5 Games To Keep Your Brain Active

Hello, it’s been a while!

Let me briefly explain my absence before I get into today’s blog post…

Since I got a job a few months ago as a full-time content writer, I’ve been incredibly busy. I spend my days writing, so I often feel all ‘worded out’ when it comes to creating my own content.

But I miss it so much! I never wanted to stop blogging, it’s just been a struggle to find the time.

What I have been doing recently is prioritising my wellbeing. We’re moving house this month, and I’ve recently had glandular fever (it was the worst!)… all in all, it’s been a stressful time.

To help myself feel better, I’ve been going for walks, reading books instead of scrolling social media, and playing logic games, as well as cozy Nintendo Switch games.

So with that said, today’s blog post is about one of my favourite self-care activities: playing games! Specifically, games that keep your brain active.

I do love a cute mindless clicking game, like Cats and Soup (it’s super cute), but they’re a bit too passive after a while.

When I was off sick with glandular fever, I got so bored of watching Netflix and scrolling social media. I needed to keep my mind sharp somehow. That’s when I decided to get back into some old puzzle games I used to enjoy as a child and learn how to play some new ones.

So, here are the five games to keep your brain active. These are the ones that got me through glandular fever (or mono if you’re American)!

1. Solitaire

Solitaire was of my favourite card games as a kid, I’d always want to play it on my parent’s old Windows XP computer. Do Windows computers still come with Solitaire installed?

Anyway, I got really into it again during the month I was sick.

I learned how to play Spider Solitaire too, because I’d only ever played the classic version (also known as Klondike). It’s more tricky for sure, taking more brain power and planning.

If you want to play it for free online, Solitaire.org is your best bet. Different versions of the game + no ads = winning.

2. Sudoku

Sudoku is a classic Japanese numbers game, where the objective is to fill a 9 x 9 grid with numbers 1 – 9. So each block, row, and column all need to have one of each digit, from 1 to 9. It sounds complicated, but once you know how to do it, it’s a fun little brain teaser.

In my old museum job, when the ticket office wasn’t busy, we’d always do the sudoku and crossword at the back of that day’s newspaper. I miss that!

I’ve been playing this daily Sudoku to practice. I do the easy or medium version because I’m not an expert!

I really need to get myself a little sudoku book, for those moments when I’m waiting for a train, or need some time away from screens.

3. Chess

Ahh, chess. Remember when The Queen’s Gambit came out on Netflix and everyone went wild over it? Side-note: have you read the book? It’s great.

My brothers and I used to play chess (and draughts) in childhood, and I really miss it! I’m not the best at it, but it’s good fun.

We even had one of those giant outdoor chess sets at school!

I’ve been playing the classic Chess game on Mac, but I’ve also downloaded an iPad app for it as well, because I want to practice my moves.

4. Minesweeper

Minesweeper is a logic puzzle game, featuring hidden squares that contain mines. Your goal is to clear the board without detonating any mines. You get clues from nearby squares that indicate how many mines are touching that square.

Okay, so this is kinda embarrassing. Basically, I never learned how to play Minesweeper, so I would just randomly click until the mines blew up. I thought that was the point… random clicking.

Anyway, while I was on Solitaire.org looking at their other games, I found a cute retro-style version of Minesweeper.

My partner saw me “playing” it and was appalled. So he taught me how to actually play it. Turns out, there’s actual strategy involved. You learn something new every day!

5. Wordle

Remember the Wordle craze? It felt like the whole world was playing at one point. Turns out some of my colleagues still play it religiously every morning on their commute!

If you don’t know, Wordle is a word-guessing game. The rules are simple: you get 6 chances to guess a 5-letter word.

The tiles change colour depending on how close you are to the answer. So green means the letter is correct and it’s in the right position, and yellow means it’s the correct letter but in the wrong place. Greyed-out letters are ones you’ve picked that aren’t in the word.

I was a bit late to the game, but I’ve been enjoying it nonetheless. My partner is a pro, and always gets them before I do.

You can play Wordle every day on the New York Times website.

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Those are my top 5 games for keeping your brain active, especially when you’re sick.

I’ve found that focusing on solving a puzzle is a great way to your mind off things like the news!

Setting up a time limit for TikTok on my phone has really helped prompt me to play logic puzzle games in my downtime, instead of endless scrolling. Spending less time on social media has helped my mental health too.

Do you play any of these games, or did you play them as a child? I’d love to know!

All the best,