Big Brain Academy (video game)
Puzzle tests measure brain mass across five categories.
Big Brain Academy is a puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. Released in Japan in 2005 and worldwide in 2006, it was marketed under the Touch! Generations brand and compared to Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!. The game spawned two sequels, one for the Wii and one for the Nintendo Switch.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Nintendo EAD
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Director
- Tomoaki Yoshinobu
- Producer
- Hiroyuki Kimura
- Designer
- Hideki Fujii
- Composer
- Kenta Nagata
- Released
- June 30, 2005 (JP)
- June 5, 2006 (NA)
- July 5, 2006 (AUS)
- July 7, 2006 (EU)
- Genre
- Puzzle, edutainment
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Big Brain Academy measures the player's brain mass through a series of puzzles. Solving puzzles increases brain mass, while failing reduces it. Better performance makes puzzles more difficult. There are three modes: Test, Practice, and Versus. In Test mode, the player completes five puzzles, one from each of five categories, each lasting one minute. Afterward, Dr. Lobe assigns a letter grade and suggests professions such as museum curator, astronaut, or diplomat. The five categories are Think (logic), Analyze (reason), Compute (math), Identify (visual), and Memorize (memory), each with three activities. Practice mode lets the player choose any activity to train, with three difficulty levels. Medals are awarded for reaching specific brain masses: bronze at 50 grams, silver at 150 grams, gold at 250 grams, and platinum at an unspecified mass per activity and difficulty. Versus mode allows one to seven players to compete, with or without their own game copies.
Reception
Big Brain Academy received mixed reviews from critics. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot called it easy to learn but reasonably addictive. Craig Harris of IGN scored it 8.1 out of 10, praising it as fun while criticizing the graphics as too sugary. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer gave it 7 out of 10, describing it as innocent fun but too simple. The game sold 5.01 million copies by March 2008 and 6.15 million by 2022, earning a Double Platinum sales award from ELSPA for at least 600,000 UK sales.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who developed Big Brain Academy (video game)?
Big Brain Academy was developed by Nintendo EAD.
Who directed Big Brain Academy (video game)?
Big Brain Academy was directed by Tomoaki Yoshinobu.
Who designed Big Brain Academy (video game)?
Big Brain Academy was designed by Hideki Fujii.
Who composed the music for Big Brain Academy (video game)?
The music for Big Brain Academy was composed by Kenta Nagata.
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