Most “brain training” apps are polished, paid and cloud-based. PsyGames is free, offline and deliberately honest about its limits. Here is a fair side-by-side — including where the others are genuinely better.
| PsyGames | Elevate | Peak | Lumosity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no ads | Free tier + Pro ~$5/mo | Free tier + Pro ~$5/mo | Free tier + Premium ~$15/mo |
| Account required | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works offline | Yes | Partly | Partly | No |
| Exercises | 48 | 40+ | 45+ | ~40 |
| Basis | Validated lab paradigms (Stroop, N-back, Corsi…) | Custom skill games | Custom skill games | Custom games |
| Claims about results | Honest: trains the task, broad transfer unproven | Marketing-forward | Marketing-forward | Fined $2M by the FTC in 2016 for deceptive claims |
Where the paid apps are genuinely better
Credit where it is due. Elevate and Peak are beautifully designed, with structured daily workouts, streaks, progress dashboards and gentle difficulty curves that keep people coming back. If you want a guided, gamified habit and do not mind a subscription and an account, they do that well. Lumosity pioneered the category and has a large, smooth library.
Where PsyGames is different
- Free and unlocked. All 48 exercises, no paywall, no ads, no “three games a day” cap.
- No account, works offline. Nothing to sign up for, nothing uploaded; it runs on your device.
- Validated paradigms, named. Instead of bespoke “skill games”, PsyGames runs the actual tasks from cognitive science — the Stroop test, N-back, Corsi blocks, the Iowa Gambling Task — and each has a page explaining its history and the real evidence.
- Honest about results. This is the big one.
The honesty difference
In 2016 the US Federal Trade Commission fined Lumosity’s maker $2 million for telling users its games would sharpen performance at work and school and stave off cognitive decline — claims the evidence did not support. That case hangs over the whole category.
PsyGames takes the opposite stance on purpose. Every trainer page states plainly what is solid (you reliably improve at the trained task) and what is not (broad “transfer”, “raises IQ” and “prevents decline” are mostly unproven). No promises we cannot keep. You train because it is focused, measurable and free — not because of a miracle claim.
Which should you pick?
- Want a polished, guided habit with coaching, and do not mind paying? Elevate or Peak are good choices.
- Want every validated exercise, free, offline, with no account and no hype? That is PsyGames.