Best games and puzzles for brain health

Keeping your brain sharp at any age is crucial. With the pandemic winding down recently, many people are still not getting the same brain stimulation they once got from populated offices and social events with friends.

To help you keep your brain sharp and get rid of the “pandemic fog,” you can try these games and puzzles. These classic games can give you an entertaining way to pass the time while also giving your brain light exercise.

Jigsaw puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles can help exercise both the analytical and creative areas of your brain. These games require creativity, logic, and intuition.

Completing puzzles also encourages dopamine production, contributing to a healthy brain. The game can also help promote mental and intellectual growth in young children while improving hand-to-eye coordination.

Today, there are online jigsaw puzzles, like im-a-puzzle.com, where  you can play on your phone or laptop. Playing the game on your phone allows you to exercise your brain even if you don’t have a physical version of jigsaw puzzles.

Sudoku

Sudoku is a form of a number puzzle that requires players to fill a grid with numbers 1 to 9, with each number appearing once in a row, box, or column. Because of this challenge, the game promotes critical thinking while also helping improve concentration skills.

A 2019 study about sudoku and crosswords found that the older people playing the games experience better brain function.

Although the game involves numbers, sudoku is not purely mathematical. It also requires logical reasoning and memory skills.

Chess

Chess is a strategic board game that can do wonders for players’ brain function, memory, cognitive abilities, and attention span. The game requires players to use their left and right brain hemispheres. 

What’s great about chess is that even though it is a strategic game, even children can be encouraged to play it. Playing the game can help improve a child’s thinking, math, problem-solving, and reading skills.

You can encourage your young second graders to start playing chess. But today, children as young as four or five years old are already playing the game.

Rubik’s cube

The Rubik’s Cube is a puzzle that includes more than 43 quintillion possible moves. The game is perfect for stimulating the brain even during idle times, making it an ideal option for adults who spend hours doom scrolling through social media.

One excellent feature of Rubik’s Cube is that each move can result in a different approach to solving the puzzle. This makes the game more challenging, exciting, and fun for the players.

Additionally, the game promotes increased finger deftness. It requires continuous movement of your fingers to move the pieces to their correct places. 

Playing Rubik’s Cube can help kids improve their focus and concentration skills. The game encourages them to use all their mental powers to solve the puzzle, no matter how challenging it is. 

Scrabble

Scrabble is a fun board game that can bring out the competitive spirit of players in every age group. Every round of scrabble is different, which helps boost the game’s replayability. 

The game can enrich your vocabulary and teach your mind to focus on a task. As you encounter new words, you get exposed to different things you are unfamiliar with, which can help increase your intellectual capacity.

Because the word game is designed to be played by three or more people, it can also foster relationships. It encourages players to socialize and have fun with other people. 

Today, you can even play this game with friends online. So regardless of the distance between you and your buddies, you can still experience the social benefits of playing it.

These are the best games and puzzles that can do wonders for your brain and well-being. They help you maintain a sharp mind even after months of staying at home.