How Online Gaming Can Sharpen Your Cognitive Skills At Home
Though they’re mostly played for entertainment and socializing, online games can provide brain-boosting benefits. From chess to poker, playing them online can be an easy way to improve problem-solving, enhance memory, boost concentration, and even elevate mood. Insights from a study published on PLOS One found that online and video games can significantly predict mental flexibility, planning, visual working memory, visuospatial processing, and other cognitive performance skills. They even do so in more specific ways than board games. This makes them great tools for sharpening your thinking skills, even without having to leave the house or play with another person in the room.
Strategic Thinking With Online Poker
Poker requires a vast skillset, from making decisions based on limited information to harnessing self-discipline and patience to know when to fold or bluff. A study on PubMed Central notes that poker players also possess social information processing abilities, helping them spot tells in other players. Many of these skills can be applied to online poker, which can put these abilities to the test and help keep your brain sharp. Online poker may even be more challenging than the traditional game in some aspects, as you aren’t able to assess other players’ tells, emotions, or body language; you’re only relying on observations on how they play the game. Poker platforms also add technological features to the game, adding another layer of strategy. US online poker site Americas Cardroom offers games like Blitz Poker, which automatically transfers you to a new table once you fold. The speed can keep your brain active and help you hone your focus and strategize under pressure. Game modes like All-In or Fold narrow the choices down to two actions, encouraging you to make wise choices and leverage all the information you’ve observed to make the right call.
Problem-Solving With Online Chess
Chess has long been a renowned mind game that has proven valuable for cognitive functions. Chess is all about problem-solving; with every move, players must assess possible outcomes and recall various strategies to make the best play. It requires intense focus, observational skills, adaptability, pattern recognition, and more. The online version is no exception, and it’s a widely accessible format you can play anytime and anywhere. You can harness your problem-solving skills without having to wait for a companion to join you, making it easy to test your brain whenever you want. Some online chess options even offer cognitive assessment and training. Cognifit’s chess platform uses technology to help players leverage advanced cognitive tracking and brain enhancement techniques to boost concentration, working memory, planning, and other skills. It also provides instant feedback and insights so players can learn from mistakes and refine strategies. Tailored programs for players learning the game can target individual cognitive weaknesses and strengths and work with their skill level.
Creative Thinking With Puzzle Games
Some games may have cut-and-dry solutions you’re meant to figure out a specific way, but others may require you to think outside the box to win. Puzzle games often require you to find answers creatively, pushing your brain to think beyond what it is familiar with. Online word-based puzzle games like Connections from the New York Times channels this skill, often leaving players frustrated yet triumphant when they finally make the right associations. The game requires players to assess 16 words to create groups of four related terms. The premise is simple, but it can throw players off with red herrings to trick them into choosing the wrong options. As such, players must evaluate different aspects of word knowledge, such as a word’s meaning, how it’s used, or how the word is spelled or pronounced—all of which are stored in the brain’s semantic memory. Connections promote creative thinking, encouraging players to develop new or novel associations they may not have thought of before. The game helps players go beyond common expectations by prompting them learn from different contexts or think about how the words can be used in different ways.
Whatever game you play, you can make the experience more immersive and enjoyable in your own entertainment room at home. Our “Creating an Amazing Entertainment Room at Home” post notes that it can provide an excellent environment to de-stress, making it ideal for focusing on your game.
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