Brain games are popular with both young and older adults.
Brain training games help improve cognitive abilities, work memory, and intellectual sharpness.
Popular games like Sudoku puzzles and chess help improve cognition skills. There are also several types of word games, thinking games, number games, memory games, brain teasers, jigsaw puzzles, and mind-training games for adults that give leisure and enhance mental ability and brain skills.
Now, what are brain games? These fun brain games for adults include various mental exercises and tests that stimulate your cognitive functions. In other words, they involve reasoning, abstract thinking, creativity, and strategic thinking.
Benefits of Brain Games for Adults
When the brain’s aging process sets in, we start losing neurons—the cells that make up the brain and nervous system. Lack of severe mental activities accelerates the weakening of cognitive functions in the brain.
However, mental games can help you stay mentally active and sharp as you age. They can delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease to some extent.
Fortunately, several free brain training games for adults can improve your brain health with healthy cognitive activities.
Mental games are enjoyable, socially engaging, and intellectually stimulating for adults. These games keep your brain sharp.
Richard Caselli, MD, professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic Arizona in Scottsdale, says, “If people repeatedly practice a certain task, they improve over time.”
When older adult plays mental games regularly, it strengthens their brain functions in several ways.
They help improve both the short-term and long-term memory of the player. They keep your mind sharp and your brain active, defying your age.
Brain training games help adults improve memory, logic skills, response time, and nervous system functions. You become mentally sharp at remembering a name, date, place, or where you left your spectacles.
Enjoyable brain games help manage degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. A few recent study reports suggest that people who stay mentally active have a delayed onset of Alzheimer’s.
Besides mind games and puzzles, there are now several app-based games for memory to train your brain. There isn’t much strong evidence that brain training apps are effective for seniors.
10 Best Free Brain Games for Adults
As we already know, mental games improve mental ability and provide an excellent leisure opportunity. Leisure from engaging in mental games eases stress and anxiety.
These games help to overcome issues like memory failure and other weak cognitive abilities. You’ll find many paid and free online mind games to test your brain and keep it active and healthy.
Brain-training apps, such as Elevate or Lumosity, are being used by tens of millions of people across the globe. Now we will discuss ten mental activities for adults that can preserve and improve your cognitive health.
1. Minesweeper
In Minesweeper, your objective is to clear a grid of tiles by correctly identifying and flagging all the mines hidden underneath, without detonating any of them, based on numerical clues that indicate the number of adjacent mines for each revealed square. Minesweeper is an excellent brain game for adults because it combines elements of logic, pattern recognition, and strategic thinking, requiring players to make calculated decisions based on the information given, which sharpens their cognitive skills and provides an enriching way to spend their leisure time.
Resource: Play Minesweeper Online
2. Sudoku
Sudoku is an engaging number placement game that calls for a lot of reasoning and memory. You must arrange the numbers in boxes, columns, and rows without repetition. This game requires a good bit of planning and foresight, which helps to improve concentration and memory.
You will find Sudoku published in most newspapers and periodicals. You can also buy Sudoku books that contain hundreds of game variations at different difficulty levels. You can play it online or install sudoku apps on your phone or tablet. Resource: Play Sudoku online
3. Crossword Puzzles
Crosswords are fantastic brain trainers that require both knowledge and language skills. You will find crossword puzzles and games in newspapers, periodicals, and books. You can also play this game online and choose from various puzzles that match your interests and knowledge. They are excellent memory games for old people.
Puzzle games for adults help to form new connections within your brain cells, improving your short-term memory.
It is worth buying a book of crosswords matching your interest, skill level, and toughness.
In addition, you can get any number of crossword puzzles online for free or via paid options.
Most online newspapers and periodicals have special sections for brain games, like a free crossword puzzle. Resource: The Guardian, Free Online Crossword Puzzle
4. Chess
Chess is a classic board game, popular among young and old alike.
It is a checkered board game that requires strategic skills from two players. Moving the playing pieces on a chessboard according to precise rules requires good mental strategy and planning.
If you have played chess, you know there are several possible movements of chess pieces to checkmate your opponent. The player has to mentally evaluate and foresee all possible placements of chess pieces by both players. The chess game provides an opportunity for strategic thinking, attention, and concentration.
You can easily purchase a chessboard if you do not have one. Several web apps and online portals allow you to play chess online with a real or virtual opponent. Resource: chess.com
5. Kenken
Kenken is a mental game involving placing numbers without repeating in any of the rows or columns. Boxes in the grid are highlighted, with a clue as to the result when the numbers are plugged into a mathematical equation.
This brain puzzle game is a brain-stimulating exercise that helps improve skills such as:
- cognitive skills
- logical thinking
- problem-solving skill
- mathematical skills
- independent thinking
Many popular newspapers and periodicals regularly publish the Kenken puzzle. You can also find Kenken games and puzzle books in bookstores. There are apps and websites for playing the Kenken game online. Resource: Online Kenken game
6. Happy Neuron
Happy Neuron is a pioneering brain coaching concept. This website-based brain game is scientifically designed to stimulate your cognitive functions, including memory.
It has fun-filled mental games for personalized training to meet your needs with comprehensive training sessions. It helps to improve essential brain functions such as memory, language, attention, spatial ability, and executive functions. It is helpful for both children and adults.
Please note that you have to pay subscription fees to get complete access to all the training sessions and online games on the website.
7. Brain Teasers
Sharp Brain is a free-to-use educational website dedicated to brain training programs. It has several brain fitness programs that are both fun and stimulating.
It is mainly to train young students. But many of those games are helpful for adults as well. It helps to strengthen the brain’s fitness and prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Source: Sharp Brains
8. Lumosity
Lumosity is one of the popular website-based brain training and mental fitness programs. You have to register and become a member of this website by using different games and training programs. To access this site, you may also install the Lumosity App on your phone or tablet.
The fun training programs on this website can make you mentally strong and improve your memory, attention, flexibility, and speed.
Lumosity adapts to your unique strengths and weaknesses regardless of age or skill level—source: Lumosity online
9. Eidetic Memory App
The Encyclopedia of Psychology says eidetic memory is “abundant and unusually vivid visual recall.” Eidetic memory is the ability to recall an image, sounds, and other sensations connected with that image.
Most educational scientists say that repetition helps a new piece of information stay in the memory for a long time.
You can use the Eidetic App, which helps you have spaced repetition. It enables learning and remembering new information with exciting facts and words. Training of eidetic memory involves three things: one in speed, two in space, and three, in quantity.
You’ll also find several such memory apps in IOS and Android like the App Store and Google Play.
Resource: Eidetic Memory App.
10. Queendom Tests and Quizzes
Queendom is a free website with thousands of surveys, personality tests, quizzes, and brain tools.
Some popular brain tools at Queendom are aptitude tests, trivia quizzes, mind-stretchers, and emotional intelligence tests. The tests, polls, and quizzes help to improve your intellectual aptitude and strength. Resource: Queendom Website
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