15 Best games for improving concentration and memory

Games are so much fun. They kill time and help you feel happy, excited yet relaxed. But what if I told you that playing games could do more than just killing time and feeling relaxed. Playing games can have so many other benefits too.

Playing games can improve concentration, attention, and focus. When you are playing a game, you tend to shift and focus on the job at hand to win that game or play to get the best scores.

Thus, you pay more attention to detail, improve mental skills, and train spatial thinking skills. You train your brain and help improve cognitive skills too. So let’s look at the 15 Best Games for improving concentration.

Top games for improving concentration

Chess

This game has to top the list. This is one of the most loved, played, and underestimated games out there. It has the potential to train and challenge your brain to many levels. Chess helps you to think critically and logically from start to finish and all the way through.

If you want to win the game you have to really be present, have extreme focus and solve problems. You use the entire brain (both sides) while playing chess, which makes it one of the most intellectual games known.

This helps boost your concentration and focus skills significantly. You not only have to think about your next move, but you also have to adapt your thinking and analytics according to the move your opponent makes.

This helps with problem-solving as you have to be alert enough to change your plan of action as per the circumstances. This makes Chess the unbeatable champion of games that improve concentration and focus.

Sudoku

Sudoku is a logical, number placement game that consists of grids of columns and rows. The main objective of the game is to fill a 9X9 grid with numbers from 1 to 9.

The digits should be placed so that they do not repeat themselves more than once in the corresponding row, column or the 3X3 subgrid. This game trains your brain to be alert, make strategies, and process many pieces of information at once.

Sudoku forces your brain to think faster and efficiently. It needs oodles of concentration and focus. You have to check for errors at every stage as otherwise the game will not get completed.

Jigsaw Puzzles

It is a photo puzzle game wherein you assemble various interlocking puzzle pieces together to form a complete picture. Playing a Jigsaw puzzle helps with concentration as you need to make sure the puzzle pieces are set in the right place and fit in with the other adjacent pieces.

It helps release stress, one of the best games for improving concentration, work the brain cells and you can also time the game to see how long it takes you to complete the particular puzzle set.

The number of pieces of the puzzle determines the complexity of the game. The more the puzzle pieces the more complexity of the game.

Snake

If you or your family ever had a Nokia phone before you definitely know this game. This game quickly caught fame because of its simplicity in complexity factor.

In this game, the player controls the path taken by a snake on the boarded plane that needs to feed on a dot or square on the plane.

As and when the snake captures the square it increases in length and thus making it difficult to manoeuvre. Playing this game helps with concentration, analytical skills, and focus.

Video Games

A Video game is an electronic game played on a computer that involves interaction with a user interface or an input device like a joystick, keyboard or controller.

Research conducted on kids that played video games for an hour showed improved selective attention and brain activity. Players showed an improved focus on relevant visual information while suppressing the less relevant information.

These are a hot favourite with kids and adults alike. There are numerous games to choose from according to your liking, interest, or hobby.

Crossword Puzzle

A crossword or word puzzle mostly comprises a square or rectangular grid of black and white shaded squares. The player needs to fill up the white squares using letters representing a particular riddle or solution. It is one of the best cognitive exercises.

It is said to reduce the risk of dementia. They help access the cognitive knowledge power of our brain and They can be easily found online as well as offline. Your daily newspaper contains a crossword puzzle or you can buy crossword puzzle books to suit your level or interests.

Brain Yoga

Brain Yoga is a relaxing way to train your brain. If you are willing to invest a few minutes in the day, these games help with memory, vocabulary, numeracy, spatial ability, and pattern-matching abilities of the brain. There is no timer pressure, no competition for high scores but just delivering solutions for puzzles.

Rubik’s Cube

Rubik’s cube is a 3D combination puzzle game invented in 1974 by Emo Rubik and hence the name. It was originally also called the Magic Cube.

It develops cognitive abilities, helps develop problem-solving skills, and promotes intelligence by helping you deal with situations patiently. It improves the brain’s cognitive mapping with basic configuration skills.

Luminosity

Luminosity is one of the most sought games for brain training and mental fitness programs. You can choose up to three games and also save your high score and progress.

These games are backed by science and incorporate fitness tests, games, and activities. This free App is available on both iOS and Android. This game effectively boosts concentration levels and mental skills.

Braingle

Braingle is a one-stop for brain puzzles, riddles, trivia quiz, memory tests, games, and numeric tricks. This is very useful as it has something for everyone’s interest.

You can choose so many options and don’t get bored easily. It has the largest collection on the internet. This definitely helps improve many skills other than concentration, thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Suitcase Game

This game is fun and yet very challenging as this tests your concentration and the retaining ability of your mind. This game is usually played in a  group.

It starts with a player saying “I have a suitcase and in it I put… “ and then the next player has to repeat the item chosen by the first person and also add another item to the list.

This way the list keeps going on and you have to remember all the items said by each player. If you forget or miss an item you are out.

Peak

Peak is a fun, brain training game workout designed to challenge the brain’s memory, language, and critical thinking. It uses various puzzles and games.

This enlists many brain games made in partnership with leading Universities like Cambridge and NYU. Helps with memory, problem-solving skills, attention, Maths, mental agility, coordination, and creativity. The app also helps track progress and improve scores.

Word Game

This is a very simple yet very effective cognitive game. This game is played in a group. You start the game with a word and the next player has to say a word that starts with the ending letter of the word said by the previous player.

You can use a generalized category or increase the level of the game you can also choose a certain category for the words like animals only, birds, countries, science, etc.

This helps you and the other players with vocabulary, learn new words, help understand the meaning of new words, and show off your intellectual power. It is fun to watch the players get stuck at the recurring vowels and left searching for words.

Brain Teasers

Brain Teasers are nothing but riddles. They need a lot of concentration power of the brain and problem-solving skills. You need to search your brain and apply logic to solve the given riddle.

You need to shell out many permutations and combinations that you think will get you closer to the solution. This is the reason why this game helps with cognitive, problem-solving, concentration, and decision-making skills.

You may feel that the particular riddle may have more than one right answer and have to narrow down your choice to pick the logical one. 

Train your Brain

This game as the name suggests is very effective in training your brain and challenging it at many levels. It comprises small games that help cognitive thinking, spatial thinking and improve mental skills. It contains seven brain training games: colours, numbers, rotation, fly, schedule table, and many more. 

Try them all and you are bound to improve your brain power multifold. Just by spending a mere ten minutes in a day, these games can be very beneficial.

They help you make your brain sharp and take on any challenge life throws at you. Play some games and Train your Brain. Go Play!