Thread: Mental stimulation Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I've been having fun doing the Sudoku and some logic puzzles, but wondered if shipmates had any favourite kinds of brain-teasers or types of puzzles that they felt like recommending?

[ 30. March 2014, 18:58: Message edited by: Ariel ]
 
Posted by Porridge (# 15405) on :
 
I hate logic puzzles. They always feel to me as though I'm trying to cram my brain into shoes two sizes too small (and possibly designed for non-humans). I used to do the daily crossword in my local paper, but they've become too easy, so I switched to puzzles that now take me a week to finish (if I ever do) instead of 5 minutes.
 
Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :
 
I used to do sudoko-like puzzles - although not the actual sudoku ones, because I don't like them.

Indigo puzzles closed, sadly, so I no longer have anywhere to do them. I think my brain misses out.
 
Posted by QLib (# 43) on :
 
I'm a complete Codeword addict. I used to rely on what was available on the internet, which limited the amount per day, but now I've made the mistake of putting a proper app on my kindle. I will never get anything done IRL ever again.
 
Posted by daisydaisy (# 12167) on :
 
I have Lumosity brain training on my iPad which I try to do each day and which I find I get better at the more I do it.
On days when I travel to London I also do the crosswords in the Evening Standard on the way home.
But I can't bring myself to start Sudoko - I think I could easily get addicted [Hot and Hormonal]
 
Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :
 
The 2048 game is my new puzzle based distractor. A few years ago, I discovered Ken Ken, which is a more interesting version of sudoku.
 
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Codewords, Sudoku and Proper Crosswords™, i.e. cryptic British ones, as found in the Times, Telegraph and Grauniad.

We used to subscribe to the Times and Telegraph online crossword clubs (at about £25 each per year), but when our sub expired a few years ago, D. discovered that the Grauniad ones were free, and they're even more devious (and consequently more fun) than the others.

Newspaper crosswords on this side of the Pond are, IMHO, no use at all - even the ones they call "cryptic" are about the standard I'd expect in the Beano.
 
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
The 2048 game is my new puzzle based distractor ...

I think I may have to find you and kill you for posting that, Hart - I have now played it twice, and I suspect it may be the most addictive thing since "make your own snowflake".

[Devil]
 
Posted by ken (# 2460) on :
 
A few years ago I took a post-graduate course that had A-level maths as an entry requirement. I don't have A-level maths and when I was at school I needed special tuition to pass my O-level rather badly (for those younger than BBC2, O-levels are more or less what we had before they became GCSEs)

But they allowed for that by having a short exam in just those parts of the A-level syllabus that were relevant to the course (algebra, probability, and staistics mainly). So the summer before the course started I bought myself an A-level textbook and read the relevant chapters and worked through the example questions at the back of each chapter and learned enough to get in. I also got myself a notebook and started writing a sort of cribsheet of mathematical reminders. To, er, remind me.

Two surprises. First it was quite fun. Second I was much better at it at age 50 than I had been at 15 (Its not supposed to be like that for maths). So each summer since then I've spent a few weeks trying to learn a little more maths, or read a couple of books about maths, and maybe add to my notebook. Its fun, stimulating, and doesn't get boring because my memory for mathematicvs is so bad I've usually forgotten most of what I learned the year before - it only sticks in my brain for a few days or weeks! I need that notebook/cribsheet.

(I can't remember numbers either. Including my own phone number. Words, yes. Easy. I think in words. Numbers and equations, much harder. Diagrams can be difficult too. To learn what a diagram or an equation really means I need to translate it into words, make up a little story to tell myself about it, explain it to myself)

There is a limit to how far I can press that though. I got a copy of Roger Penrose's book "The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe" which purports to describe all of modern physics as a multidimensional manifold of some sort - he thinks that that is simpler to understand than traditional ways of describing it, which I guess just goes to show that people think differently. The book as something like 50 chapters. I rad it carefully up to abut chapter 15, realised I had lost track entirely, went back to maybe chapter 8 and re-read it slowly and still got bogged down a third of the way in.

On the other hand, for the first time in my life, while reading it I think I understood Euler's equation, and its special case the famous e**(i*pi)=-1 The trouble is, as soon as I understood them, they stopped looking like weird mysterious wonderfulness, and became tautologies....

Like the day about thirty-five years earlier when I suddenly understood the ontological proof of the existence of God and realised that it was in fact true - if and only if God actually existed. OK, that was slightly chemically-assisted and much more fun.
 
Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
The 2048 game is my new puzzle based distractor.

If you like 2048, and you have an iPhone or Android phone, you should play Threes.

2048 is essentially a clone of Threes, and I'd rather reward the original author for their hard work polishing the idea. They've done a blog post explaining all the work they put into it during its 14 month development cycle.
 
Posted by HCH (# 14313) on :
 
I do Sudoku puzzles, crosswords, and (once a week) acrostics.
 
Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
Crosswords and Scrabble (real time and online). Number games simply don't do it for me.
 
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
Crosswords and Scrabble (real time and online). Number games simply don't do it for me.

Before you write it off, I will mention (as I always do when I hear this) that Sudoku is not a number game. The numbers 1 through 9 are just place holders. It would be the exact same game if you used the letters A through I, nine different colors, or nine different names.
 
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
I like Quell Momento, Theseus and Zen Bound, on the iPhone.
Though, the mental stimulation I prefer is designing things in my head, like furniture. Occasionally I will also build pieces. I prefer if I can do it without resorting to paper or computer.
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
I argue with people on Ship of Fools... [Devil]
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Depending on where you are doing your arguing, that might drop your IQ, hon. [Biased]


I play Scrabble and Words with Friends obsessively. I have this cunning strategy- I allow people who are way better than me to kick my ass soundly, but by allowing them this privilege I pick up their tricks and strategies. So while they think they are pounding me into a grease spot, they are actually training me to be a word game Iron Man.

I also play around with an IPad app called "Fitbrains", that has memory and focus training games.

And I haven't done it in a while but I am trying to plug away at the various lessons at Khan Academy, which is a sort of refresher-course website for folk who are trying to recover their memory of math classes past, among other things.

[ 01. April 2014, 04:08: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 
Posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom (# 3434) on :
 
Logic puzzles got me out of depression and back to having a functional brain. Sudoku is also good.

Sadly, no one in Wellington seems to stock the really hard ones any more.
 
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
... Sudoku is not a number game. The numbers 1 through 9 are just place holders. It would be the exact same game if you used the letters A through I, nine different colors, or nine different names.

D. subscribes to an organists' magazine which has a Sudoku puzzle where the "markers" are pipe lengths - 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 2⅔, III and Tr (tremulant), but I couldn't persuade him that it still wasn't a number puzzle.

There's a magazine in Orkney that does one with the letters O R K N E Y P I G, of which I rather approve. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Book Worm! And Piglet, it's in a dead heat with Snowdays flakes. [Big Grin]

And I just topped my best deluxe game score- I'm now up to 14,300,000 points on number one of my Top Ten game scores. Yay! [Yipee]
 
Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
I play Sudoku in the paper and online - and on Tuesday's I also do the children's Sudoku, which I often find alarmingly difficult, although today's was a breeze. I also do crosswords sometimes but not regularly.
 
Posted by The Intrepid Mrs S (# 17002) on :
 
Crosswords - all three of the Telegraph ones, the Guardian cryptic, and if it's a really awful day, the FT cryptic as well (though you have to print those out, and I try to save paper).

Codewords, yes, and the Polyword* that you get in the Saturday Telegraph (all right, they're in the weekday ones as well but are not included in the puzzles subscription).

And I entirely agree that you can divide people into those who think in words and those who think in numbers. At band practice, some people know the song numbers by heart, others (me among them) only know them by the titles. So I can't help thinking that I *ought* to be doing the number puzzles as brain training, just because I don't want to...

Still, it's amazing what you learn from doing crosswords - the problem is to remember it for next time!

* they give you 9 letters (which do make up one complete word) and you have to make as many words of 4 letters and over as you can, always including the central letter.

Mrs.S, cruciverbalist [Roll Eyes]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I was completely hopeless at maths as a child and failed O level four times, despite special tuition. Years later I idly picked up a GCSE maths book from the library; six weeks later I’d worked through it, wondered why I’d ever found anything in it such a struggle, went on to some A level books and then embarked on an Open University degree in mathematics before dropping out after one term. (It was applied maths, so I don't entirely regret that; I always preferred pure.)

I still revisit my textbooks from time to time. You can only do four things with numbers: add, subtract, multiply and divide: all else is just a combination of those four principles. There can be a beauty about the way mathematics works and the insights into infinity, and getting to grips with the logic involved really sharpened up my thought processes.

Do I think in words or numbers – in words and images. Some numbers have a habit of sticking in the mind, though; I can still tell you my aunt’s phone number for the house she lived in in the 1970s and a friend’s car registration for a car he got rid of about 10 years ago.
 
Posted by The Rogue (# 2275) on :
 
Killer Su Doku for me and this site has loads.
 
Posted by Jane R (# 331) on :
 
I like Codewords and those back-to-front crosswords where you have the clues, a few of the squares already blacked out, an indication of where some of the words start and then you have to fill in where the black squares are as well as working out the answers to the clues. Skeleton crosswords, is that what they're called?

I don't like Sudoku though, which is odd really - as a couple of people have pointed out it's more of a logic puzzle than a number puzzle and I do like logic puzzles.

And boardgames like Kingmaker and History of the World - but you need several other people to play those with you.
 
Posted by Timothy the Obscure (# 292) on :
 
I do the cryptic crosswords in Harper's and The Nation, and when I run out of those I download them from the Guardian (it's hard to find cryptics in the US). I hate Sudoku--it feels about as exciting as balancing a checkbook, without the satisfaction of actually accomplishing anything. I like puzzles that one solves with a flash of insight and lateral thinking, not trial and error and computation.
 
Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
The Grandad and I sit down for our elevenses with two crosswords (Two-speed and Daily) and the Codecracker. It's remarkable how soothing the effect is: if ever we've had a serious disagreement it's all over by the time the puzzles are finished. Our daily paper prints a Daily Telegraph puzzle (the one where the 2/3 top words give a surprise alternative meaning) on the back page and I do one of these while he works on the Codecracker with occasional input from me.
We save the puzzles in sequence so that we always have the answers to hand. Cheating? Well, the idea is to complete the puzzle and maybe learn some new facts, or words, in the process.
Then there are general knowledge crosswords in the Saturday paper and the Listener. Google leads us down some interesting byways there.
I'm always staggered at the way a couple of letters can enable me to remember some arcane technical or scientific word that I may have come across once or twice decades ago.

GG
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I get immense fun out of Word Welder.

It has a lot of repeat value, since once you've mastered the knack of surviving all levels, there's the pursuit of the ever-higher score.
 
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
The 2048 game is my new puzzle based distractor.

And all this time I've been thinking Hart is a Nice Person™.
[Biased]
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
\
Tell me, Judy. I bet he gets it in , like, six moves, too.

(Why, why, why did I click that link? I immediately got the same feeling I got when I discovered GeoGuessr.)

OOh! Speaking of GeoGuesser-- would recommend it to anyone. I really have gained a lot of practical knowledge of world maps by playing that game. Hugely addictive, though-- it's like you're tricking yourself into believing you are actually traveling.
 
Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
quote:
Originally posted by Hart:
The 2048 game is my new puzzle based distractor.

And all this time I've been thinking Hart is a Nice Person™.
[Biased]

I also have been suckered in...I fear a new way of wasting time has just entered the collection...
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Yes. It's evil isn't it? [Cool]

Some great suggestions on this thread - thanks all!
 
Posted by ArachnidinElmet (# 17346) on :
 
Apart from puzzling, I'm partial to the odd quiz. TV games like Pointless or Only Connect are good because they involve different ways of thinking.

A Christmas tradition in the Arachnid household is the attempted communal solving of the TLS Christmas quiz and the particularly devious King William's College quiz using only the reference books in the living room, and when we get really stuck, Wikipedia.
 
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
\
Tell me, Judy. I bet he gets it in , like, six moves, too.

I've been wondering how many times he's won. Hart! Time to fess up! [Big Grin]
 
Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I haven't managed to get to 2048 yet - the highest number I've managed so far is 512 (and I thought I was doing quite well at that).

Seconded for Geoguesser too - that was fun, although I tended to vacillate between being quite brilliant (very occasionally) and complete rubbish (mostly).

I'm also quite an addict of Scrabble Blast.

Oh yes, and Jeopardy! (despite the sometimes American-centric questions), and Pointless and Eggheads when I'm home on holiday.

I'm off to waste some time now ... [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by piglet:


I'm also quite an addict of Scrabble Blast.


(salivates)
Scrabble Blast?
 
Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
I haven't managed to get to 2048 yet - the highest number I've managed so far is 512 (and I thought I was doing quite well at that).

Thanks, Hart, you sadistic so-and-so...

(I just got 512 too...)
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Same here... but maybe I can beat that (off to play another round.)
 
Posted by Jonah the Whale (# 1244) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:

And boardgames like Kingmaker and History of the World - but you need several other people to play those with you.

I have both those, but it's hard to find people to play with. A nice site for satisfying board game or card game urges is boardgame arena
 
Posted by Lord Jestocost (# 12909) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
quote:
Originally posted by piglet:
I haven't managed to get to 2048 yet - the highest number I've managed so far is 512 (and I thought I was doing quite well at that).

Thanks, Hart, you sadistic so-and-so...

(I just got 512 too...)

And for the real artists there is 2048: Benedict Cumberbatch vs Otters Edition.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
I was playing 2048 just now and some guy walked by and said" OMG my friend just won that yesterday! "

He said once you win, they just give you a new goal.
 
Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :
 
To all who are trying their hand at 2048:

Weep!

[Snigger]
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
It's not the winning, it's the taking part....
 
Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
He said once you win, they just give you a new goal.

You can simply continue with the same game. Messed it up about 10 moves later though, due to being sloppy after "having won". Once ones knows how to do this puzzle, one can pretty much keep going forever... but it becomes a tedious exercise in avoiding mistakes.
 
Posted by Earwig (# 12057) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
To all who are trying their hand at 2048:

Weep!

[Snigger]

It's.... beautiful....
 
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Earwig:
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
To all who are trying their hand at 2048:

Weep!

[Snigger]

It's.... beautiful....
No, it is Photoshop!
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
You can simply continue with the same game. Messed it up about 10 moves later though, due to being sloppy after "having won".

And that's when I learned a very special lesson about hubris, Little Timmy... [Biased]

I believe it's not photoshopped, lilB. It just so figures, actually. ;D
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Thanks, Ingo - you've saved me a lot of effort. Now that I know what it looks like, I don't feel any need to keep on trying. (Odd but true.) Now I feel free. [Cool]
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
See, I have the opposite feeling, mine is "Darn his socks, I will beat him if it kills me." Which means my envy based motivation will keep me at 256 for two weeks.
 
Posted by lilBuddha (# 14333) on :
 
Monument Valley is an app on iTunes which, though not very challenging mentally, is absolutely gorgeous. Much like Zen touch, the experience is more important than the challenge.
 
Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I have a version on Countdown on my phone which is words and numbers.
 
Posted by Chorister (# 473) on :
 
I came across a version of Sudoku which is musical symbols (Musidoku). Suddenly the world didn't seem quite so frightening. [Biased]
 
Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
No, it is Photoshop!

Oh, ye of little faith! Well, actually that one was GIMPed out of two screenshots...

I have videoed myself playing (and winning...) this while explaining my method. So if you want those spoilers, you can watch this here (warning: 441 MB uncut footage, watch on broadband). I got pretty close to getting it to 4096 there. By the way, I get confused in the end and talk about not getting 2048 (which you can see right on the screen). Rather it is the 4096 I didn't quite manage to get to. It was my first attempt at screencasting and I was getting worn out a bit at that point in time. I didn't feel like re-doing it. There also some bad moves in this, in particular at one point I say I have no choice but moving up when clearly moving left is much better. But anyway, if you are trying to beat the puzzle this should get you there. [Smile]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
I have Lumosity brain training on my iPad which I try to do each day and which I find I get better at the more I do it.

This is fun. I signed up for the free version, but my results are getting worse overall rather than better!

There will probably come a point soon when I reach an average score of 0. After that things can only take a turn for the up again (she said hopefully).

(Mornings, urgh. Sometimes trying to think can feel like trying to dance with weights tied to your legs.)

[ 06. April 2014, 09:35: Message edited by: Ariel ]
 
Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :
 
Having played both 3s and 2048 I have come to the conclusion that 3s is quite a bit harder. Several things for this. Firstly though they are both games of getting tiles of the same number over each other, 3s has several added bits that mean it is technically more difficult.


The difference for me is where I seem to improve fairly frequently on 2048 the game of 3s seems more like a perfect storm and is much more dependent on the initial set up so I go up and down like a yoyo.

In one way 3s is easier than 2048 and that is you have some idea of the next tile value and limited control over where it goes on the board.

Jengie

[ 06. April 2014, 10:42: Message edited by: Jengie Jon ]
 
Posted by bib (# 13074) on :
 
I love logic problems and cryptic crosswords. Sudoku are ok but become a bit boring after a while. I like to buy the logic problem books with printed grids to help in solving the problems which are good for learning how to do logic problems. I also belong to a Australian Crossword Club which sends out a monthly puzzle magazine called Crozworld to members containing cryptic crosswords so that I can get a regular 'fix'.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Researching 3s, found this blog comment:

quote:
And when things don't go so well, it's incredibly easy to dive in for "just one more game" (the catchy background music and peppy sounds and animations from the personified tiles themselves don't hurt, either).
I noticed that with 2048-- that little "bling!" noise is so satisfying!

[ 07. April 2014, 23:27: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
...noticed that with 2048-- that little "bling!" noise is so satisfying!

[Paranoid]

*leaves Ship to play 2048 with the sound on this time*
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
(after an hour or so hours wrestling with IPad)

Threes makes 2048 look like tic tac toe.
 
Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
(after an hour or so hours wrestling with IPad) Threes makes 2048 look like tic tac toe.

After about three hours of playing Threes on an iPhone - top score 10,131 with High Rank 384 so far...

That's true, but I'm not entirely convinced that it makes Threes better than 2048. I do not get the feeling that the correlation between me playing better and me getting a higher score is strong enough in Threes. Perhaps I have simply not "understood" Threes sufficiently yet, but I have the feeling that it might be just a tad too random. There's a kind of edge between random and order which allows for very compelling game play (cf. Backgammon or Poker). But Threes seems just a tad too luck-based. For example, if you just get half a dozen 1s in a row, then most of the time you are going to die soon, no matter how skilful you manoeuvre or what tactic you are using.

Another thing that Threes is lacking, which 2048 has (as indicated by the name), is a clear goal in the game, or at least a convenient way of comparing achievements (like say an online "league table"). I really have no clue how well I'm playing. I think I'm doing OK, but other than by googling what other people say about their scores it ends up being just me eking out a somewhat better score again and again.
 
Posted by Amorya (# 2652) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Another thing that Threes is lacking, which 2048 has (as indicated by the name), is a clear goal in the game, or at least a convenient way of comparing achievements (like say an online "league table"). I really have no clue how well I'm playing. I think I'm doing OK, but other than by googling what other people say about their scores it ends up being just me eking out a somewhat better score again and again.

Threes has an online high score table. On the iPhone it uses Game Center to compare you to your friends. (Not sure what it does on Android.)
 
Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Amorya:
On the iPhone it uses Game Center to compare you to your friends. (Not sure what it does on Android.)

Thanks, I've never really used Game Center before. My High Score is apparently 91,537 overall and my High Card is 262,794 overall. That's pretty sucky then. Though I bet that the distributions are heavily skewed, i.e., one can probably move up a lot with a little more...
 
Posted by IngoB (# 8700) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Thanks, I've never really used Game Center before. My High Score is apparently 91,537 overall and my High Card is 262,794 overall. That's pretty sucky then. Though I bet that the distributions are heavily skewed, i.e., one can probably move up a lot with a little more...

Indeed, that seems to be the case. Have moved up to No. 39,530 High Score (22,953) and No. 5,895 High Card (768). Less sucky.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
(sigh)

So in all the 2048madness, Flausa ntroduced me to this.

Holy shit.

You know, I have never gotten around to watching Sherlock, and I was wondering what the huge fuss about this Cumberbatch cat was, but if there was ever a chance I would become a fan of his, this pretty much pounded that possibility into the ground. I have never grown so sick of someone's face so quickly.

I told her,"If I ever see him in person, I will probably snap,'I'm [cheering] for the otters! And don't you ever make that shouty face at me again!'"
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
Yes, Lord Jestocost posted that earlier on the thread (sorry). I found that hard to get my head round as I had no idea what level I was on, and got pretty sick of Cumberbatch quite quickly - but sent it on to a devoted fan via her best friend.

2048 would, I feel, benefit from its own thread in the Circus where people could compare scores and notes, if someone else wants to start one. It should probably be opened up to a wider public [Devil]

Does anyone have any other enjoyable logic puzzles, brain-teasers, etc they'd recommend? Some fun suggestions on this thread so far.
 
Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :
 
Cunberbatch is brill as ab actor specially in radio programs. I would get tired of looking at him and would not wish to have him installed permanently on my puter!
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:

Does anyone have any other enjoyable logic puzzles, brain-teasers, etc they'd recommend? Some fun suggestions on this thread so far.

Don't sniff at me-- I think good ol Candy Crush and Angry birds are actually magnificent tools for increasing your focus and hand-eye coordination.


Especially the latter-- there is a lot going on in that game as far as geometry, memory and precision.
 
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Angry Birds is like un-engineering...find the weak point and deconstruct the little framework the piggies have made out in the wilderness.

It's also fun to beat Kelly. [Razz]
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Enjoy the feeling while it lasts. When I can afford to buy power ups again, you're toast. In the meantime,playing without is only making me DEADLY!
 
Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Yeah, yeah. Sharkshooter tries to beat me, too. [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Lucia (# 15201) on :
 
Yesterday I made it to the 2048 tile! The pull to play it has diminished now...weird.... [Paranoid]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
OK. Anyone wanting to discuss scores, looking for a new game to be addicted to, lure others into wasting chunks of their life, etc, should visit the Circus thread on 2048 and post their scores there.

It deserves to be introduced to a wider public. [Biased]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
If anyone likes Lumosity, they may also like the Cambridge Brain Sciences pages.
 
Posted by Smudgie (# 2716) on :
 
I like the free version of Lumosity but am starting to get a bit bored with the games and longing for something with a bit more variety. I'll have to have a go at that one you've mentioned, Ariel.

I love cryptic crosswords, codewords, logic puzzles and thrashing certain people (mentioning no names) and being thrashed in turn by other certain people (mentioning even more no names) at online scrabble and other games.

I'm trying to rediscover my linguistic skill, too, by using Babbel to relearn a bit of Turkish, though that's going far too slowly for my liking as I keep getting distracted!
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I agree about Lumosity. The CBS pages are more demanding and I'm enjoying them a lot so far (also you can come back whenever you feel like it). The Hampshire Brain Tree is proving a bit addictive. I think you'll enjoy the site.

[ 12. April 2014, 19:20: Message edited by: Ariel ]
 
Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
More relaxing than stimulating, my on-screen time waster is www.jigzone.com, the challenge to beat the supposed 'average time' which is rubbish. You can choose to break the picture in to any number of pieces from 6 to 247; since I always do the 67-piece I know where all the pieces go and have my own system of finding them. This compensates for a bit of time wasted by a slightly shaky hand.

GG
 
Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
I could have written your post, GG. Spatial and visual ability for me are much lower than verbal so I use this everyday to help develop things. It sounds as if we generally do the same version of the puzzle. Sometimes I shake things up and do it 67 piece, then choose a different pattern of same puzzle. That usually takes me longer.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
OO, forgot all about that site! I like it, too!
 
Posted by JoannaP (# 4493) on :
 
Thank you for introducing me to that site, I think...
 
Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :
 
I haven't tried this, and probably won't, but you can now enroll at Hogwarts online.
 
Posted by ken (# 2460) on :
 
Been relaxing by making some lego technic kits.

For me that counts as mental stretching. I'm good with words and software and maybe even some kinds of music. But making things? Machines with moving parts? Not something my brain is very fitted to. So playing with toys with gears is maybe like someone else doing a crossword or sudoku.

So next thing is a Very Bog Lego Mobile Crane. With 8-wheel drive and a differential gear box. You build yourself. Maybe after that I'll understand how differentials work.

Or maybe not. I get frustrated with learning by doing. I think "Don't show me, tell me - its quicker". I have to describe things in words to understand them. Make up little stories to explain diagrams or equations. A picture is worth a thousand words, but its a lot easier to make up a thousand words than one decent picture.

So perhaps next to next the Lego robots? If I can afford one. Programmable and all. Computers and robots and stuff are a sneaky trick we've played on the world, turning problems of mechanics and mathematics and business and logistics and accounting and other such tedious stuff into problems about words and text, which are much simpler to deal with.

So here goes the mental stimulation...
 
Posted by Pearl B4 Swine (# 11451) on :
 
I don't think anyone has mentioned Majong yet. It's 'just' a matching game, I realize, but Ive found an awfully good one: Majong connect 2. There's a learning curve to this one, but keep at it. I despise the cartoonish Majongs, but this one is good. I've learned Chinese characters 1 - 10 by playing. [Smile]

Stifle the drum beat tho!
 
Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :
 
I have been using a free Mahjong App on my Android phone during the morning and evening commutes. Nearly done them all at least once, need to look for something different. Any suggestions?
 
Posted by jrw (# 18045) on :
 
Futoshiki.

[ 19. April 2014, 15:37: Message edited by: jrw ]
 
Posted by JoannaP (# 4493) on :
 
I have just done the National Numeracy Challenge, which really made my brain hurt; it has been a long time since I have had to think about percentages and probability in that sort of detail - but it was also fun. I now have some training to do, which I hope will also be stimulating.
 
Posted by Pearl B4 Swine (# 11451) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
I have been using a free Mahjong App on my Android phone during the morning and evening commutes. Nearly done them all at least once, need to look for something different. Any suggestions?

That site tells me, "You have no devices" LOL. Similar to the Facebook message, "You have no friends" [Big Grin]
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
Been relaxing by making some lego technic kits.

For me that counts as mental stretching. I'm good with words and software and maybe even some kinds of music. But making things? Machines with moving parts? Not something my brain is very fitted to. So playing with toys with gears is maybe like someone else doing a crossword or sudoku.

In my mind, the crosswords and sudoku are just conveniently portable replacements for the left-brain work you get with Lego.
[Big Grin]

In my line of work, I gt to play with Lego a lot but I have never played with the tech kits yet. Now I am desperately yearning to do so.
I was thinking it over the other day, and realised I spent a lot of time in the block area when I was a kid. Not that I didn't play with dolls and stuff, i would just consistantly drag the dolls and stuff to the block area. I liked making domino mazes and playing with tangrams, too.
 
Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :
 
Just tried 2048.

Not for me. Bored before I finished my first game. I don't WANT to win it.

Unlike that damn Geoguesser thing that I was introduced to by the Ship a few months back...
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Oh I am back on that treadmill. I just used up all my free levels on the iPad version.

I have noticed I am a lot more map- aware than I used to be. I'm not at the point where I could draw a perfect map of Eastern Europe, but I have a lot better idea where those countries are now than when I started.
 
Posted by Ian Climacus (# 944) on :
 
Gosh...I'm pretty poor at that 2048. And I did give it a few goes! [Help]

That Geoguesser is good fun.

I may look into Lumosity; thanks for the posts on it. I recently signed up with Cambridge Brain Sciences which I am enjoying -- though I may be lowering the Australian right-handed IT Professional group ranking for any researchers with my feeble scores. [Smile]

[ 25. April 2014, 06:47: Message edited by: Ian Climacus ]
 


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