This year, many folks have been getting into various hobbies and habits to help cope with isolation, from games like “Animal Crossing” and “Among Us” to meditation apps like “Headspace” and “Calm.” “GEIST” is an ambitious new app that blends the two genres: why not have games and meditation in the same place? With brain-training minigames and calming meditations, “GEIST” may be the ultimate combination for combating winter blues.
When you first open the app, it asks a short series of questions based on your goals — things like improving memory, achieving better sleep, getting better at relaxing, etc. After that, the user can navigate to several tabs, the first being games. With the free version of the app, there’s a number of limitations on what is available, but users can still play several free minigames each day designed to help train the brain. Each picks a different aspect of cognition to hone in on: memory, focus, speed, concentration, logic, mindfulness and language.
There are few meditations available on the free version of the app, but it does show the numbers of locked sessions, so a user considering paying for the premium version knows exactly what they’re getting access to. The meditations that are available are peaceful and designed for beginners, and could easily be repeated to gain a better sense of mindfulness in daily life without a monetary commitment.
Under the sleep tab, the app gives users an option to choose a specific aspect of their sleep pattern that they wish to improve, and from there lands on a page of talks and advice for that specific goal. This tab especially suffers from the lack of free options, and it really encourages the user to pay for a subscription to unlock all the other resources, which can get irritating for users who are not yet ready to make a financial investment.
Overall, “GEIST” is a fun app that also provides a sense of calm, and could be very beneficial to beginners or those who are unsure of where to begin with self-care. Try out the free version for a little while and then decide whether or not a subscription is right for you!
