7 Very fun games that are actually good for your brain

• by
• Smartkit

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Prior to the emerging of Sudoku as global phenomena in 2005, some of us have made the mistake in believing we can keep our minds sharp by merely doing crossword puzzles. By 2009 most of us realize true cognitive fitness stems from immersing your mind in a wide variety of challenges and puzzle types.

Yet, no matter the particular type of brain activity each game is designed for, in order to succeed all brain games should comply with the very first rule of every gaming experience: being very fun. The following are 7 creative and highly original casual games that go beyond mere testing hand-eye-coordination, and are guaranteed to sharpen your mind while kicking your brain into high gear. The list was compiled by the puzzle lovers at Smartkit.

Sprout

This short but endearing puzzle adventure by Jeff Nusz of custom-logic.com features a tiny seed pod that must work its way across beautiful hand drawn landscapes. Since there are no instructions, your clever brain will have to figure it out as you go along.

Play Sprout (Smart-kit.com)

Splitter

Slice and dice the wooden blocks to get the smiley sphere rolling to its target in this great physics puzzle game by Eugene Karataev and Artem Popov. Things start off easy, but gradually get harder as you progress. Once you begin, however, you’re going to have a hard time putting that GINSU thingy down- Splitter is highly addicting.

Play Splitter (King.com)

Factory Balls

Drag and drop balls over the tools to produce the required ball physics as you advance through 14 levels. Not very hard, yet still a highly engaging puzzle game with a great soundtrack by Bart Bonte, Belgium.

Play Factory Balls (Scarlet.be)

Pickies

How many Pickies can you build? This brain game mainly exercises & tests executive cognitive function and processing speed. Any score above 2000 puts you in the gifted range; however, some may know a few rare Uber brains that can get to the 5000 mark.

Play Pickies (Smart-kit.com)

Blocks with Letters On

Fiendish but fun anagram puzzle game. Move the letter blocks into the yellow area to form an English word. Created by Martine Sears from martgallery.co.uk. Beginning levels are fairly easy while later levels can be extremely challenging.

Play Blocks with Letters On (Gimme5games.com)

Perfect Balance

Keys ‘A’ and ‘D’ rotate the shapes you must stack. Use your ingenuity to position them so that they achieve ‘perfect balance’ and don’t tumble over. This is a classic game from which many clones have spawned. Created by ttursas Ltd., out of Helsinki, Finland.

Play Perfect Balance (Armorgames.com)

River Crossing Puzzle

Supposedly used as part of an IQ test, the graphics in this Japanese game are well done, and the little animations are kind of amusing. No worries about it being in Japanese though- just click on the characters to move them on/off raft and the red control ball to send the raft across the river. Make sure to read and follow the 5 rules first:

• 1. The raft can carry only 2 people.
• 2. The father can not be left with any of the daughters unless the mother is present.
• 3. The mother can not be left with any of the sons unless the father is present.
• 4. The criminal can not stay with any family member unless the guard is present.
• 5. Only the father, mother, and guard know how to use the raft.

A couple of answer submissions are already in the 'comment' section here; try solving it first before giving in and looking.

Play River Crossing Puzzle (Siol.net)

About Smartkit

Smartkit features captivating daily puzzles to cross train all areas of your brain. The site is visited by teachers and students of all ages looking for good educational fun to sharpen their minds. In addition to brain games, Smartkit also features some of the best free online daily jigsaw puzzles.

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