I offered to review the new Mensa Academy on the wii for a number of reasons. Firstly, I wanted to prove to myself that after having three children I still had a brain. Secondly, I wanted to see if big man could do something on the wii that may help him educationally. The game states that it is for ages 3+

I made the mistake of having my first go at the game when I was tired. Well that is the excuse I am using anyway! That and I am so impatient, I refused to read the instructions on each task.


You can test yourself with a 15 minute test. Beware you will need a pen and paper at the ready! It is not easy - you have to think, and if you are like me you need to do some working out too. I couldn't help but think how good this would be for a teenager to use. Before I had my boys I was a secondary school teacher, and my pupils were tested in cognitive ability tests for the school to use as indicators to future grades. I believe that playing a game like this would really benefit a child taking such tests as it would help them with their maths and reasoning skills.

I had a few goes at the various practice games and then I jumped straight in and took the test. I found it hard as I hadn't practiced some of the tasks but managed a score of 119. I will be retaking the test when I am not so tired and have practiced more!


After you have completed the test, you are able to review your answers, finding out which you got wrong. You can then read further information on how to answer the question - and trust me for some of the questions you need an explanation!


After having a play myself, I thought I would let big man have a go. He is nearly five. He can't read, and a lot of the challenges are too hard for him. However, the memory category just needed some explanation from myself and reading of the tasks. Once he had practiced a few times he showed some improvement in his memory skills and enjoyed remembering the robots faces.

You are able to play by yourself in solo mode or can compete with up to 4 players.

Mensa Academy for the PC, Wii, DS and iOS is scheduled for released in September.


I was given a copy of Mensa Academy for the purpose of the review but all the opinions contained here are my own.