‘Do board games make you smarter?’ is a question people ask often. And yes, they do! Board games are very good for boosting our brain power in many ways. Let’s discuss the science behind board games being good for our brains and five such brain-boosting board games you would like to try.
Do Board Games make you smarter?
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Yes! Board games help our cognitive skills in many different ways. It boosts our memory, intelligence, and critical skills and provides great exercise for our brains. And in addition, they also help our emotional intelligence by helping us bond with people around us, making us laugh and improving communication skills.
Board games make you smarter because they improve cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to think in new ways to devise solutions for problems and to challenge your brain to invent strategies. Board games often require you to think out of the box, to come up with new ways to win over your opponent. Winning a board game has nothing to do with luck; it’s all to do with creativity and when to make the right decisions.
Board games make you smarter because they help improve our vocabulary and language skills. It expands your word power and communication.
Board games make you smarter because they are an excellent way to build your memory power. Some games like ‘The Game of the Goose’ challenge you with new ways of remembering information and gives memory training exercises. It makes you a good learner.
And Board games make you smarter because they improve logical thinking. It’s not always a game of ‘snakes and ladders’ where we have to depend on how lucky the dice rolls. There are games like ‘This War of Mine’ that gives us an insight into the world war and how to survive. Board games teach us history, give us new information, improve problem-solving skills and just make us smarter human beings.
Board games are an incredible way to release stress, laugh out loud, and have fun. Does that make us smarter? I don’t know if it’s scientifically backed, but it ought to be. The more stressed we are from work pressure, social pressure, and everything else that drives adults crazy, the more we become incapable of performing tasks, and our output drops. Board games help us connect with our loved ones and relax. I always prefer board games at a family party than watching a movie together.
Moreover, board games have also been proven to prevent Alzheimer’s disease in old age. What better excuse do you want to stop playing video games and switch to board games?
Games like ‘clue’ make you think like a detective to help solve a mystery. Most games will be a bit challenging at first because you have to learn the rules and understand how it works. The learning curve helps improve our thinking and how we comprehend and digest information.
Best Board games that make you smarter
Do board games make you smarter? They will. Try these games to boost extra brain power.
1. Rewordable
This is a fun game for 2-8 players. The more words you know, the more possibilities you have. Players use color-coded cards with letters to form words and score points. You can also steal from the other’s words and form your own to gain points. This improves language and spelling skills and boosts critical thinking.
2. Metagame
This game is designed specifically to boost thinking skills. Players have to guess the rules of the game and then apply them as the game unfolds. This helps you think in new ways and improves cognitive flexibility. It’s all about making connections between unrelated ideas to open up our creativity and thinking.
3. Labyrinth
This game will make you create pathways in your mind to overcome the intricate labyrinth that keeps shifting and changing as the players move tiles. The shifting tiles sabotage other players’ progress, and you can be trapped, rerouted and transported across the board. It’s a fun game full of strategy that makes you think hard about how to get out of the maze.
4. Hive
This is a wonderful game that is easy to play and fun. It has two players competing to capture their opponent’s queen bee. Queen bees are captured when they are completely surrounded by the opponent’s color. The game is quick and comes in a handy pouch that can be taken anywhere. The game requires some strategic thinking and decision-making skills before each step.
5. Sequence
This game can be played by 2-12 players and lasts less than half an hour. Players compete in building rows, columns and diagonal lines of five connected checkers to create a sequence. You can block others from forming theirs while racing to create ours first. This game requires a lot of strategy and betting skills to win.
Settlers of Catan
This is a strategy board game where each player is a settler on the Island of Catan. The board features a map of Catan. Players try to become the dominant force on the island by building cities, settlements, and roads. This game helps us think logically about how to collect resources and plan.
So do board games make you smarter than others?
Board games are infinitely better than video games. If you are a board game lover, then there is good news for you! There is no doubt that it makes you much smarter than when playing video games or idly watching movies. Board games improve your cognitive skills and decision-making, improve your memory power and even help prevent Alzheimer’s. And what’s more, it also makes us emotionally intelligent and helps us relax!
If there is a downside to board games, it’s only that they are expensive. Read this article to know why board games are so expensive.
*All pics are from Unsplash.com
