Travel Time Game

Mental Clock games are based on the numbers on a digital clock.

Vacations are fun, but getting there can be drag. To deal with the boredom of waiting in airports and sitting on planes, we play online games, download movies onto our iPads, and eat food that isn’t healthy. If we run out of electronic entertainment, we resort to the sudoku puzzle in the in-flight magazine – and eat more unhealthy food.

After several long trips, on which I ate and drank way too much and arrived feeling like a blimp, I promised myself I’d never board a plane without a good book. This works wonders for me – but not everyone is a reader.

Some people would rather play puzzle games – like the ones in Mental Clock, the new book of mental games based on the numbers on a digital clock. Suitable for kids with basic math skills and adults who like brain-teasers, the paperback weighs less than 3 ounces, costs only US$10.95, and will not cause a great panic if it is lost or stolen. In addition, it can be enjoyed in places where there is no electricity, no wi-fi, and little space.

Mental Clock challenges players to exercise their brains by using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division to “find” a specific number in the hours and minutes, either separated or grouped, in the figures on a digital clock.

The game was invented by Marc Rivière, who had insomnia as a child. This problem served as his inspiration for the latest in mental games.

“Every night I spent hours staring at my digital alarm clock watching minutes ticking by,” says Rivière. “Then, I started playing with the figures and soon the goal was to find the maximum tens within each minute.”

You can try to solve a sample problem at www.mentalclock.com/EN

Of course, you don’t have to save this game for your next trip. Exercising our brains with mental math is a great way to stay healthy – at home and on the road.

Tags: book, boredom, digital clock, exercise for the brain, insomnia, iPads, Mental Clock, online games, puzzles, staying healthy on the road, sudoku, travel, vacations

Category: Mind and Spirit