Free brain games the whole family can play
Four short puzzles a day, about a minute in total, then a card showing how you did. No words to read, no account, no ads. Play it with your kids, then send them a link and see who wins.
- 13games
- 6skills
- ~1 mina day
- 8+ages
- 0cost, ads or sign-ups
What is Brainpilates?
Brainpilates is a free daily puzzle game for kids and adults. Every day it picks four games from a pool of thirteen, one for each of four different skills, such as focus, memory, logic or spatial thinking. Everyone in the world gets the same four on the same day. You play them in about a minute and get a score card at the end.
The games contain no words. Not as a gimmick, but because it changes who can play: nothing has to be translated, nothing has to be read, and a child who is still working on reading is not at a disadvantage. The first real testers were an eight-year-old and an adult playing together, and both found it hard enough to be worth doing.
Why families play it
Nothing to read
Shapes, colours and numbers instead of words, so an eight-year-old and a grandparent start equal.
Same puzzles for everyone
The daily set comes from the date. Compare scores at dinner knowing you all played the same thing.
Solving beats speed
Most of the score is for getting it right. A careful child can beat a rushed adult.
Free and private
No account, no ads, nothing to buy. Progress stays in your own browser.
Challenge each other
Brainpilates is more fun when someone else is trying to beat you.
- Play today’s four games. It takes about a minute.
- Tap Share. Your card goes out with a link to the exact same set and your time.
- They try to beat it. Same puzzles, same day, one time to beat.
A free alternative to brain-training apps
If you are looking for something like Lumosity, Elevate or Peak for the family without the subscription, this is how Brainpilates compares.
| Brainpilates | Most subscription brain-training apps | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, all of it | Free tier, full access by subscription |
| Account | None | Sign-up required |
| Reading needed | Almost none | Many games are word based |
| Playing together | Same daily set for everyone, plus a beat-my-time link | Mostly solo progress |
| Time per day | About a minute | Usually a longer session |
| What it promises | A good puzzle, nothing more | Often marketed as brain training |
How a day works
The daily mix draws four games from the pool of thirteen, one from each of four different skills, so no two days feel quite the same. When the set is done you get a card with your score and a shape drawn from how you did in each of the four.
If a minute is not enough, the levels ladder keeps going for as long as you want, getting harder as you climb. You can also play any single game on its own from the list below.
The 13 games
Each game uses one main skill. Tap a game to read how it works and play it on its own.
Focus
Noticing the one detail that matters among many that do not.
Abstraction
Seeing the rule behind the examples.
Logic
Working forward from what you know to what must come next.
Memory
Holding a picture in your head after it has gone.
Planning
Thinking a few moves ahead before you commit.
Spatial
Turning, folding and fitting shapes in your mind.
How the score works
Solving a game is worth 70 points. Beating that game’s par time adds up to 30 more. A miss scores 25. Your score for the set is the average across the games you played.
Every game is measured against its own par time rather than one shared clock. A round of Tetris takes far longer than spotting an outlier, and it would be unfair to treat the difference as slowness. Solving a game at its par time scores 90 whichever game it is.
Solving counts for more than speed on purpose. If speed decided everything, the adult would win every time and the eight-year-old would stop playing.
What the card is, and what it is not
The card at the end shows how you did in today’s four games. That is all it shows. It is not a cognitive assessment, it has not been validated against anything, and it says nothing about how your memory or attention work in daily life.
We also make no claim that playing Brainpilates improves your thinking. The evidence that puzzle games transfer to general mental ability is weak, and companies in this category have been fined for saying otherwise. Brainpilates is a game. The honest reason to play it is that it is enjoyable and it takes a minute.
Your data
Your streak, levels and records are kept in your own browser and nowhere else. There is no login, no email address to hand over, and no third-party advertising. One practical consequence: progress does not currently follow you from your phone to your laptop, and clearing your browser data clears it.
Questions
- What is Brainpilates?
- Brainpilates is a free daily puzzle game for kids and adults. Each day you get four short games drawn from a pool of thirteen, one per skill, and a card showing how you did. It takes about a minute, runs in the browser and needs no account.
- Is Brainpilates free?
- Yes. The daily mix, the levels and every single game are free to play. There is no account to create, no ads and nothing to buy.
- Is Brainpilates a free alternative to Lumosity or Elevate?
- It is free and needs no account, while apps like Lumosity and Elevate ask you to sign up and keep full access behind a subscription. It is also a different kind of thing: Brainpilates is a puzzle game and makes no claim to train your brain.
- What age is it for?
- Eight and up. Almost every game uses no words at all, so reading ability is not what decides how well you do. The one exception, Word Pictures, uses short, everyday words a confident eight-year-old can read. In practice a child and an adult can sit down together and both find it hard enough to be interesting.
- Can kids and adults play against each other?
- Yes, and that is what it was built for. Everyone gets the same four games on the same day, and solving a game counts for more than speed, so a careful child can beat a rushed adult.
- How do I challenge someone?
- Finish today's set and tap Share. The card carries a link to the exact same set with your time attached. Whoever opens it plays the same four games and sees the time they need to beat.
- Do I need an account?
- No. Your streak, your levels and your records are stored in your own browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, which also means they do not currently follow you from your phone to your laptop.
- Does it work on a phone or tablet?
- Yes. Brainpilates runs in any modern browser on phones, tablets and computers. You can also add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.
- Is everyone playing the same puzzles?
- Yes, for the daily mix. It is generated from the date, so every player gets the same four games on the same day, wherever they are. The levels ladder is different: it gives you a fresh set every time.
- How is the score worked out?
- Solving a game is worth 70 points. Beating that game's par time adds up to 30 more. A miss scores 25. Your score is the average across the games you played. Every game has its own par time, so the slow games are not harder to score well on than the quick ones.
- Will Brainpilates make me smarter?
- We make no such claim. There is no good evidence that puzzle games improve general intelligence or memory in daily life, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. Brainpilates is a puzzle game. Play it because it is enjoyable.
Brainpilates is made by one person in Umeå, Sweden. If something is broken or a puzzle seems wrong, it is worth telling me about.