Board games have long been associated with a high level of intelligence, especially technical games like chess and Go. However, what many don’t know is that board games don’t just display a measure of how our mind works, but also add a few benefits to it.
The research behind the benefits of board games shows the unique contribution it gives to the players, which would only make you want to play them more. Let’s get down to discussing how playing board games positively impacts our daily lives.
Playing Board Games Improves Brain Function
Although you may not be hearing it for the first time, playing board games improve brain functions among kids and adults. This is because playing stimulates areas of the brain in charge of complex thoughts and reasoning. It also helps the brain access its memory function, hence practising cognitive skills like decision-making and problem-solving. Indeed, people who play board games frequently would tend to have better problem-solving mental capacity.
Board games are also good for elderly people because it helps reduce the risk of them developing Alzheimer’s disease. This is because it keeps their mind sharp and active, similar to how it helps children and teens be more intelligent.
Board Games Can Help You Strengthen Relationships or Create New Ones
Board games are designed to be played by two individuals or more, which could help strengthen their relationship over time. It has the capacity to bind strangers and make them friends, especially when it’s a game that pitches a group against another. You can make new connections, explore hobbies, or become forced to study your opponent during a game, hence understanding the person better.
Regardless of the purpose behind playing, over time, people you play board games with tend to become closer. Board games are also a good way to spend time with family and get to bond with each other while at it.
Playing Board Games Helps in Decreasing Stress and Improving Mood
When you play board games, chances are that you laugh and have fun while building your mental capacity. With laughter being such a vital component of board games, it can help you reduce stress both physically and mentally. This is the major reason why research has linked playing board games to reducing stress. According to research, as much as 53% of people play board games to help them relieve stress.
They Can Also Help with Lowering Blood Pressure
The happiness and laughter that accompany playing board games mean they can help reduce stress. However, this also has an added advantage because happiness is an effective way to also lower your blood pressure. Experts believe that when our body releases endorphins, it stimulates the muscle to relax, therefore, blood circulates much more easily. This action would likely lower the blood pressure and prevent health complications that come with having high blood pressure. For context, this includes stroke, heart disease, and a high risk of artery damage.
Relaxation and lower blood pressure are some of the best reasons why you should play board games. This applies especially to adults and the elderly.
Board Games Teach You Patience and How to Set Goals
When you sit to consider it, you rarely win board games based on luck. It involves strategy, recognizing patterns, mistakes and understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Doing this over time in a stress-free and happy environment helps teach you patience and how to set goals. To win in most board games, you have to learn to lay in wait, looking for that slight open to topple your opponent, preferably in a way that he or she would never see coming.
This very act is the muscle memory the body needs to learn patience and also setting goals. Goals involve you taking step by step actions to achieve them, just like board games require you to make intentional moves towards winning.
They Can Boost Creativity and Self-Confidence
Board games act as a window into the creative side of an individual. They boost creativity because you have to think hard and wide to be able to win. Also, as your opponent gets better, you need to invent new ways to strategically topple them to remain on top. This boosts creativity, and over time, breeds self-confidence in even the shyest individuals. Most importantly, it does it in a non-intrusive or arrogant way, meaning no problems would develop as a result of ego.
Board games especially push timid children to develop a sense of creativity and individuality that does loads of good to their self-confidence. They feel fulfilled and noticed, which is exactly how you’d want them to feel.