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Do you ever lie awake at night and wonder how smart you are? No, me neither but for those that do, Smart As is with the answer to your queries and to put your mind at ease. Or cause you some more sleepless nights if the results are not quite what you expected.
Following the same formula as Nintendo’s Brain Training games, Smart As gives the old grey matter a work out and stops us from becoming brain dead video game players.
The Daily Training mode is the centrepiece of the game and the part that determines your ‘brain power’. This is a set of challenges designed to be taken on a daily basis (someone was smart when they named this mode) in order to keep our tiny little minds active. At the end of the test you will be presented with a percentage value representing your brain power. At this point you really want to see a high number.
Smart As is a socially connected game so if you are feeling particularly smug about your brain power result then you can plaster it all over Facebook and Twitter. That of course may back fire at some point but by then you will surely be smart enough to come up with a convincing excuse.
But who are you as Smart As? Online leaderboards allow an easy comparison either globally or with your PSN friends. The activity stream on the Vita will also ensure any nosey PSN friends are well aware of just how smart you are.
A more interesting gauge on how smart you are comes in the form of some random trivia. At the start of a daily test you will be asked what seems like a completely irrelevant question such as asking if you wear glasses or if you prefer peas or carrots. Your answers are used in conjunction with your brain power score to illustrate how smart you are. For instance, I discovered that I am smarter than the average person who prefers snowboarding to skiing. The fussy among us would argue that the stat is missing a disclaimer along the lines of ‘from a survey of 100 people who own a Vita and have played this game’. What is perhaps more interesting is that I don’t actually remember answering that question and in all honesty, I’ve never actually tried snowboarding. Still, the stat is there and I can feel proud of it, possibly.
There are 4 main skills which are tested; arithmetic, language, logic and observation.
1 + 1 = 2
If you can’t work out that the arithmetic games test your ability with numbers then perhaps Smart As could do wonders for you. This category will see you performing such activities as writing the missing digit from a sum, following a progression of a sum presented a digit at a time and determining if value A is less than, greater than or equal to value B.
These games don’t just test your number crunching as one of the games involves using the Vita’s gyro. You will be spinning about in your chair shooting at numbered bubbles in order to come up with the correct answer. It does feel a little harsh as there are other factors at play in determining your score in this game.
Me Fail English? That’s Unpossible
The language section will see you performing such activities as writing the missing letter from a word, spotting the odd word out from a selection of words and rearranging the letters to form a word.
One of the games, spelling, is audio based which is not idea for those that have hearing difficulties but that game is not part of the daily test so it isn’t essential.
I Can See the Pub From Here
The observation games are going to test your observation skills and memory. The games in this category are such things as being shown 2 objects and then determining if the following 2 objects are the same or different, watching objects enter and leave a box to determine what remains inside and recalling objects shown from a selection. The latter reminds me of a Saturday evening game show that I used to watch. I can’t remember its name now though so more work needed in this category for me.
One of the more fun games in this category is Turbo Tap. “Front” or “Rear” is shown on screen and you have to tap the corresponding side of the Vita. With time being a key factor you may buckle under the pressure and instinctively tap the wrong side and get a poor score for such a simple game.
There is an AR game in among the selection which requires the AR cards that came with the Vita. Now, if only I could remember where my AR cards are.
Logic Will Get You From A to B
The final category is logic and here you will be challenged to some puzzle solving. In this category you will be performing such tasks as linking the same colour pegs without breaking the line of another colour, connecting lines on a cube or raising or lowering obstacles to allow the counter to reach its destination.
There are 5 games per category and a nice bit of variety in the game types but the Daily Training only ever uses 2 of them. The rest of the games can be played in Free Play mode which you can think of as the homework or revising mode. In this mode you are awarded a rating out of 3 stars at the end of a game and if you obtain all 3 stars then you unlock the next skill level. There are 4 skill levels to each game and the challenge rises accordingly. With 20 games in total there is plenty to keep the brain amused and the Genius level is quite a challenge... so I’m told, I actually found it really easy( *).
The game makes good use of the Vita’s inputs and there is only the odd moment where it doesn’t recognise what I have written. The colour peg game in the logic section however can be a little irritating as it sometimes takes a couple of attempts to get my input registered which doesn’t quite help with the end result. It’s a good excuse and I’d recommend using it from time to time.
Presentation is good with nice visuals and some sarcastic comments if it has been a while between visits but some encouraging narration from John Cleese should be all you need to keep working that brain.
These brain workout games never really appeal to me but I do find them an interesting distraction from my standard gaming choices and Smart As is no different in that sense. There is a good selection of games and it is an enjoyable package which has shown me just how weary my brain has become. I imagine over time it doesn’t manage to hold interest well since the Daily Training only uses 1 of the same 2 games from each category each time. I’m not quite playing it daily like I was when I first started but it is still a good game to go back to from time to time.
7
* may not be true
Following the same formula as Nintendo’s Brain Training games, Smart As gives the old grey matter a work out and stops us from becoming brain dead video game players.
The Daily Training mode is the centrepiece of the game and the part that determines your ‘brain power’. This is a set of challenges designed to be taken on a daily basis (someone was smart when they named this mode) in order to keep our tiny little minds active. At the end of the test you will be presented with a percentage value representing your brain power. At this point you really want to see a high number.
Smart As is a socially connected game so if you are feeling particularly smug about your brain power result then you can plaster it all over Facebook and Twitter. That of course may back fire at some point but by then you will surely be smart enough to come up with a convincing excuse.
But who are you as Smart As? Online leaderboards allow an easy comparison either globally or with your PSN friends. The activity stream on the Vita will also ensure any nosey PSN friends are well aware of just how smart you are.
A more interesting gauge on how smart you are comes in the form of some random trivia. At the start of a daily test you will be asked what seems like a completely irrelevant question such as asking if you wear glasses or if you prefer peas or carrots. Your answers are used in conjunction with your brain power score to illustrate how smart you are. For instance, I discovered that I am smarter than the average person who prefers snowboarding to skiing. The fussy among us would argue that the stat is missing a disclaimer along the lines of ‘from a survey of 100 people who own a Vita and have played this game’. What is perhaps more interesting is that I don’t actually remember answering that question and in all honesty, I’ve never actually tried snowboarding. Still, the stat is there and I can feel proud of it, possibly.
There are 4 main skills which are tested; arithmetic, language, logic and observation.
1 + 1 = 2
If you can’t work out that the arithmetic games test your ability with numbers then perhaps Smart As could do wonders for you. This category will see you performing such activities as writing the missing digit from a sum, following a progression of a sum presented a digit at a time and determining if value A is less than, greater than or equal to value B.
These games don’t just test your number crunching as one of the games involves using the Vita’s gyro. You will be spinning about in your chair shooting at numbered bubbles in order to come up with the correct answer. It does feel a little harsh as there are other factors at play in determining your score in this game.
Me Fail English? That’s Unpossible
The language section will see you performing such activities as writing the missing letter from a word, spotting the odd word out from a selection of words and rearranging the letters to form a word.
One of the games, spelling, is audio based which is not idea for those that have hearing difficulties but that game is not part of the daily test so it isn’t essential.
I Can See the Pub From Here
The observation games are going to test your observation skills and memory. The games in this category are such things as being shown 2 objects and then determining if the following 2 objects are the same or different, watching objects enter and leave a box to determine what remains inside and recalling objects shown from a selection. The latter reminds me of a Saturday evening game show that I used to watch. I can’t remember its name now though so more work needed in this category for me.
One of the more fun games in this category is Turbo Tap. “Front” or “Rear” is shown on screen and you have to tap the corresponding side of the Vita. With time being a key factor you may buckle under the pressure and instinctively tap the wrong side and get a poor score for such a simple game.
There is an AR game in among the selection which requires the AR cards that came with the Vita. Now, if only I could remember where my AR cards are.
Logic Will Get You From A to B
The final category is logic and here you will be challenged to some puzzle solving. In this category you will be performing such tasks as linking the same colour pegs without breaking the line of another colour, connecting lines on a cube or raising or lowering obstacles to allow the counter to reach its destination.
There are 5 games per category and a nice bit of variety in the game types but the Daily Training only ever uses 2 of them. The rest of the games can be played in Free Play mode which you can think of as the homework or revising mode. In this mode you are awarded a rating out of 3 stars at the end of a game and if you obtain all 3 stars then you unlock the next skill level. There are 4 skill levels to each game and the challenge rises accordingly. With 20 games in total there is plenty to keep the brain amused and the Genius level is quite a challenge... so I’m told, I actually found it really easy( *).
The game makes good use of the Vita’s inputs and there is only the odd moment where it doesn’t recognise what I have written. The colour peg game in the logic section however can be a little irritating as it sometimes takes a couple of attempts to get my input registered which doesn’t quite help with the end result. It’s a good excuse and I’d recommend using it from time to time.
Presentation is good with nice visuals and some sarcastic comments if it has been a while between visits but some encouraging narration from John Cleese should be all you need to keep working that brain.
These brain workout games never really appeal to me but I do find them an interesting distraction from my standard gaming choices and Smart As is no different in that sense. There is a good selection of games and it is an enjoyable package which has shown me just how weary my brain has become. I imagine over time it doesn’t manage to hold interest well since the Daily Training only uses 1 of the same 2 games from each category each time. I’m not quite playing it daily like I was when I first started but it is still a good game to go back to from time to time.
7
* may not be true
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Do you ever lie awake at night and wonder how smart you are? No, me neither but for those that do, Smart As is with the answer to your queries and to put your mind at ease. Or cause you some more sleepless nights if the results are not quite what you expected.
Following the same formula as Nintendo’s Brain Training games, Smart As gives the old grey matter a work out and stops us from becoming brain dead video game players.
The Daily Training mode is the centrepiece of the game and the part that determines your ‘brain power’. This is a set of challenges designed to be taken on a daily basis (someone was smart when they named this mode) in order to keep our tiny little minds active. At the end of the test you will be presented with a percentage value representing your brain power. At this point you really want to see a high number.
Smart As is a socially connected game so if you are feeling particularly smug about your brain power result then you can plaster it all over Facebook and Twitter. That of course may back fire at some point but by then you will surely be smart enough to come up with a convincing excuse.
But who are you as Smart As? Online leaderboards allow an easy comparison either globally or with your PSN friends. The activity stream on the Vita will also ensure any nosey PSN friends are well aware of just how smart you are.
A more interesting gauge on how smart you are comes in the form of some random trivia. At the start of a daily test you will be asked what seems like a completely irrelevant question such as asking if you wear glasses or if you prefer peas or carrots. Your answers are used in conjunction with your brain power score to illustrate how smart you are. For instance, I discovered that I am smarter than the average person who prefers snowboarding to skiing. The fussy among us would argue that the stat is missing a disclaimer along the lines of ‘from a survey of 100 people who own a Vita and have played this game’. What is perhaps more interesting is that I don’t actually remember answering that question and in all honesty, I’ve never actually tried snowboarding. Still, the stat is there and I can feel proud of it, possibly.
There are 4 main skills which are tested; arithmetic, language, logic and observation.
1 + 1 = 2
If you can’t work out that the arithmetic games test your ability with numbers then perhaps Smart As could do wonders for you. This category will see you performing such activities as writing the missing digit from a sum, following a progression of a sum presented a digit at a time and determining if value A is less than, greater than or equal to value B.
These games don’t just test your number crunching as one of the games involves using the Vita’s gyro. You will be spinning about in your chair shooting at numbered bubbles in order to come up with the correct answer. It does feel a little harsh as there are other factors at play in determining your score in this game.
Me Fail English? That’s Unpossible
The language section will see you performing such activities as writing the missing letter from a word, spotting the odd word out from a selection of words and rearranging the letters to form a word.
One of the games, spelling, is audio based which is not idea for those that have hearing difficulties but that game is not part of the daily test so it isn’t essential.
I Can See the Pub From Here
The observation games are going to test your observation skills and memory. The games in this category are such things as being shown 2 objects and then determining if the following 2 objects are the same or different, watching objects enter and leave a box to determine what remains inside and recalling objects shown from a selection. The latter reminds me of a Saturday evening game show that I used to watch. I can’t remember its name now though so more work needed in this category for me.
One of the more fun games in this category is Turbo Tap. “Front” or “Rear” is shown on screen and you have to tap the corresponding side of the Vita. With time being a key factor you may buckle under the pressure and instinctively tap the wrong side and get a poor score for such a simple game.
There is an AR game in among the selection which requires the AR cards that came with the Vita. Now, if only I could remember where my AR cards are.
Logic Will Get You From A to B
The final category is logic and here you will be challenged to some puzzle solving. In this category you will be performing such tasks as linking the same colour pegs without breaking the line of another colour, connecting lines on a cube or raising or lowering obstacles to allow the counter to reach its destination.
There are 5 games per category and a nice bit of variety in the game types but the Daily Training only ever uses 2 of them. The rest of the games can be played in Free Play mode which you can think of as the homework or revising mode. In this mode you are awarded a rating out of 3 stars at the end of a game and if you obtain all 3 stars then you unlock the next skill level. There are 4 skill levels to each game and the challenge rises accordingly. With 20 games in total there is plenty to keep the brain amused and the Genius level is quite a challenge... so I’m told, I actually found it really easy( *).
The game makes good use of the Vita’s inputs and there is only the odd moment where it doesn’t recognise what I have written. The colour peg game in the logic section however can be a little irritating as it sometimes takes a couple of attempts to get my input registered which doesn’t quite help with the end result. It’s a good excuse and I’d recommend using it from time to time.
Presentation is good with nice visuals and some sarcastic comments if it has been a while between visits but some encouraging narration from John Cleese should be all you need to keep working that brain.
These brain workout games never really appeal to me but I do find them an interesting distraction from my standard gaming choices and Smart As is no different in that sense. There is a good selection of games and it is an enjoyable package which has shown me just how weary my brain has become. I imagine over time it doesn’t manage to hold interest well since the Daily Training only uses 1 of the same 2 games from each category each time. I’m not quite playing it daily like I was when I first started but it is still a good game to go back to from time to time.
7
* may not be true
Following the same formula as Nintendo’s Brain Training games, Smart As gives the old grey matter a work out and stops us from becoming brain dead video game players.
The Daily Training mode is the centrepiece of the game and the part that determines your ‘brain power’. This is a set of challenges designed to be taken on a daily basis (someone was smart when they named this mode) in order to keep our tiny little minds active. At the end of the test you will be presented with a percentage value representing your brain power. At this point you really want to see a high number.
Smart As is a socially connected game so if you are feeling particularly smug about your brain power result then you can plaster it all over Facebook and Twitter. That of course may back fire at some point but by then you will surely be smart enough to come up with a convincing excuse.
But who are you as Smart As? Online leaderboards allow an easy comparison either globally or with your PSN friends. The activity stream on the Vita will also ensure any nosey PSN friends are well aware of just how smart you are.
A more interesting gauge on how smart you are comes in the form of some random trivia. At the start of a daily test you will be asked what seems like a completely irrelevant question such as asking if you wear glasses or if you prefer peas or carrots. Your answers are used in conjunction with your brain power score to illustrate how smart you are. For instance, I discovered that I am smarter than the average person who prefers snowboarding to skiing. The fussy among us would argue that the stat is missing a disclaimer along the lines of ‘from a survey of 100 people who own a Vita and have played this game’. What is perhaps more interesting is that I don’t actually remember answering that question and in all honesty, I’ve never actually tried snowboarding. Still, the stat is there and I can feel proud of it, possibly.
There are 4 main skills which are tested; arithmetic, language, logic and observation.
1 + 1 = 2
If you can’t work out that the arithmetic games test your ability with numbers then perhaps Smart As could do wonders for you. This category will see you performing such activities as writing the missing digit from a sum, following a progression of a sum presented a digit at a time and determining if value A is less than, greater than or equal to value B.
These games don’t just test your number crunching as one of the games involves using the Vita’s gyro. You will be spinning about in your chair shooting at numbered bubbles in order to come up with the correct answer. It does feel a little harsh as there are other factors at play in determining your score in this game.
Me Fail English? That’s Unpossible
The language section will see you performing such activities as writing the missing letter from a word, spotting the odd word out from a selection of words and rearranging the letters to form a word.
One of the games, spelling, is audio based which is not idea for those that have hearing difficulties but that game is not part of the daily test so it isn’t essential.
I Can See the Pub From Here
The observation games are going to test your observation skills and memory. The games in this category are such things as being shown 2 objects and then determining if the following 2 objects are the same or different, watching objects enter and leave a box to determine what remains inside and recalling objects shown from a selection. The latter reminds me of a Saturday evening game show that I used to watch. I can’t remember its name now though so more work needed in this category for me.
One of the more fun games in this category is Turbo Tap. “Front” or “Rear” is shown on screen and you have to tap the corresponding side of the Vita. With time being a key factor you may buckle under the pressure and instinctively tap the wrong side and get a poor score for such a simple game.
There is an AR game in among the selection which requires the AR cards that came with the Vita. Now, if only I could remember where my AR cards are.
Logic Will Get You From A to B
The final category is logic and here you will be challenged to some puzzle solving. In this category you will be performing such tasks as linking the same colour pegs without breaking the line of another colour, connecting lines on a cube or raising or lowering obstacles to allow the counter to reach its destination.
There are 5 games per category and a nice bit of variety in the game types but the Daily Training only ever uses 2 of them. The rest of the games can be played in Free Play mode which you can think of as the homework or revising mode. In this mode you are awarded a rating out of 3 stars at the end of a game and if you obtain all 3 stars then you unlock the next skill level. There are 4 skill levels to each game and the challenge rises accordingly. With 20 games in total there is plenty to keep the brain amused and the Genius level is quite a challenge... so I’m told, I actually found it really easy( *).
The game makes good use of the Vita’s inputs and there is only the odd moment where it doesn’t recognise what I have written. The colour peg game in the logic section however can be a little irritating as it sometimes takes a couple of attempts to get my input registered which doesn’t quite help with the end result. It’s a good excuse and I’d recommend using it from time to time.
Presentation is good with nice visuals and some sarcastic comments if it has been a while between visits but some encouraging narration from John Cleese should be all you need to keep working that brain.
These brain workout games never really appeal to me but I do find them an interesting distraction from my standard gaming choices and Smart As is no different in that sense. There is a good selection of games and it is an enjoyable package which has shown me just how weary my brain has become. I imagine over time it doesn’t manage to hold interest well since the Daily Training only uses 1 of the same 2 games from each category each time. I’m not quite playing it daily like I was when I first started but it is still a good game to go back to from time to time.
7
* may not be true