Feature: Cubed3’s Devilish Brain Training Diary

I'm greeted by my good old friend Dr. Kawashima - I'm no Brain Training novice, now - as he talks me through his latest research. This time, he's focusing on working memory; that is, the part of the memory that deals with data on the extreme short-term; the kind of stuff that doesn't need to be retained for very long. In this era of rapid-fire digital information and stimuli, it should come as no surprise that people are finding it hard to maintain their concentration.

I'm launched into the first of the good doctor's new Devilish Brain Training exercises, as he dons a bright red complexion and some devil horns, just for some added campy effect. It's Devilish Calculations, and it sounds not unlike the traditional Calculations x20 of past Brain Training games - my personal specialty, and the task that I used to be able to hit "rocket speed" at consistently. Except this time there's a twist - I won't be answering the maths questions as they appear, but rather I'll be answering the last sum to show up, meaning I'll have to keep a few numbers stocked away in my head.

It's easy, I tell myself, and I speed up the rest of Kawashima's explanation so I can get to the good stuff. Everything's going well so far, save for a handful of mistakes, and after a couple of attempts I'm allowed to move up to a faster level, and then to a more difficult version that asks me to remember three answers instead of two. It's by this point that I grow complacent, and I notice I'm concentrating a lot less - and when my phone lights up next to me, my attention wanders completely. I look back at the 3DS screen and I realise that I've completely lost the plot. I've no idea how to get back on the rails and so I sit there in stunned silence, watching the questions roll by and I end up with a pitiful score of just 20%.

The next day arrives and I feel recharged. I've learned from my mistakes and I reopen the game, have a bit of a chat with Kawashima (it's very one-sided - I don't think he's listening to me) and I'm given the option to try out two new memory games: Devilish Pairs, a simple matching game, and Devilish Mice, a game of concentration. Both are a lot calmer and slower-paced, and the lack of pressure makes it a lot easier for me to handle, and I fly through these, even getting to the ninth level of Devilish Pairs on my first try. Still, though, something's scary about re-attempting Devilish Calculations - it's a stressful game and I want to be fully prepared for it.

The next day, I take a break from the Devilish Brain Training feature and opt for the more traditional modes hidden to the sides. I'm delighted to find the classic Calculations x20 mini-game is here in its original form, and even though I've gotten a little rusty in the last ten years, I still manage a decent time of twenty seconds. Word Buster is a similarly simple memory exercise that asks me to memorise just one word at a time, and it's over quickly.

Complacent in my scores in these two games, I foolhardily stumble back into Devilish Calculations and am almost immediately brought back down to reality when a barely-audible conversation from another room completely takes over my concentration and I lose track on just the third question, forced to watch as the questions scroll slowly across the screen in frustrated desolation. I get a few attempts at the same game in my time limit and I start to see a little improvement over the course of it, but by the end I still haven't progressed past the faster version of 3-Back and it's frustrating.

The next day, I decide that enough is enough. If I want to really train my brain, I've got to take the good with the bad. If I fail, I'll just pick myself up and keep going. No pain, no gain.

I go through every Devilish Brain Training game I've unlocked so far, including some new ones - Devilish Cups is a particular favourite, mirroring the traditional cup memory game everyone's familiar with - and I find that by the end, after nearly half an hour of continuous rigorous training, I'm getting quite good at this concentration lark. Even Devilish Shapes doesn't seem so difficult anymore; still, Devilish Calculations strikes fear into my heart, and I decide to leave that one until tomorrow - my final test.

The final day arrives faster than I anticipate, and I wake up with a renewed sense of vigour. I won't be defeated this time. I warm up with a quick run of Devilish Cups, and ease myself in with a round of Calculations x20 before diving into the dreaded game that started the whole thing off.

I take a few deep breaths, hit the Start button, and the next time I blink, the game is finished. So lost in focus was I that several minutes have passed and I've been completely unaware of my surroundings. I look at the screen, and I've progressed from the fast version of 3-Back to 5-Back - in other words, I've gotten through three stages in that time.