Indoor rowing game, in development
Row Brainer is a rowing game that turns your indoor rower into a river that keeps forking. Every stroke drives your boat. Read the sign, tilt your head toward the right answer, and watch a steady half hour fly by.
How it works
No buttons and no reaching for the screen. Your legs set the pace, your head does the steering, and your brain gets something better to do than count down the metres.
Your rower is the engine. Row Brainer reads power and stroke rate from the monitor over Bluetooth, so every stroke moves the boat. Row harder and the river comes at you faster, which leaves less time to think.
The front camera watches for a gentle head tilt, left or right. That's your rudder. Hands stay on the handle, eyes stay up, and you never touch the screen mid-stroke.
Every fork has a sign with a quick question. Steer into the channel with the right answer. Miss one and you hit slow water or a stretch of rapids, then you're straight back in it.
Course of the day
A fresh river every day. Everyone gets the same forks and the same questions, so your run is directly comparable with your friends'.
Brain packs
Packs change the questions on the signs. These four come first, with more on the way.
Times tables, quick sums and percentages, from 6 + 7 up to proper mental arithmetic.
Two-choice general knowledge. Geography, science, sport and a bit of everything else.
Everyday vocabulary, seen again and again across a session so it actually sticks.
Spot the pattern in a sequence of shapes, then pick what comes next. Short and sharp.
Got a pack you'd love to row with? Flags, music theory, another language? Tell us.
Why it works
Steady-state work is where a lot of fitness gets built, and where boredom usually wins. Row Brainer is designed for 20 to 40 minutes at a sustainable pace.
01
Studies on attention and exercise suggest that a light distraction lowers how hard moderate exercise feels. A question every few hundred metres is just enough to stop you watching the clock, without pulling focus from your stroke.
02
Push the pace and the questions get simpler, so your effort goes into the stroke, not the sums. Settle back into a steady rhythm and they get meatier again. You're never stuck staring at a sign.
03
Steering is a small tilt of the head, not a lean of the body or a reach for the screen. Your spine stays neutral and your stroke stays clean, which is exactly how your back likes it over a long row.
Supported hardware
Row Brainer works with the Concept2 RowErg (PM5), connecting to the monitor over Bluetooth for live power and stroke rate. It's the rower you'll find in most gyms and garages, so it's where we're starting.
Row Brainer is an indoor rowing game for iPad, iPhone and Android. Your rowing drives a boat down a river that keeps forking, and you answer quick questions by steering into the right channel with a gentle head tilt. It's designed to make steady 20 to 40 minute rows go faster.
Row Brainer is in development right now and isn't available to download yet. Join the waitlist at rowbrainer.com and you'll get an email when it's ready.
At launch, Row Brainer works with the Concept2 RowErg with a PM5 monitor, connected over Bluetooth. Support for more rowing machines will follow. You can tell us which rower you use when you join the waitlist.
Row Brainer uses your device's front camera to measure the angle of your head. Tilt gently left or right to steer into that channel. Your hands stay on the handle and you never need to touch the screen while rowing.
No. Row Brainer only uses the front camera to read the angle of your head, and that processing happens entirely on your device. Video is never saved, uploaded or sent anywhere.
Questions come in brain packs. The first four are Maths (times tables, sums and percentages), Trivia (two-choice general knowledge), Spanish (everyday vocabulary) and Memory (spot the pattern in a sequence). More packs are planned.
No. Row Brainer adapts questions to how hard you're rowing and how you're getting on, and maths is only one pack. You can pick Trivia, Spanish or Memory instead.
A wrong answer in Row Brainer sends you through slow water or a stretch of rapids for a moment. There's no game over and no restart. You keep rowing and the next fork is just ahead.
Row Brainer is built for steady-state rowing, where light thinking helps the time pass. When your effort rises, the questions get simpler so your attention can go to your stroke. Rowing harder also brings each fork up faster, leaving less time to think.
Every day Row Brainer has a new river, seeded so everyone gets the same forks and the same questions. That makes your run directly comparable with your friends' runs on the same day.
Row Brainer is designed for steady-state rows of 20 to 40 minutes, where a little distraction helps the most. You can row as hard as you like, and the puzzles get easier as your effort rises.
Row Brainer is coming to iPad, iPhone and Android phones and tablets. Mount your device where you can see it comfortably, with the front camera facing you.
Pricing for Row Brainer isn't settled yet. People on the waitlist will hear first.
Get notified
Be first to know when Row Brainer launches on iPad, iPhone and Android. One email when it's ready, and nothing you didn't ask for.
