Memorization is one of the fundamentals of education. Whether you’re learning your letters or complex chemical formulae, the ability to store and recollect information is vital to every step through life. BrainBox is a game with editions aimed at every age group and interest combining memory skills with other subjects in a fun game.
The game itself is very simple. You look at a picture printed onto a 8.5cm square card for ten seconds then roll a dice. Another player then asks you the corresponding question which will be related to the picture you just saw; answer correctly and you keep the card, answer wrong and it goes back in the box. The rules state that whoever has the most cards after ten minutes is the winner but that figure could easily be adjusted to compensate for different ages and attention levels.
Boxes start for aged three and up with subjects including ABC and My First Maths, and become progressively harder. Those aimed at older children include ranges from Horrible Histories and a new Roald Dahl edition alongside others focusing on inventions, the world, dinosaurs, art, and fairies. There’s even a Senior Moments box (recommended age 55+) featuring “scenes that most of us past a certain age will recognize, from pirate radio to the first Moon landing to memorable hairstyles!” Alongside this range is a smaller selection of BrainBox “On The Go” travel editions. These are quite Euro-centric and include Paris, Prague, and Devon.
My four-year-old son and I played with the ABC box. He immediately took to the game, understood the rules and wanted to play often. The questions were at just the right level for him allowing him to get most answers correct but not breeze through without even trying.He was also able to recognize most objects on the card, although he needed my help with a few more abstract items such as a “twist” or a question mark.
For a boy just learning his letters and starting to ask how words are spelled, this box was the perfect fit for our family, if a little easy for the many adults he dragged in to playing with him.
We really enjoyed playing BrainBox ABC as a family and I can certainly see myself buying more boxes once my son starts school and begins studying subjects in depth for a bit of extra stealth learning at home.
I’m quite keen on the Reminisce 1990 – 2010 edition for myself, too, so I can see how well I remember my childhood and teenage years!
If you like the sound of the game then you can have a go by playing online on the BrainBox website from a choice of 12 different boxes including the USA, English history, and Art.
GeekMom received this product for review purposes.
