

Big Brain Academy

Like everyone else that bought Big Brain Academy for the DS, I have not played it in months. I'm sure everyone else moved on to Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree, but I didn't! No sir, not me!

Anyway, Big Brain Academy uses the "brain weight" scale to determine how...uh...large and pulsating your brain is. Gross. They also give you letter grades, but those are pretty much determined by the weight of your brain, so I'm not going to bother putting them on the chart.

Big Brain Academy tests your brain in five categories: Think, Memorize, Analyze, Compute, and Identify. After using some special super magic mathematical algorithms, it tells you how much your brain weighs. I'M NOT SURE HOW ACCURATE IT IS. BUT NINTENDO MADE IT SO I'M PRETTY SURE IT'S A FAIRLY GOOD ASSESSMENT OF HOW MUCH YOUR BRAIN ACTUALLY WEIGHS BECAUSE IF YOU KNOW MORE STUFF THEN IT WILL MAKE YOUR BRAIN HEAVIER, BECAUSE IT'S SCIENCE AND THAT'S HOW SCIENCE WORKS. Not really.

First up is Identify. In this particular minigame, I have to touch images that match the shadows provided.

Think follows, with a minigame called "Heavyweight," that shows me a bunch of scales with stuff on them and asks me to figure out which item is the heaviest.

The Compute category challenges me with "Coin-parison," which is a little game that shows me two sets of coins, and asks which one adds up to more money. DARN YOU, MATH.

The Analyze game, "Missing Link," shows me a completed "connect-the-dots" puzzle on the top screen, and the same puzzle on the touch screen, which is missing several connected dots. The game highlights (on the top screen) a specific line it wants you to fill in, but the game also flips around the image on the top screen so that it is hard to find. DARN YOU, LINES.

Finally, we come to Memorize. The "Memo-random" game wants me to memorize images and touch the answer. This isn't like the Brain Age memory games, because this is fast-paced. TRUST ME, GUYS.

I ended up with a Brain Weight of 946g. The little man in the game says it's "pretty impressive." I also have the brain of a conductor, and a grade of...C. Somebody programmed this game to humiliate me.

HERE'S YOUR CHART.

Planet Puzzle League

Planet Puzzle League doesn't bother itself with fancy brain measurements. Rather, the game is ALL ABOUT YOUR SCORES. In fact, the game practically ATTACKS you with game modes. As in, the game modes are called "Score Attack," "Line Attack," and "Garbage Attack." They're pretty easy to explain: Score Attack measures your score, Lift Attack measures how many lines you are able to make the puzzle rise (or LIFT, hotshot), and Garbage Attack measures how many Garbage Blocks you're able to clear. Oh, you're also given 2 minutes each.

I'm going to do these all on HARD MODE just for the sake of science. Also, since they all use numbers as their scores, they all go on the same chart. HAH!

I got 3301 points in Score Mode, 2709 points in Lift Attack, and 137 points in Garbage Attack (BECAUSE IT COUNTS POINTS DIFFERENTLY.) WITHOUT FURTHER ADO HERE IS THE CHART. I told you, Planet Puzzle League doesn't like to mess around!

Brain Age

I'm combining the two Brain Age games into one category, because, let's face it, they are the same game, with different tests. I'm going to do things proper, and do them IN ORDER. I'm going to try to do the voice-recognition games whenever I can, because those are a true test of BRAIN POWER!

Brain Age 1, first test, STROOP TEST. LET'S YELL OUT SOME COLORS. I only messed up twice! How come everyone else has problems saying "Blue"?

Next up is my least favorite thing ever, Word Memory. 21 out of 30 words! Tied my best score!

Connect Maze is a welcome relief from those games, which are arguably the two hardest things to do in Brain Age. My #2 score in this. Woo?

Anyway, I ended up with a Brain Age 1 brain age of 28. Oh well.

Ah, Brain Age 2. The new kid on the block. The new boy in the backstreet. The new sync that is just N.

First up is the warped version of Rock, Paper, Scissors that forces you to shout out "ROCK," "PAPER," or "SCISSORS." The game shows you a hand forming one of the three, and an instruction to "please win" or "please lose." THIS GAME IS HARDER THAN YOU THINK, BUDDY.

Math Recall asks you to perform basic math questions, while also remembering the number that it draws over. Yes, that's right, you actually have to remember stuff. WHY?! This game is easier if you say every single problem out loud like a maniac.

My third and final test is High Number, which requires that I choose the highest number out of a series of randomly scattered numbers. It's pretty fun.

Anyway, Brain Age 2 gave me a brain age of 31. LET'S PUT IT UP ON THE CHART!

Since, in the world of Brain Age, a lower score is a higher score, I'm using negative numbers. JUST SO YA KNOW.

That wraps up today's edition of The Daily Grind. Don't expect all of them to be this long, because this took FOREVER to write.

Labels: Brain Age Chronicles, Nintendo DS, The Daily Grind