Problemathic

Research psychologists began to realise a few years ago that games may have the ability to improve our 'cognitive functions'. That's brain power to you and me. Consequently, developers have started blowing out games that train your brain at roughly the same speed supercomputers make calculations.

Problemathic is another member of the games club that's helping us all to join MENSA, but it places rather more emphasis on gameplay than pseudo psychological experimentation. In an (^X/yN(4r)) where r = (not bad) way.

On the surface Problemathic is a straightforward arcade game: fire a small ball at a ceiling full of bricks, smashing them into dust on contact. When the ball bounces down, move a small paddle from left to right across the screen and bat it back to the ceiling. Continue until all the bricks are destroyed and move on to the next level.

The spin on the theme here, as you may have suspected from the title, is the introduction of maths puzzles. Sums if you will. These appear at the bottom of the screen and you need to solve them fast, because occasionally you'll hit a brick and a number will float towards your paddle instead of dust.

If it's the correct answer to the sum, you need to catch it to pick up points. But if you grab the number and it's the wrong answer, you lose points. At the end of each level, you can spend your hard-earned winnings buying items that may help in the next section, like extra long sticky paddles.

Problemathic is built on the principle that our brains find it quite difficult to do two things at once; it's what psychologists call a divided attention task. And it certainly elevates the game above more generic arcade fare.

The pressure of applying thought power to the maths at the same time as keeping one eye on the ball gives each level a consistent tension. More curiously, instead of inducing the trance-like state of concentration and focus that traditional arcade games shoot for, playing Problemathic feels more like mental juggling.

It's not without flaws, however. If you're looking to improve your maths, the sums aren't going to help you lay your x9 table down pat. There doesn't seem to be an educational learning curve, and the puzzles can be surprisingly tough, even on the easiest level – 1554/14 is fine if you have an abacus to hand, but surprisingly difficult if your concentration is divided between that and the bat.

And the controls don't lend themselves to precision ball bouncing, either, which is definitely needed to keep knocking bricks down through the levels of all five themed worlds.

But for a simple game, unadorned with fancy graphics or sophisticated audio, Problemathic is fun. Certainly enough fun a few minutes' knockabout on the train into work, for example. Is it going to help you win a trophy at the Mind Olympiad? Probably not. But will it make you better at solving mathematical problems while keeping a small ball in the air? Absolutely. And what a skill to have.