Board games have many brain benefits including developing thinking skills and helping with memory. The benefits of board games for the brain apply to any age group or personality.
The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex benefit most from
playing board games, says Health Fitness Revolution. These areas help to control complex thought and the formation of memories.
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Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center did a study
cited on Your Neighborhood Toy Store blog showing that playing games regularly helped older people retain their memory function and reduce their likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s disease.
The following games help to develop and/or maintain memory skills for children and adults of all ages.
1. Trivial Pursuit
Our brains are filled with knowledge about many different subjects and topics. Trivial Pursuit attempts to pull this half-buried information from our memory banks for use in gaining the advantage on your competitors. In recent years, there have been many themed variations on the traditional game so players can focus on specialized topics they enjoy, such as "Star Wars" or sports.
2. Memory
This children’s game is all about matching game pieces by remembering where they are placed face-down in rows. As any adult who has played this game with children can attest, they are usually much better at it than their older counterparts, but then, they don’t have to remember doctor's appointments or when the bills are due.
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3. Ticket to Ride
This game is easy enough to learn in 15 minutes, but requires strategy and memory skills that keep people playing for hours. It’s all about collecting train cards that are used to claim North American railway routes. Memory skills are needed to remember geography as players strategize about whether to add more cards or risk losing routes to competitors.
4. Stratego
Like chess, Stratego involves many different pieces with different functions. It’s important to remember which piece ranks above or below other pieces as players strategize about how to capture the opponent’s flag.
5. Clue
While you don’t really need to remember which person, weapon, and room are involved in the crime (since you get to write it down), there are more subtle reactions and interactions to remember as you try to figure out which cards your opponents may have and narrow down the suspect pool.
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