Ever since I was little, apart from reading, I’ve always liked doing things to exercise my brain. Years later, even with kids now, I still see myself doing any of my 3 fave games. The only difference now is that all of these games, I play online, no need for me to buy cards, booklets, newspapers, etc. The best part? I play all of them with my daughter which is what makes it more fun!
- Solitaire
Solitaire is a game for one person in which you move and remove objects on a board, usually cards, with the aim of having one object left at the end of the game.
I first played the classic solitaire in the early 2000’s I think, that was on our school computer. This game is perfect for those who like to pass the time, but in my case, I started doing it to improve my patience. It’s actually called “patience” in countries like England, Poland, and Germany.
Solitaire teaches us about delayed gratification. It may feel annoying when there are no more new moves to do but the feeling is satisfying when you complete the game. I miss that feeling already, been getting this ending for days now (see the image below):
2. Sudoku
Sudoku, according to Wikipedia, is a logic-based, combinatorial number-placement puzzle. In classic Sudoku, the objective is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3 × 3 subgrids that compose the grid contain all of the digits from 1 to 9. The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid, which for a well-posed puzzle has a single solution.
During my high school years, I used to solve Sudoku puzzles in newspapers, then I bought a booklet when I was already working. That was the time when I had too much time alone, imagine 1 whole book full of puzzles to solve every weekend!
Anyway, I now play Sudoku online with my eldest to improve our concentration and problem-solving skills. Here’s the recent puzzle we solved together:
3. Word Puzzle Games
Who else was playing Crossword puzzles in the newspaper before? I remember being not so good in this game that’s why I always ended up referring to the answer keys.
Then I tried word search, I liked it better than crossword. It’s fun and helps with spelling and vocabulary. My eldest loves it so much that we bought a series of word search puzzle books for her to solve. We now play word search online, no more buying new books. Playing it online is actually more fun because of the time limit provided, my daughter can’t help but scream every time I only have a few seconds left to think of the last word.
Here’s the latest which made her scream with excitement, glad we submitted the last word 5 seconds before the time.
It’s good to know that these games can be played online, for free. There are many sites available but our go-to site is https://www.solitaire.org/. All the games above, we played them in the site, but there are lots of games that you can find there, like different types of solitaire, word puzzles, etc.
Takeaway
Taking a break to play online games like solitaire is a terrific way to relax and switch your concentration for a bit, while also exercising your brain. So if you want to relax at home but can’t decide what movie to stream, playing mind games online is a great option!
