Playing card games and puzzles online has been proven to help brain health. Especially as we get older these games are a great way to improve our memory skills. All of which assists with keeping our minds sharp which help protect us against dementia. I have written before about how sleep helps brain health but this article will focus on just the benefit of games for your brain.

It is easy to access lots of different games for free over on the Solitaire website. It’s great you can use games like this without having to spend anything. I have enjoyed playing games on the site to relax and unwind and give my brain power a much needed boost! I have included some information about these fun games I liked to inspire you to have a look at the site for yourselves.

Solitaire

Solitaire is a good card game to start with as it helps you use your brain without being too taxing which means the brain can start to relax. A brain that is in a state of calm isn’t wondering about and overthinking. Solitaire is a useful form of mediation; you can focus on the game and not think about your worries.

I like that you get game statistics so as you play more games of solitaire you can try and beat your current shortest time. I leave the sound on when I play as I like the noise of the cards being drawn. It’s quite repetitive so good for mindfulness. The noise distracts me from my thoughts.

You can choose to draw the cards in a set of three each time or individually. Individually is easier as you can get access to each card straight away, rather than trying to place a card making up the three to get access to the others. It’s more of a challenge sticking with the 3 cards drawn which I prefer. Even if you don’t win you can look at your points scored each time to see if you improve. I must be quite rusty as I am playing and not winning!

Mahjong

If you scroll down the page, they have lots of other fab games apart from Solitaire. Personally, I don’t think you can beat playing mahjong games. This game of strategy makes you really think as you decide which tiles to match first to get further along the game. You have to concentrate on pattern recognition skills. Plus, the more you play the quicker you get at it. Having the timer means you can track your progress. Your memory skills are also improved the more you play as you start to recognize the various pattern types.

Stress is very bad for brain health and matching the tiles in Mahjong is very relaxing. You can forget about what is worrying you as your brain focuses solely on matching tiles.

Sudoku

Sudoku is a good logic game to stimulate your mind. It can help increase neuroplasticity, so your brain gets better at seeing things in different ways and noticing patterns. The site offers easy, medium, hard and expert levels of difficulty, so you can start slowly if you want and build up your brain power as you go! I am not too proud to admit I had to start out on easy.

Hopefully you will see an improvement in your brain health trying these games too.