MindGames Creates Games For Your IPhone And Brainwave Reader

Perhaps the most unique games I’ve seen for any smartphone have come from the Icelandic developers, MindGames.  The company focuses on iOS games which you control with your state of mind via consumer brainwave headsets such as the NeuroSky MindWave, or the PLX Xwave. Since the company’s inception in 2010, they have produced two games, W.I.L.D and Tug of Mind.

The first game created by MindGames was Tug of Mind. With the game, you can take a headshot of a person who leaves you feeling stressed. You can then also record a phrase which the person is always saying to you, or thinking when facing you. When you start the challenge, you must act relaxed when facing your angry, screaming opponent. While the game is being played, the brainwave reading headset will record from the electric field given off by your brain and send information about your level of relaxation to Tug of Mind, which will in turn affect how your opponent behaves.

The game sounds interesting, but also a little torturous. It’s certainly a stronger stimuli to fight against compared to a zen, stare-at-a-blank-wall method of finding inner peace. On their App Store page, they suggest the game may be useful for people who work in customer service, have an oppressive boss, have trouble being relaxed when dating, or who are bullied.

The second game MindGames has produced is W.I.L.D., which also uses a similar headset. In this game, you focus on more than relaxation– you must also get your mind to produce the brainwaves for creativity and concentration. To play W.I.L.D., you must complete mini-games, such as saving a burning building, feeding a hungry baby alien, and bend a spoon with your mind.

Lacking a consumer brainwave reader, we haven’t gotten the chance to play any of these games here at ArcticStartup.  But anything that allows me to bend a spoon with my mind (albeit virtually) sounds amazing. I really hope to see more exciting applications of a brainwave reader out of MindGames in the future.