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“Games are a waste of time” is an adage that is as old as the surly elderly adults who end up uttering it. Games may certainly be tempting and delightful, and easy to get hooked on, but they are rather useful in the grand scheme of things.
Numerous studies have determined that children learn best through play, and it is only adults that think getting the joy out of things is the serious way to go about learning.
Well, this may as well be true now that the case in favor of games and gaming, in general, is becoming more vociferous, and in fact – the evidence accrues that playing is the best way to really develop oneself.
Picking Literacy and Math Skills for the Youngest
Young children, owing to their limited attention span and sense of wonder about everything that surrounds them, are perhaps the best example of what creative games can do for a person.
Not stifled by suffocating dullness, children tend to explore and learn about the world through play. In fact, there is ample proof that doing this exactly that way is what gives them an edge later in life.
Play improves a variety of attributes and psychological traits, such as emotional and social well-being as well as cognitive and physical conditions for young children.
A new survey of 19 previously done research indicates that supervised board gaming sessions may actually have a very strong impact on children’s literacy and math skills, two important factors that are precursors for success in later life.
Just think of the times that adults tried to teach you to count as a kid but they did so in the most grey and unattractive way possible.
Now imagine that you are playing Chutes and Ladders and figuring out what “one” and “two” mean. One of these two sounds better, doesn’t it?
Big Help in Young Brains as in the Old
Games, though, are not only useful to give you a solid start in life. They are a continued source of mental jigsaw puzzles that will allow you to keep your mind sharp and agile. In fact, board games in particular have been known to help the elderly exercise their minds.
The love for board games among the elderly has grown so much that publishers such as Hasbro and The Ageless Foundation are re-designing popular board games and introducing them to this specific demographic, and yes – people do love them.
Board games are known to help the elderly and have important mental and health impacts – amongst which, they help combat loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Games also improve short-term memory, and that is why the elderly love to play seemingly classic and drab board games.
They are ideal for many people who have experienced a cognitive decline but want to ensure that their minds remain lucid just as well.
Games with Numbers Have the Biggest Impact
The biggest benefit usually comes from games that have actual numbers and that allow you to do number-crunching in your number. There are quite a few of those to go around. Monopoly, chess, and not least – poker.
Each of these games can be taken up a notch and played with a level of depth that will rack your brain and will definitely make you think hard about every move you make. The benefits of such games are well-established in scientific fact.
If you want to get a little more enjoyment out of your mental gymnastics, you can up the ante by joining a game of online poker. Poker has been known to really sharpen your ability to calculate quickly and act with composure under pressure and is therefore one of the best games to mention here.
Real money games can be quite fun as they raise the stakes and will have you play on an entirely new level. So, if you are keen to check out such games you can just look up some of the websites that offer them – for real money games, click here to play poker online.
Poker is of course not the only number game that has a huge impact on your mental health and well-being. You can try even some more standard board games or pen-and-paper games, such as sudoku, which is a great brain puzzler and a nice way to keep yourself entertained and mentally active.
Emotional Benefits Make for a Healthy Mind
Not least, games are known to have significant emotional benefits. Do you know when a person reacts to a game emotionally? That is because games are by definition emotional and they are fun precisely because they fill you with short-term joy.
The games are designed to award your achievements in the short-term but also have a very lasting impact on your self-esteem and confidence. Even competitive games that you have ended up losing may still bolster your morale and make you feel better about yourself and certainly wind down.
In fact, some studies have said that 88% of participants do report a feeling of elation after playing various games, indicative of how important play is in not just children, but also adults who are coping with the seriousness of life as it were.
Video Games, Don’t Forget Video Games
Even video games, which have been blamed for violent crime, tend to be very useful to people in terms of helping people cope with emotional and mental issues. Video games are known to reduce stress and anxiety and provide people who play with a relaxing environment in which they can thrive despite their failures.
Some games, such as Portal and QUBE, are designed not so much around the idea of slaying enemies as they are around solving logical puzzles that feel oddly satisfying even if you are not a fan of this genre. It just goes to show how successful video games can be as ambassadors of mental health and well-being.
So, if games are all so useful – why are we so keen to dismiss them as a waste of time? Well, as it turns out, more people are turning to play, discovering the benefits of an innate late. The good news is that science has the hard facts to back it all up!
