The digital age is fast-paced and offers instant content for everyone around the modern world, but some things have never changed. Physical, old-school games such as Sudoku and Mahjong have lasted the test of time. These games don’t just pass time for folks, they can enhance cognitive functioning and offer some much-needed community engagement. Pattern recognition games test the brain in ways that many other activities fail to. They command attention, strategy, memory, and problem-solving skills, sometimes all at once.
Studies from well-respected institutions are continually providing evidence to suggest that time spent playing these games offers a multitude of mental health benefits both in the short term and the long term. We are taking a look at 7 ways in which these kinds of games can improve mental health.
1. Improved Memory
One of the best and most well-known benefits of these kinds of games that rely on pattern recognition skills is the improvement of memory. For success in these games, players rely on short and working term memory whilst playing. This means that when playing the likes of Sudoku or Mahjong, players are constantly using this part of their brain and testing it.
For example, when it comes to Mahjong, it doesn’t matter if you are playing this in-person or on an online platform such as Mahjong 365 classic mahjong. The skills required for victory remain the same. Players must constantly remember the tiles that are discarded by other players and constantly track other tiles that have already been played.
This sort of mental juggling tests the brain and the memory of individuals. It requires astute juggling of different parts of information and requires information retention. Honing this memory part of your brain helps more generally with comprehension and multitasking.
2. Increased Focus
This is a skill that is increasingly being lost in younger generations who are being exhausted by instant content and rapid, disposable information. The digital age has brought about an appetite for 10-second reels and next-day deliveries, which, of course, have their place but do impact mental health. Increasingly, people want things instantly and cannot focus past this. That’s why improved attention and focus are skills which is perhaps more valuable now than ever before.
Pattern recognition games require the player to remain engaged for the full time playing. It doesn’t matter if you are scanning a Sudoku grid or planning your next chess move; your mental engagement must endure. Any distractions from the game at hand could cause mistakes, which may see you fail. Over time, practicing these skills whilst playing pattern recognition games will increase your focus and help you to avoid distractions. They could be the antidote to all those hours spent on TikTok and improve your mental health for other activities such as work, school or university.
3. Slows Decline
An increasing number of studies primarily focused on degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia have shown that engaging in these traditional games reduces the risk of cognitive decline. The skills required in these types of pattern recognition games seemingly protect against the gray matter spreading when it comes to these degenerative diseases. Scientists believe that due to these types of games engaging different parts of the brain and making use of memory, social skills, and decision-making with problem-solving skills, all protect against cognitive aging.
The mental sharpness that is required for games such as Bridge and Mahjong has been intriguing for many and the subject of research around the world. Mahjong, particularly, has been the center of several studies in East Asia, where researchers have evidenced that elderly people in China who regularly play Mahjong have experienced better brain cognition and significantly slower brain deterioration than those who do not, playing a vital role in their longevity.
4. Better At Problem-Solving
Pattern recognition games require high levels of problem-solving skills and critical thinking to be successful at them. It doesn’t matter if you are playing yourself in a game of Sudoku, challenging the family at Mahjong, or playing online chess, figuring out specific logic and applying critical thinking is going to be essential. If you are engaging in this sort of game regularly, you are likely to hone your analytical thinking while also developing tactical planning skills.
5. Spatial Awareness
Regularly playing pattern recognition games like Sudoku and Mahjong improves what is known as visual-spatial intelligence. This is an individual’s ability to visualize, manipulate and understand how objects interact with the space around them. Whilst people are constantly using these skills when driving and navigating, these kinds of games develop the skills further.
6. Reduce Stress
Board games in general, but particularly ones where critical thinking and more brain power are used, are very useful for their calming effect. Despite putting your brain under intellectual stress, particularly when you have been placed in a checkmate or are working on the beginning stages of a very hard Sudoku, the immersiveness of these games disconnects your brain from outside factors for a brief moment. These brain puzzles require all of your focus to try and figure out what to do to get the best results. This results in what is now regarded as a ‘flow state’ and is great for relaxation, meditation, and destressing.
Entering this state of mind more often can reduce stress and improve mood, which, more generally, will improve mental health.
7. Encourages Social Engagement And Community
Some brain teasers can be solo ventures, such as word searches, Sudoku, or NYTimes Daily brain puzzles, but a number are social events. The likes of Mahjong and chess require more than 1 player to play, and whilst the pressure may be on and there is bound to be competitive play to contend with, they are intimate moments with other individuals which foster communication and community. Social engagement is important for everyone, with loneliness and isolation breeding boredom, bad habits, cognitive declin,e and poor mental health, but this is especially true for older people who are more likely to find themselves with a smaller social circle than others.
To Conclude
The science doesn’t lie, and these brain training tools have been used for years by scholars and historic civilisations in some form or another for good reason. Whether it’s your memory, problem-solving skills, destressing, or simply just looking to connect with other humans, these games remain widely accessible for anyone to engage with. Perhaps more than ever before, it is important to maintain as good mental health as physical health, and these games could be a great place to start.
