Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

QuickSpot for DS

Spot the difference.

DS mind-benders have sold in steroid-like proportions, especially in Japan, where Brain Training has made the Nintendo handheld outrageously successful.

It's no surprise, then, that Namco Bandai has announced QuickSpot for the very same platform.

Due for release in spring, the basic idea is to 'spot the difference' between the two screens, circling anomalies if and when you eyeball them.

Rapid Play is the main single-player mode, with five levels each containing 10 stages and a boss challenge. You accrue points based on your "Brain Activity", which is to say your intuition, concentration, recognition, stability, and judgement.

There's also Focus Play, featuring 140 pictures all with 10 differences for you to spot, and Today's Fortune: a bizarre mode which gives you your health, study, romance, and money fortune for the day.

Multiplayer modes include Time Bomb, for up to eight people on one DS; Scramble mode, and Download play, where you can go head-to-head via WiFi.

"QuickSpot offers hours of fun for those with quick minds and fast reflexes, perfectly suited for gamers on the go," said Makoto Iwai, executive vice president at Namco Bandai America. "Everyone remembers playing this game as a kid, and now it's re-imagined as a simple and addictive video game that anyone can play."

Whether it will emulate the success of Brain Training is beyond our mental capacity to predict.

Meanwhile you can challenge your thinker with these new images for the game.