What are the best brain training games? The fact that question has me scratching my noggin doesn't bode well, but I'm not one to back away from a challenge, so I'm ready to dive into every brain training game I can get my hands on for Nintendo Switch, PC handhelds, and mobile. Some might make me feel so intelligent that I think I'm Albert Einstein, while others leave me with a blank expression and a sizzling brain.
Before we go any further, we have some other guides for you to check out. If it's not the challenge of brain teasers but the hardship of a perilous adventure, our Castlevania games, Mega Man games, and Tomb Raider games articles have some great suggestions. Or, if the idea of anything difficult in any shape or form is a big no-no for you, go and chill with our list of the best games like Stardew Valley.
Here are the best brain training games:
1. Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain
Portable platforms: Nintendo Switch
This is a blast from the past. The first Big Brain Academy title was a DS game from 2005, the second was released on the Nintendo Wii in 2007, and the third, Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain, came out on Nintendo Switch in 2021.
As the name indicates, Big Brain Academy is all about training that vital organ, and it does this through a series of games, each designed to test your intellect and skill. In our Big Brain Academy: Brain vs Brain review, Nathan Ellingsworth says that it's "a lovely learning experience that offers satisfying brain-teasing puzzles."
If you're smart and you know it, maybe the multiplayer aspects of Big Brain Academy will intrigue you. You can challenge your friends to a series of games locally and whoever gets the highest score wins. You can also head online and compete against other players from all over the world. You can even see where you rank in your country.
2. Monument Valley
Handheld platforms: Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Steam Deck, and PC handhelds
Here we are with another puzzle game, and perhaps one of the best indie games you can play on handheld devices. The aim of the game here is to work through levels that feature optical illusions and impossible objects, so you need to think carefully about how you'll progress to the next stage. It's a beautiful game, so think about giving it a go.
3. Mini Motorways
Portable platforms: Steam Deck, Windows handhelds, Nintendo Switch, and iOS
A great puzzle game can really get your brain ticking, and Mini Motorways' simple gameplay mechanic will definitely get you thinking as your small town grows into a bustling city. From a simple shop and set of homes to a spaghetti of roads and traffic, Mini Motorways is exciting and tricky, in all of the best ways.
Don't let the simple nature of the game fool you. What starts as an easy game comes to a challenging puzzle experience that requires you to not only think quickly, but also be willing to mess around with your roads and the current flow of traffic. If you want a game that will have you stuck to your phone screen for hours on end, this is an essential addition to your library. To know more, read our Mini Motorways review.
4. Layton's Mystery Journey
Portable platforms: iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch
When you think of brain training games, Professor Layton is usually somewhere near the top of the list, continuing to impress players with its puzzles and mysteries since the debut of the first game - Professor Layton and the Curious Village - in 2007.
While there's currently just one Layton adventure on Nintendo Switch, it's a good one. Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy is originally a Nintendo 3DS game from 2017, coming to the Nintendo Switch worldwide in 2019. Instead of playing as the famed Professor Layton, you take on the role of his daughter, Katrielle Layton.
While the protagonist is different, the gameplay is largely the same, offering you an abundance of puzzles to solve as you go on an adventure to find the missing professor. If you can't wait for Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, this game can help you pass the time.
5. Balatro
Portable platforms: iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Windows handhelds, and Steam Deck
We like to subvert expectations, so while we're all for the stereotypical brain training games, let's take a look at one you might not have expected to see on this list. Balatro took the world by storm in 2024, even earning numerous nominations at The Game Awards 2024, including one for the huge Game of the Year accolade.
In a nutshell, Balatro is a roguelike poker game with deck-building elements. While the game undoubtedly involves a bit of luck and skill, it also tests your math skills as you try to create the best deck possible and use your cards to form poker hands. In his Balatro review, Connor Christie explains that "with creative mechanics, charming visuals, and a wealth of content to keep you coming back for more, this is truly an indie hit for the ages
Without question, Balatro is one of the best Apple Arcade games you can play, so it's worth a try if you already subscribe to the service - you have nothing to lose but plenty of frustrating fun to gain.
6. Chants of Sennaar
Portable consoles: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Chants of Sennaar is a lovely puzzle game that's all about languages, making it a bit different from the other games you'll find on this list, so it's perhaps one that I'd recommend above most. However, if languages bore you, then no amount of brain training can make you enjoy this one, so it's best to move along.
Anyway, Chants of Sennaar is a truly stunning game in which you must rely on your wits to decipher ancient languages; you'd best be paying attention at all times, one second of being away with the fairies can leave you completely lost. Plus, the story in this game is lovely, as is the art style that accompanies it. Read our Chants of Sennaar interview to learn more about this gem.
7. Limbo
Portable platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, iOS, Android, PS Vita, and Windows handhelds
This is one for those of you who appreciate a bit of horror with your puzzles. Limbo is a puzzle platformer that gives you pause for thought on more than one occasion as you try to work out how to progress. The story is fantastic too, as you play as a young boy exploring Limbo to discover the fate of his sister. The puzzles in this one aren't as easy to solve as you might think, so you need to prepare your brain to do some work here. But hey, you're after the best brain training games, so I imagine you're okay with that.
8. Wordle
Portable platforms: iOS and Android
Let's start with a simple one that every single one of you likely knows about at this point. Wordle took the internet by storm following its release in 2021, and it continues to fascinate players to this day, offering a daily brain teaser that either makes you feel like a genius or like you need to return to school.
The premise is incredibly simple. Every day, there's a new word and you have to guess what it is. Simple, right? Well, it's not as easy as it sounds, there are a lot of words out there - have you ever held a dictionary? You get just six guesses to get it right, and the only indicator that you're on the right track is the color of the tiles housing the letters. If the tile is yellow, it means that the letter appears in the word but not in that place; if the letter is green, it's both correct and in the right position, and if the tile is grey, that letter is completely wrong.
9. Sudoku
Portable platforms: iOS and Android
There are plenty of Sudoku apps on mobile, and they all offer a pretty similar experience, so I'm bundling them all under one banner. Everyone and their grandma knows what Sudoku is. In fact, your grandma might be the one who told you about it.
Like any good brain training exercise, Sudoku is actually a very simple game, but it does have varying levels of difficulty, which most apps allow you to choose from. Starting on the lowest is a good idea if you're new to it. You start with a 9×9 grid, and each box in that grid needs a number from one to nine, but to make it more difficult, you can't have the same number twice in a 3×3 grid, nor can it appear more than once horizontally or vertically across the entire grid.
The difficulty factor comes in the form of the numbers the game fills in for you at the start. The easier puzzles have more squares filled in and make it a bit obvious as to which numbers need to go where, while the harder difficulties have fewer numbers, resulting in fewer hints as to what number you need to use.
10. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for Nintendo Switch
Portable platforms: Nintendo Switch
You're more likely to recognize Brain Training than Big Brain Academy due to the fact that many DS consoles came with the game as part of a bundle. Well, it just so happens that there's also one on Nintendo Switch, and it offers all of the same brain-training goodness you'd expect to see.
There are two different game modes on offer: quick play and daily training, with most of the minigames requiring the console to be in handheld mode. You get access to all sorts of training games, though some are locked, and the only way to access them is to complete your daily training a certain number of times - that certainly helps to keep things fresh.
As with the original game, you can even get a brain age check by completing three standard puzzles. Honestly, I never paid too much attention to this, as one day I'd be 90 and the next I'd be 21 (I wish that were true). Like with Big Brain Academy, you can head online to see how your intelligence fairs against the competition.
11. Solitaire
Portable platforms: iOS and Android
Just like Sudoku, there's an abundance of Solitaire apps out there for you to enjoy. It's an incredibly simple game, yet it's also good for brain training, forcing you to use your noggin as you attempt to arrange the cards in a systematic order. Typically, this involves matching suits or going in an ascending order with the cards. Most of the time, it's the two combined.
With most mobile apps, you need to try and move the cards into their suits by sorting them into descending order (king to ace). Then, once you have the ace of a suit available, you can finally start removing the cards (this has to be done in order, ace to king). If you get stuck, a lot of Solitaire apps give you a hint, some even move a card for you.
Simple but fun. That's the best way to describe solitaire, and as it's a quick game, you can play it anywhere, any time.
12. 51 Worldwide Games
Portable platforms: Nintendo Switch
I probably don't need to explain what 51 Worldwide Games is so much as to offer a few examples of which games are part of the collection. While the Switch title offers fishing, golf, and bowling, those aren't the reason it's one of the best brain training games.
Instead, it's the inclusion of games like chess, checkers, renegade, backgammon, and darts. Yes, darts. Believe it or not, depending on how you play the game, it can offer some good training for your brain due to the math involved. Then, of course, there's chess, one of the most strategic games out there. Not only do you need to think about your moves, but you also need to anticipate what your opponent might do.
The best thing about 51 Worldwide Games is that once the brain fog starts to set in, you can switch off with the other games on offer.
13. Lumosity: Brain Training
Portable platforms: iOS and Android
One of the best training games on mobile is Lumosity: Brain Training - it's right there in the name. Before you can get into it, you need to complete a ten-minute fit test to determine your scores in the different categories, helping the game to pick the right level and activities for you.
There are games and challenges for logic, speed, language, math, memory, problem-solving, and more, so it's a good all-rounder to train your brain. Better still, as you develop and improve, the game adjusts the difficulty, keeping you on your toes.
14. Paper Trail
Portable platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
Paper Trail is a top-down puzzle adventure game that will have your brain working overtime, but the special journey you go on makes all of the brain training worthwhile. You play at Paige, guiding her through her story and engaging with interesting characters who have their own stories to tell.
In her Paper Trail review, Holly Alice gave it a 7/10, explaining that "Paper Trail provides a refreshing addition to the puzzle game genre, giving us head-scratching levels to work through while following the story of a young girl leaving home for the first time. While the puzzles might not be to everyone's taste, it's a lovely little entry to the Switch's library."
15. Portal collection
Portable platforms: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, Windows handhelds
The Portal series is nothing short of fantastic, to be honest, but as much as I'd love a third game, Valve doesn't seem to like the number three. Oh well, at least we have Portal 2, which, for many, is one of the best videogames of all time, and it's perfect for a little date night with your partner as you work to solve puzzles together and put an end to the evil AI that's overrunning the Aperture Science Enrichment Center.
16. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2
Portable platforms: Steam Deck, Windows handhelds, and Nintendo Switch 2
PuyoPuyo has teamed up once more to bring you more fun puzzle action. Known as Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S on the Switch 2. As with the previous game, you get to pick between the different game styles of Puyo and Tetris, but regardless of what you choose, you get to compete against other people, either lining the blocks up in Tetris or forming chains in Puyo.
If you want even more details, our Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S review has all of the information you need, with Daz Skubich describing it as "a lighthearted, colorful, and entertaining time."
So, what do you think? Ready to put your intelligence to the test with our list of the best brain training games on Switch and mobile? If you'd prefer to lose yourself in the world of sports, our football games, baseball games, and wrestling games guide might be more your speed.