Impulse - Brain Training Games

Impulse builds a daily training plan from short games targeting four areas: memory and processing speed, attention and focus, mental arithmetic, and problem solving. The plan adapts to where you perform worst, so time goes to the weaker areas rather than the ones you enjoy because you are already good at them. Sessions are brief enough to do every day, which is the design decision that matters most, since a routine that takes twenty minutes is abandoned and one that takes five survives. The honest position on brain training is worth stating. Evidence that these games raise general intelligence or prevent cognitive decline is weak; what is well established is that you get better at the games themselves and at closely related tasks. That is not nothing. Mental arithmetic practice genuinely makes you quicker at mental arithmetic, and attention exercises are a reasonable warm-up for focused work. Approached as an enjoyable daily puzzle that keeps some skills exercised, it delivers. Approached as insurance against ageing, it promises more than any app can. Progress is tracked with scores and comparisons over time, and the games themselves are well made and satisfying, which is ultimately why people keep opening them. It suits both adults and children.