Before I began this life of fame in video games *rolls eyes,* my career meandered through movies, music, books/magazines and eventually software. With the exception of the comic book industry and television, I’ve been involved in nearly all forms of media in the past 20 years. I am so old. Each holds a special place in my heart, but books more than the others simply because reading is part of who I am. During the holidays, I would love to be in a store on the floor helping someone find “just” the right present. Often, I would recommend a fantastic series of flashcard-like trivia books known as BrainQuest. Nothing was better for long trips or stocking stuffers. Now, they’ve come to the DS, and I couldn’t be happier.

It is exceptionally rare that we review two titles in one article on GamersInfo.net, but BrainQuest: Grades 3 & 4 and BrainQuest: Grades 5 & 6 have far more in common than they do different. Rather than write the same review twice with miniscule differences, I’ll simply point them out as I continue.

First and foremost, BrainQuest is a trivia game. But, it is more rigorous than any trivia game I have ever known, and I say this as a trivia fanatic. The questions contained require knowledge of useable subjects — not trivialities. Geography isn’t limited to the United States; frequently I found myself failing horribly with questions about Africa. English is more than proper grammar; it is literature — and current age-appropriate literature at that. More often than not, if I could not answer a literature question, it was because the book had been post-1980.

Both titles (Grade 3 & 4 and Grade 5 & 6) play the same with only nuanced differences. There are six categories: English, Science, Math, History, Geography and Grab Bag. Each has three modes of play: Brain Mode (free play), Quest Mode (story) and Multiplayer (both co-operative and competitive). There also is Sudoku. As you play, you earn points that can be used in a Collectibles section, which I’ll explain in a moment.

The art and story for Grades 3 & 4 is appropriate for that age group. Your goal is to help kids who are managing a Wildlife Sanctuary Zoo. Different problems with animals occur, and it is up to you to solve them. However, the zookeepers won’t let you until you can prove you know your stuff. Are you an expert in geography? If not, you many not know enough to help the polar bear.

For the Grades 5 & 6 version, the art style has been aged a bit along with the music. You’ll need to prove your stuff if you wish to compete in the Quest Extreme Games. You can’t sing on stage if you haven’t got the English skills to write good lyrics; neither can you compete at soccer if you don’t understand math well enough to kick the ball at the right angles.

The stories — though a bit of a stretch — are fun and help move you from one category to another without getting stuck. If you want to play in one category for a while, you simply choose to play in Brain Mode and you can sit and answer Science questions to your heart’s delight.

Questions range from multiple choice, matching, sorting, fill-in-the-blank, word builder and a few others. Each time a new type of question is presented, the game pauses and teaches you how to use it. Each question is worth 1,000 points — at the beginning. The difficulty is the timer. It’s not a particularly fast timer, but these are not particularly easy questions. As it counts down, the answers become worth less. The good news? If you have to sort a question, you can get partial credit (say alphabetical order or landmarks from east to west).

Winning a round is not an all-or-nothing prospect either. When given a challenge, the goal is usually something akin to: Answer 3 questions correctly in 3 out of 5 rounds (each round has 5 questions); or, earn 2,000 pts in 2 of 3 rounds. Should you fail the challenge, you still keep any points earned and can simply try again.

Along the way, you will earn Genius Points. These are for answering Genius Questions. You can’t actually “do” anything with these, but they’re a reward for answering certain questions. As you complete questions, you’ll unlock “stickers.” You’ll also be gaining points — up to 1,000 per question, 5,000 per round — that you can use in the Collectibles section.

Normally, I’m not a fan of Collectibles in games. I find them to be add-ons with little value. I have to say, the BrainQuest titles surprised and delighted me. Collectibles is fun!

There’s a tune-up shop for cars in Grades 5 & 6, and I unlocked a blower I could buy and place on top of the car (I could place it in any scene, actually). But, what makes it cool is that each time I go to the Science questions (the tune-up section is Science), the blower animates and shoots flames out of it! The English section is a rock concert. I bought an amp that thumps when I’m answering questions.

The sea lion, lemur, lion and jellyfish in Grades 3 & 4 make me giggle. If you look closely, you’ll notice that you’re actually filling out empty scenes so it’s not “just an add-on.” It’s a true reward. Another nice touch is you earn the stickers from both the Quest and Brain modes.

I’ve mentioned this before, and I do need to stress this: These questions are difficult. Some of them caught me off guard — and I’m no slouch. The timer really gets to you. But I have children in 4th grade and 6th grade, so I handed the games to them.

You can take this with a grain of salt as it is coming from their mother. Both of my kids are honors students, advanced a year in school and in prep schools. They frighten me with how smart they are. In both cases, they dropped the setting from 4th grade and 6th grade to 3rd grade and 4th grade and to 5th grade and 6th grade (there is an option for hybrid). Both kids said the questions were hard. Then they qualified it with, “but in a fun way!”

Oh, yes! Multiplayer! It only takes one card and one DS! It’s hot-seat, you pass the DS. The game is designed to allow up to four profiles. You can play multiplayer co-operative (try to get the best score together), or multiplayer competitive (try to beat one another). What is particularly nice is the ability to set up a guest profile. (This is a hint to all developers reading this.)

Of all the learning games on the market — and there are many — the BrainQuest titles are of very high production quality. They are easy to manipulate; the touchscreen is very responsive; the rewards are fun; and it certainly does not pander. I wholeheartedly recommend the games. Just beware: You may want to sit and encourage your child. These games are not designed to give a child a free pass on answers but to give an adequate challenge by making them strive. And, if you’re like me, you’ll learn a thing or two as well.