Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training game is coming to the Switch

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Time to prove your mental merit

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Update: An October 11 YouTube video from Nintendo UK officially announced Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training will drop on January 3 2020. Until now, we only knew that Brain Training was coming to the Switch in Japan, as a Japanese trailer was released at the beginning of October.

This UK trailer confirms the game will be available elsewhere, and also gives us an idea of its features. Check it out below. 

The announcement trailer and official overview confirms that the game will feature classic and new challenges, some of which will make use of the Joy-Con's IR motion camera. Here's some of the challenges that will be included in Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training

  • Finger Calculations: With the Joy-Con IR motion camera, solve math problems using your fingers
  • Rock, Paper, Scissors: Using the Joy-Con IR motion camera, try to win rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors
  • Word Scramble: Combine letters to form words
  • Photographic Memory: Remember the photo previously displayed
  • Dual Task: Leap over hurdles while choosing the biggest number
  • Birdwatching: Hand over a Joy-Con to a friend and compete to count the birds the fastest
  • Box Counting: Share a Joy-Con and compete to try and remember the number of boxes

There's also a way to calculate your Brain Age Score by completing a series of back-to-back exercises that will "challenge your information processing speed, short-term memory, and self-control." The woman in the trailer didn't seem all that pleased when her Brain Age was revealed to be 62...

Original Story: The Switch is here to make you smarter. The popular Brain Age game is heading to the console for the first time, bringing with it simple puzzles (like sudoku) that keep your noggin firing on all cylinders. Check out the Japanese trailer below.  

The series famously featured an avatar of real-life Japanese neuroscientist Dr. Ryuta Kawashima, and the original Nintendo DS game was called Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! This new game has so far only been officially announced in Japan - it'll be released on December 27 and is titled Train Your Brain: Nintendo Switch Training for Adults. The trailer shows the game leaning into the Switch's capabilities, with one feature allowing you to scan your hand with the Joy-Con IR camera to play rock paper scissors. It seems like much of the gameplay is designed to be enjoyed with a stylus while the Switch is in portrait orientation - the stylus in question will be included with a physical copy of Train Your Brain. The game can also send you notifications and reminders to get in a brain work out when it's docked by vibrating the controller and flashing the LEDs. The game will support two-player gaming and battle modes. 

The original Brain Age games were allegedly meant to stimulate seniors' brains and reverse memory loss effects, according to Japanese doctors, but studies found that the mental games weren't actually effective. That didn't affect the game's popularity with kids and adults alike. This game will likely be just as popular, so expect news on a European and US release soon. 

Until you can enjoy training your brain, here's the 25 best Nintendo Switch games you can play right now. 

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante
Former Features Writer

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar+ and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.