Exercise Your Brain with BrainBox

April 5, 2023

Green Boardgames has created a range of memory-focused challenges in their BrainBox games.  The idea is simple: look at a graphical factoid about a particular subject, then turn the factoid face-down and answer a question about what you just saw.  Easy, right?

BrainBox throws you a few curve balls in that simple challenge.  First, you only have ten seconds to study the image and accompanying facts.

The opposite side of the card has eight questions.  You roll an eight-sided die to see which question you have to answer.  Answer right and you get to keep the card.  Otherwise, the card is discarded.  The game continues for ten minutes, after which the player with the most cards wins.

The questions range from the factual to the aesthetic.  For instance, on the back of the card bearing an info-graphic about Nigeria, the eight questions on the other side include asking if Cameroon borders Nigeria, what mammal is in the infographic, and what colors are in the Nigerian flag.

There are currently five BrainBox games, each one covering a particular topic.  These are: world geography, animals, math and fairy tales.  The final one, BrainBox Pictures, leans very heavily on visual memory, asking questions about the colors and relative positions of different objects, among others, in a simple illustration.

Some of you may remember the previous release of this game just over a decade ago.  That version of the game was criticized for the graphic nature of the illustrations as well as focusing too much on the illustrations and not enough on the facts.  This one avoids the blood-and-guts illustrations and shocking facts of the first set.

BrainBox offers a good memory challenge for precocious children eight and older.  Because of how the game is played, there only upper lim

it in number of players is really how many you can fit around the table.  BrainBox Pictures can make a quick palate cleanser between other games since it is so quick to play and leans heavily into visual skills most other games only lightly touch upon.  Talk to the memory-wizards at your local Dragon’s Lair Comics and Fantasy® about the BrainBox games today.

MORE FROM LAIR BEASTS/THE BLOG