When you first give a puzzle game a try, it can seem pretty simple. Just slide these blocks around as they snap together, and voila! You’re done. But don’t let that first impression fool you- in reality, puzzle games are notoriously difficult to truly master. Two dot level 57 is just waiting to destroy you, and you won’t know what hit you when you find yourself stuck in a puzzle that’s just a tad bit too difficult. Keep reading for five key pieces of information on puzzle games: what they are and what makes them challenging, how to play them well, some popular ones available now and where you can find even more!
What are Puzzle Games?
Puzzle games usually have the player navigate their way through an obstacle course laid out with different types of puzzles or challenges. They’re great for exercising your brain and learning how to overcome a problem or obstacle. Oftentimes you’ll have limited moves, and the challenge comes in figuring out how to get from point A to point B with as few moves as possible.
What Makes Them Challenging?
There are a ton of different puzzle games out there, from brain teasers like Sudoku and Crosswords, to classic video games like Tetris . They all share a few characteristics: they test your memory, hand-eye coordination, focus, observation skills and many more attributes that come in handy in real life. Puzzle games are great for exercising your brain, and they’re a fun way to pass the time.
How Can I Play Them Well?
Categorically, puzzle games fall into two categories: easy and hard . Take Hanoi for example. As soon as you begin this puzzle game, it will demonstrate to you how challenging it is going to be by having no instructions whatsoever up until round three. All you need to do is cut the ropes that connect the wooden blocks together, so that all five of them can be stacked on top of each other (that means four blocks stacked on top of one another). The blocks are spaced out more and more each round, making three different ropes from one block impossible to identify. You’ll have to identify landmarks within the puzzle or use your own logic to determine which block goes where. So that’s one example of a hard puzzle game- they don’t always offer a way to make the task easier, you just have to be a little more creative with each challenge.
Five Clarifications On Puzzle Games :
1. Memory games are great for exercising your memory.
While there are no real-life tests that use puzzles, they do help train and exercise your brain in more ways than one. These games all rely on your memory and imagination, because you’re making connections between things you’ve seen and things you’ve experienced- it’s more than just memorizing the name of a country while flipping through a book. In real life, this type of training is important so that both your mind and body can function at their best.
2. Hand-eye coordination is important in real life.
The puzzles that have you connecting dots together or balancing objects on a beam are all exercises of your hand-eye coordination, which comes in super handy in real life situations. When you’re stringing together a necklace, making stitches on a quilt, or putting together an Ikea bookshelf with zero instructions, you need to know where your hands go and what results it’ll cause. In other words, hand-eye coordination can help you take apart and put back together any device with ease (just don’t blame us if something goes wrong).
3. Focus is key in the game and everyday situations .
These games will make you think, and if you’re not paying attention to what you’re doing, you might end up making a mistake. That’s why focusing on the task at hand is essential for puzzle games. When it comes to solving puzzles like these, you’re usually just one step away from success- unless something unexpected happens, that is. If there’s a puzzle game that requires a lot of thought and patience in order to complete it, focusing on what you’re doing will help you advance through it.
4. They stimulate your brain by exercising higher brain functions .
Brain teasers do just that- they exercise your brain in different ways by testing logic, observation skills and many other aspects of your intellect. This makes them great for improving a variety of skills, from your memory to your ability to solve new problems.
5. They’re addictive .
If you love a game that offers so much more than just a brain-teaser, puzzle games are for you! Video games are good for exercising brain cells, too (and mind muscle exercises can be even better), but puzzle games tend to get stuck in your head and provide the added benefit of keeping you entertained for hours!
