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Valley inventor’s online game links classics Scrabble, chess
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Gary Downing of Cortland displays Brain Swaggle, the interactive computer board game he developed, which combines the vocabulary skills needed for Scrabble with the strategic skills required for chess.
By Elise Franco
Cortland
Gary Downing’s love for two popular cognitive games became the core of a game he calls Brain Swaggle.
Brain Swaggle is an interactive game that combines Scrabble and chess, making for an online game that’s strategic and stimulating, said Downing, the game’s creator, who is from Cortland.
He said he began the creative process about three years ago but kicked it into high gear last February.
“I thought that it would be cool if somehow a game could be created combining the strategy of chess with the vocabulary skills needed for Scrabble,” Downing said. “It’s kind of like sparring with letters.”
Downing said the game is played online at www.brainswaggle.com. Currently the only option is to play against a computer challenger.
Each player takes turns picking a letter to spell a word, Downing said.
“You can choose how long you have on each turn — 15, 30 or 60 seconds,” he said. “It’s really tough to plan ahead because as soon as the computer makes its move you might have to rethink your word.”
Downing said he’s working to get the computer game implemented in schools.
“This is a fun way to get kids interested,” he said. “They’re receptive to the game because it takes their minds off the structure of academics, but it’s a real challenge, and kids like to be pushed.”
Downing said his original prototype was a board game, which he continues to develop. He said he tested the board game in various senior centers around the Mahoning Valley.
“In early dementia patients you can see that they’re a bit distant, but after just a little bit of time playing this, it’s like they’re more energized,” he said. “You can see they’ve got their logical functions working again.”
Dr. David Rickson, a neurosurgeon who’s practiced in Magruder Hospital in Port Clinton, Ohio, Elyria Memorial Hospital and St. Vincent Hospital in Cleveland, said Brain Swaggle uses brain functions that are proved to decrease deterioration and help children learn.
“It uses broad areas of the brain. Just spelling itself uses four areas of the brain, and you combine that with strategy and planning,” he said. “It’s challenging, and there are different levels that can be applied.”
Dr. Rickson said he’s reviewed the game and gives it his endorsement as a legitimate cognitive tool.
“The great thing about this is you can optimize this to use the skills to pull you up,” he said. “Your brain forms new connections and has the capability of growing new neurons.
“I see this as a good thing for the aging, the youthful, or anyone trying to improve cognition in ways they don’t realize they need it.”