Many people have the thought that playing video games kill the brain. Well that just isn’t true. Many games actually help improve hand/eye coordination, increase fast decision-making without sacrificing accuracy, help with paying attention to more than a few things at once, help boost creativity and so forth.
Here are five games that can help you improve that brain of your’s while having fun.
1. Brain Challenge
Brain Challenge tests you on your mental prowess as well as your stress levels with plenty of exciting modes, categories and mini-games. Take a “Daily Test” to determine what percentage of your brain you’re using, then try some training exercises to improve your score. Coming back to train every day helps you track your progress, as well as unlock plenty of extra features and games. This game is available on Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS, mobile devices, and iOS.
2. Big Brain Academy
Originally a popular title for the Nintendo DS, Big Brain Academy makes its way onto the Nintendo Wii. This time around, the game utilizes the Wii’s motion controls and multiplayer capabilities to create an experience that’s unique, but just as challenging. Play all-new mini-games that test visual, auditory, math and memory skills.
3. Brain Age 2
Brain Age 2 offers several fast-paced mini-games, designed to be used in a daily brain exercising regimen. The game offers challenges like a relay race, equation solving and piano playing. These mini-games test the player’s ability to memorize information and think fast. You can return every day to watch your progress improve. Brain Age 2 is available to play on the Nintendo DS.
4. Tetris
Tetris involves falling blocks or different shapes that you must quickly rotate and drop into spaces at the bottom of the screen. The game increases the rate of speed to ease players out of their comfort zone, forcing you to think more quickly identifying shapes and making logic and problem-solving decisions. There is a version of Tetris for nearly every video game console (including mobile devices) ever made except for the new Xbox One and PS4, and it is still being produced over a decade after the original.
5. Portal 2
Portal 2 is a first-person puzzle-platform that is the sequel to Portal (2007) and was released in 2011 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The game primarily comprises a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player’s character and simple objects using “the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device”, a device that can create inter-spatial portals between two flat planes. The game’s unique physics allows momentum to be retained through portals, requiring creative use of portals to maneuver through the test chambers. Unlike the original, Portal 2 offers a cooperative campaign.
