Stenciletto – Visual Brain Training Game

Can you solve it?

Can you solve it? Stenciletto puzzles in the Guardian on Monday 26th June 2023.

Can you solve it?

The simple question almost everyone gets wrong. Today’s puzzles are an intelligence test for children invented a century ago by an American psychologist, Grace Arthur.

You will be presented with a patterned square. The challenge is to work out how to create this square by placing some of the available stencils and coloured blocks on top of each other.

Easy, right? About 90 per cent of people (including adults) get this first example wrong.

I did when I looked at the puzzle first.

Most people make a mistake because they make impulsive decisions, whatever their IQ.

Alex Bellos, The Guardian

Can you solve it? Read Alex’s full article and try some puzzles here…

ALEX BELLOS’S ARTICLE AND PUZZLE

ALEX BELLOS’S PUZZLE ANSWERS

Stenciletto

Stenciletto is a shapes game based on an IQ test for children created a century ago – reimagined as a fun game.

The Stencil Design Test was developed by Grace Arthur in the 1920s. She was an innovative psychologist who developed a range of non-verbal reasoning tests, and demonstrated the many of the verbal IQ tests in use were discriminatory.

This cognitive game is suitable for all ages and abilities. There are a range of levels, from very easy to very challenging, with a free training level. And – just like Grace Arthur’s IQ test – it’s designed to make you think.

Many of the stencils in the game are from her original test, with a few new ones added by us. To date, we’ve only been able to see some of her designs, but we know more exist. If we ever find them, we’ll add them into the game.

What we don’t know is how Grace Arthur timed or scored her IQ test, so in reimagining it, we’ve made these decisions…

The activity is timed
Unlimited attempts allowed
You can get help

As the timer doesn’t start until you tap a shape, you can take as long as you need to study the the shapes, think, and plan your answer.

You can ask for help. At the bottom of the puzzle screen is a Helping Hand and a View Solution button. Alternatively, you can reset the puzzle and start again.

Help features — Stenciletto help features

Accessibility

Stenciletto has been developed over 10 years. At the heart of it is our son who has learning disabilities, a visual impairment and cerebral palsy. The game was designed to help him improve his visual perception skills and problem solving abilities, whilst reducing his urge to tap randomly.

The game is navigable using colours and symbols, so is usable by people with limited reading ability. It has been tested with our son’s friends at Mencap, a UK charity for people with a learning disability. Most of them got it and enjoyed it.