The craze for “brain training games” such as word games took the app-based world by storm about a decade ago. It was based on the suggestion that if you played these games enough, they would build your IQ and make you smarter. As it turned out, the science behind that suggestion may have been exaggerated.
While studying in any way will help to boost your knowledge in the short term, long-term gains are not something that any training game can deliver. So, it might be fair to ask, why should you play word games? As you’ll see, there are plenty of reasons to keep an interest, regardless of whether you’re getting a long term boost.
How Word Games Help You
They Help Boost Your Vocabulary
While you’re not going to outsmart Albert Einstein with an hour a day of gaming, there are definite benefits to playing these games. If you play word games often enough, you’ll learn words you didn’t know.
Every time you find a new word, you can look it up in a dictionary. Then, through building your vocabulary, you can gain knowledge of things you never would have before. Plus, if you’re learning another language, playing word games in that language can be a great way of picking up new words.
Word Games are a Form of Brain Exercise
The idea of a “brain gym” perhaps oversold what word games could deliver. However, it should not be ignored that playing these games is better for your brain than not playing them. For one thing, they exercise your brain and strengthen your cognitive performance. Plus, they can help with brain concerns later in life, too.
As we learn more about brain concerns such as dementia, any boost we can get is welcome. Even if you cheat a little by searching for Wordscapes answers, you are still processing information neurologically, which is kind of like giving your brain a light cardio workout.
They can Offer Social Opportunities
Many modern word games come with a social element. They allow you to test your wordiness against someone else who may be halfway across the room, or halfway across the world.
The competitive element can help you to raise your game, while the chat element is a way of socializing. It can even give you a little bit of a boost on the geography front if the person you’re chatting with lives somewhere else, which is additional exercise for the brain.
Word Games are Relaxing and Stress-Busting
While your brain is getting a workout, the improvements you see each time you play the game are an excellent way to boost endorphin production. That’s very beneficial for fighting stress, something we can all do with from time to time.
While this doesn’t mean you’re building a brain that can take on Nobel Prize winners, the overall mental health and cognitive benefits that you’ll derive from playing word games are more than reason enough to give them a try.
Word games are, quite simply, a lot of fun to play. The additional benefits you can get from playing them means it’s an even better idea to pick them up and play from time to time.
