Brain games reliably make you better at the games you play, and sometimes at very similar tasks. There's no convincing evidence that they raise IQ or improve memory in everyday life. The most promising exception is speed training in older adults, linked with fewer dementia diagnoses in one long-term trial, but that link still needs confirming.
Focus includes 12 brain-training games, so we have a reason to want the answer to be “yes”. That's why this page sticks to what the strongest studies found, including the parts that don't flatter brain games.
What brain games reliably do
Practise a game and you get better at it. That part is not in doubt. In 2016, a team of psychologists reviewed more than 130 studies, including every study that brain-training companies cited. They found extensive evidence that training improves the trained tasks, less evidence for closely related tasks, and little evidence for distantly related tasks or everyday thinking. Every study the companies cited had at least one major flaw in design or analysis.
Simons et al., “Do ‘brain-training’ programs work?”, Psychological Science in the Public Interest 17(3), 2016.
Researchers call this the difference between near transfer, to tasks like the one you trained, and far transfer, to different skills such as reasoning, school work or remembering where you left your keys. Near transfer is common. Far transfer is the claim that brain-training ads rest on, and it's the one the evidence doesn't support.
The IQ question
In 2008, a study in PNAS reported that training on a hard memory game called dual n-back raised fluid intelligence, and that more days of training gave bigger gains. It caused a stir. Later work didn't hold it up:
- A 2013 randomised trial with a placebo group found that people got better at the training tasks but showed no transfer to any of the ability tests (Redick et al., Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2013).
- A 2013 meta-analysis of 23 studies found short-term gains on similar memory tasks and no convincing far transfer to verbal or non-verbal ability, attention, reading or arithmetic (Melby-Lervåg & Hulme, Developmental Psychology, 2013).
- A 2019 review of meta-analyses found minimal effects of cognitive training on general thinking skills, with the largest effects in the weakest studies (Sala & Gobet, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2019).
When a brain-training company was fined
In 2016, Lumos Labs, the maker of Lumosity, agreed to pay the US Federal Trade Commission $2 million to settle charges that it had no good evidence for ads claiming its games improved performance at work and school and protected against cognitive decline. A $50 million judgment was suspended because of the company's finances, and the company didn't admit wrongdoing. The case is a reminder to be wary of any app, ours included, that promises a sharper brain.
Scientists don't fully agree
In 2014, more than 70 psychologists and neuroscientists, through the Stanford Center on Longevity and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, said the evidence did not support claims that brain games prevent or reverse cognitive decline. A few months later, more than 120 scientists signed a reply arguing that dozens of trials showed some programs can help. That reply was led by a co-founder of a brain-training company. Both sides agreed that many companies overstate their claims.
The most promising result: speed training
The ACTIVE trial followed about 2,800 older adults who did memory, reasoning or speed-of-processing training. After 10 years, the speed group had about 29% lower dementia risk than the controls, a borderline result based partly on test scores rather than diagnoses. A 2026 follow-up linked the trial to Medicare records: people who did speed training plus at least one booster session had about 25% fewer dementia diagnoses over 20 years. Memory and reasoning training, and speed training without boosters, showed no benefit.
Edwards et al., Alzheimer's & Dementia: TRCI, 2017; Coe et al., Alzheimer's & Dementia: TRCI, 2026. Both are associations from one trial, not proof that the games prevent dementia.
What has better evidence for memory
- Learning something hard and new. In the Synapse Project, 221 adults aged 60 to 90 spent about 15 hours a week for three months learning digital photography, quilting or both. Their memory improved more than that of people doing social or passive activities (Park et al., Psychological Science, 2014).
- Aerobic exercise. In a year-long trial of 120 older adults, walking grew the front of the hippocampus, a brain area key to memory, by about 2%, while it shrank by about 1.4% in the stretching group. Fitter people had better spatial memory, though memory scores improved in both groups (Erickson et al., PNAS, 2011).
So why does Focus have brain games?
Not to raise your IQ. When you open a blocked app, the urge to scroll doesn't vanish, and a minute with nothing to do often ends with you back in the feed. A short game gives the urge somewhere to go. Focus's 12 games, including N-Back, the Stroop Test and the Schulte Table, adjust their difficulty to your results, so they stay challenging. Your brain score shows how you're doing in the games, not a measure of intelligence.
If you want the habit side of things, read how to stop doomscrolling, or see everything inside Focus.
Common questions
Do brain games actually help memory?
They help your memory for the game you practise, and sometimes for very similar tasks. A 2016 review of more than 130 studies found little evidence that brain training improves memory in everyday life. A 2013 meta-analysis of working-memory training found short-term gains on similar tasks that didn't last or spread to other skills.
Does brain game increase IQ?
No convincing evidence says so. A 2008 study claimed that n-back training raised fluid intelligence, but a 2013 placebo-controlled trial found no transfer to any ability test, and later meta-analyses put the effect on general intelligence close to zero, especially in the best-designed studies.
Which games can improve memory?
Any memory game improves the skill it trains, so pick games you enjoy and will keep playing. For memory beyond the game, the better evidence is for learning something demanding and new: in a 2014 study, older adults who learned digital photography or quilting for three months improved their memory more than those doing social or passive activities.
Are brain games good for you?
They're a reasonable way to spend a few spare minutes, and better than mindless scrolling, but they aren't a proven way to get smarter. Treat them as a light mental workout you enjoy, not as treatment for memory problems. If you're worried about your memory, see a doctor.
Can brain games prevent dementia?
That isn't proven. The most promising result comes from one long-running trial, ACTIVE, where older adults who did speed-of- processing training with booster sessions had about 25% fewer dementia diagnoses over 20 years. Memory and reasoning training showed no such link, and the finding is an association, so it needs confirming.