The brain gravy train - the proliferation of mental gymnastic programs spawned by the success of the Nintendo DS Lite's effort - has more or less run out of steam. So it's time to roll out the brain training gravy train (what a mouthful) compilations! Here's one from Avanquest, consisting of three packages: Infinite Edition Sudoku, Brain Booster and Ninja Brain Workout.

Infinite Edition Sudoku is the most straightforward of the triplets. As you would expect, it provides an unlimited supply of the tricky number-based puzzles you either love or are baffled by. This is a well presented program compared to some of the other sudoku titles we've seen in our time, with a selection of three sizes and difficulties of board and a decent array of cheat and hint options for when you get stuck.

If an infinite amount of sudoku isn't enough for you, Brain Booster also contains a sudoku game. And Ninja Brain Workout contains three helpings of sudoku. So we've got infinity plus four, as we used to say in the playground; which is a rather a lot. In all fairness, two of the latter three are variations on the standard rules, but they only put a slight spin on the formula.

Get the latest Dell Coupons and other computer coupons at CheapStingyBargains.com.

Ninja Brain Workout also offers a solitaire game, a suite of jigsaws (some 600 of them) and a crossword program which generates random grids from a large database of clues. These deliver exactly what they promise, although they're very basic and difficult to get excited about.

What's more interesting is the great wall of words. This is an entertaining word square game that involves linking up letters to make the longest words possible, while triggering power-ups for extra points. It's simple but highly addictive. There's also Mahjong on this disc, although it's not the classic version, but Solitaire Mahjong in which the player must match pairs of tiles together. The twist here is it's played against the clock to encourage fast thinking.

The final element of Train Your Brain is Brain Booster, a more traditional mental development program in which you graduate from elementary school up to university by repeating a series of eight tests. These involve basic word and maths skills (including sudoku, of course), anagram solving, memory and logic exercises.

It's not a particularly engaging set of exams, unfortunately, and there are definite problems here. Brain Booster is poorly presented and the interface is pretty clumsy in places. Some sloppy programming is in evidence too: for example, in the anagrams section there are sometimes two possible words that can be made, with only one correct answer, so it's pot luck whether you get it right.

As a brain training pack, this is fairly lacking given that the dedicated mental training program, Brain Booster, is the weakest link. Still, there's a lot of content here for fifteen quid, and the Ninja Brain Workout's wall of words game is a definite highlight.