Birth of the First Smartphone App 'Halmek Brain Training' from the No. 1 Selling Magazine 'Halmek' - Solving Senior Women's Struggles Through Co-Development by Halmek and Ohte
Halmek and Ohte co-developed 'Halmek Brain Training', a smartphone puzzle app tailored for senior women, launched on April 1, 2026. It features optimized UI/UX for easy, daily cognitive exercise.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 9, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 9, 2026 at 11:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 18, 2026 at 20:33 (225h 2m after Collected)
Halmek Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, President: Takao Miyazawa, a 100% subsidiary of Halmek Holdings Co., Ltd.), which publishes the No.1 selling (*1) magazine 'Halmek', announced that it has started offering its first smartphone puzzle game app 'Halmek Brain Training' from April 1, 2026 (Wednesday), in response to the spread of smartphones among seniors and the growing need for brain training.
'Halmek Brain Training' was born through joint development with Ohte Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Yuki Hayase), which provides the 'Puzzle de Kensho Series' with over 20 million cumulative downloads. Pouring in the knowledge regarding senior women's UI/UX (operability, visibility, user experience) that Halmek has cultivated over many years, it is designed so that even those unfamiliar with digital devices can make a daily habit of enjoyable 'brain training'.
(*1) Japan ABC Association Publisher Report (January-June 2025)
Background of the joint development of 'Halmek Brain Training'
In recent years, the smartphone penetration rate among senior women has been rapidly expanding. According to our company's survey, the smartphone penetration rate for women aged 55 to 75 reached 98.9% in 2024 (*2), and the experience rate of digital games increased by 9.4 percentage points from 2023 to 2024 (*3), showing that digital games are steadily penetrating this demographic. Interest in 'brain training' is particularly high, and 'NumPy (Number Place)' is one of the popular contents in the magazine 'Halmek'.
On the other hand, many game apps on the market are designed for younger generations assuming 'intuitive operability', presenting challenges for senior users such as complicated operations and expressions that are hard to understand. Under these circumstances, expanding reach to the senior demographic was also a theme for Ohte.
Therefore, Halmek, with its knowledge cultivated in product and service development for senior women, and Ohte, a professional game developer, teamed up to develop a 'brain training game' that draws high interest from seniors. They resolved every single point where the Halmek generation actually tends to stumble, optimizing details for the senior generation, down to the size of letters and buttons, color design, operational feel, and the choice of words within the game.
During development, Halmek's unique monitor organization 'Harutomo' actually experienced the game, and improvements were made by reflecting their feedback. As a result, positive voices were gathered, such as 'I could operate it with my everyday knowledge even without a manual,' 'The squares are larger than other apps, making it very easy to play,' and 'Since the operator is Halmek, I have no anxiety about applying for sweepstakes.'
Through this game, Halmek aims to have many seniors casually experience the fun of brain training, and under the management philosophy of 'Supporting women from their 50s to live better', we will further expand these initiatives.
(*2) Halmek Better Life Research Institute 'Awareness and Actual Condition Survey on Digital Devices 2025'...
'Halmek Brain Training' was born through joint development with Ohte Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Yuki Hayase), which provides the 'Puzzle de Kensho Series' with over 20 million cumulative downloads. Pouring in the knowledge regarding senior women's UI/UX (operability, visibility, user experience) that Halmek has cultivated over many years, it is designed so that even those unfamiliar with digital devices can make a daily habit of enjoyable 'brain training'.
(*1) Japan ABC Association Publisher Report (January-June 2025)
Background of the joint development of 'Halmek Brain Training'
In recent years, the smartphone penetration rate among senior women has been rapidly expanding. According to our company's survey, the smartphone penetration rate for women aged 55 to 75 reached 98.9% in 2024 (*2), and the experience rate of digital games increased by 9.4 percentage points from 2023 to 2024 (*3), showing that digital games are steadily penetrating this demographic. Interest in 'brain training' is particularly high, and 'NumPy (Number Place)' is one of the popular contents in the magazine 'Halmek'.
On the other hand, many game apps on the market are designed for younger generations assuming 'intuitive operability', presenting challenges for senior users such as complicated operations and expressions that are hard to understand. Under these circumstances, expanding reach to the senior demographic was also a theme for Ohte.
Therefore, Halmek, with its knowledge cultivated in product and service development for senior women, and Ohte, a professional game developer, teamed up to develop a 'brain training game' that draws high interest from seniors. They resolved every single point where the Halmek generation actually tends to stumble, optimizing details for the senior generation, down to the size of letters and buttons, color design, operational feel, and the choice of words within the game.
During development, Halmek's unique monitor organization 'Harutomo' actually experienced the game, and improvements were made by reflecting their feedback. As a result, positive voices were gathered, such as 'I could operate it with my everyday knowledge even without a manual,' 'The squares are larger than other apps, making it very easy to play,' and 'Since the operator is Halmek, I have no anxiety about applying for sweepstakes.'
Through this game, Halmek aims to have many seniors casually experience the fun of brain training, and under the management philosophy of 'Supporting women from their 50s to live better', we will further expand these initiatives.
(*2) Halmek Better Life Research Institute 'Awareness and Actual Condition Survey on Digital Devices 2025'...