JAN Code: 4959093771921

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First group of exercises for Beginners (Gold shield icon)
A typical session might start with a progression exercise (a,b,c,?,e) where the player has to write the answer on the space provided on the touchpad. The answer is "d" by the way but we found that the handwriting recognition wasn't exactly as good as Nintendo's Brain Age software.

After writing the letter "d," the software first showed "o" and then "q" before we carefully wrote out the "d" by first scribbling out a perfect "c" followed by a vertical line. The software recognized that. The next exercise is a maze maneuvering problem where a blue dot is tapped on with the stylus and then dragged from the starting line to goal. The maze is shaped like the number 2 and is narrow. The final exercise shows a bunch of colored shards and one has to draw the outline of the polygon contained in the colored shards - the outlined object can be a quadrilateral, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a triangle. After the three exercises, your performance is graded with a bunch of bars.

Second group of exercises for Home Enjoyment (House icon)
1) Maze challenge returns but moving obstacles are now added.
2) Move Tetris pieces and rotate them so that they fill in a designated dark-green outline on a grid. To rotate, tap on each piece.
3) Move pieces so that the image on the touch screen mirrors the image on the top screen. For example, the touch screen image might be a left facing arrow and your task is to move the pieces so that it becomes a right-facing arrow as shown on the top screen.
4) Shuffle scrambled pieces on a 4x4 puzzle so that they form the image as shown on the top screen
5) Move pieces that are representations of countries onto a map and fit them on the map. To rotate the pieces, tap on them and they'll rotate clockwise.

Third group of exercises for Intervals at Work (Bowl icon)
1) Find the polygon amongst a grouping of shards again but with more shards and colors mixed on the screen.
2) Draw the required number of lines as shown on the lower-left corner from from the edge of the play board to another edge so that it misses the circular objects that are scattered on the board.
3) Move pieces so that the image on the touch screen mirrors the image on the top screen. For example, the touch screen image might be a left facing arrow and your task is to move the pieces so that it becomes a right-facing arrow as shown on the top screen. The amount of turns allowed is shown on the lower left corner of the screen.
4) Draw the required number of lines shown on the lower-left corner from from the edge of the screen to another edge of the screen straight across so that it misses circular objects that are scattered on the screen
5) Progression exercise again with a lot of kana progressions.

Fourth group of exercises for the Commute (Car icon)
1) Progression exercise.
2) Look at the statements on the top screen and then select the next logical statement from three choices on the touch screen.
3) Tetris block fill-in.
4) Top image and bottom image have differences. Both images are split into 4 x 4 grids. Tap on the square on the bottom image that is different from the top image.
5) Look at the statements on the top screen and then select the next logical statement from three choices on the touch screen

Fifth group of difficult exercises for Expert players (Scholar's cap icon)
1) Progression exercise
2) Look at the statements on the top screen and then select the next logical statement from three choices on the touch screen
3) Maze challenge with rotating windmill obstacles
4) Move pieces so that the image on the touch screen mirrors the image on the top screen. For example, the touch screen image might be a left facing arrow and your task is to move the pieces so that it becomes a right-facing arrow as shown on the top screen. The amount of turns allowed is shown on the lower left corner of the screen.
5) Complicated Tetris piece fill-in
6) Shuffle scrambled pieces on a 4x4 puzzle so that they form an image as shown on the top screen

NCS Game Notes
» Progression exercises may also consist of number progressions or kana progressions which are understandably difficult for the kana-caped.

» The maze exercises are tricky because your hand basically obscures the view of the maze as it holds the stylus and moves it along. As such, players may have to look at the screen from an angle and crane their necks. If your blue ball touches a wall, it'll get knocked loose from the adhesion of your stylus and you'll have to tap and drag it again.

» If a correct answer is given, a two-tone sound sings which sounds sort of like "uh-oh" or "boo-boo" with a big red circle that is stamped on the screen. The cues are confusing because a red circle is generally used for marking bad grades and the sound that plays is normally associated with an error. A more suitable sound would be a sprightly chime along with a check mark.

» After selecting one of the five options, players may then select to play Easy or Difficult questions. Easy mode features a set amount of questions while Difficult Mode throws continuous questions at the player as long as they are answered correctly.

» Successful completion of exercises will level up the player so that subsequent exercises are more difficult. Up to four players may store their histories to game card and the software keeps track of their progress and development.

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