Sudoku, Chess, and Hangman are classic games that refine our thinking skills. Now, raise your IQ online by playing free addicting brain-boosting flash games.
Online Gaming for Geniuses
Like playing online games? Don’t feel guilty- Brain Games, such as strategy board games, math puzzles, logic teasers, word games, and memory games are fun AND functional.
They help you by improving your memory, delaying age-related dementia, boosting you IQ, and honing your attention skills.
Not to be confused with “time waster” games like Farmville, many free online brain-training games are available on Yahoo, MSN, Miniclip, and many other online gaming sites.
Here are the ten most challenging, yet fun free online games for adults, teens, and brainy kids:
1) Doodle Blast
- Object: Get all the marbles into the jar
- Rules: Manipulate the marbles’ path by drawing bouncy “walls.” Marble ricochet off the walls and you guide them into the jar before you run out of ink.
- Skill: Physics
- Level: Medium
- Where: smart-kit.com
2) Chess
- Object: Capture your opponent’s King to win the game.
- Rules: See Yahoo! game site for rules.
- Skill: Strategy
- Level: Medium-Hard
Get it here: Yahoo! Games
3) Uber Brain
- Object: Answer questions; receive “brain balance” score.
- Rules: Follow the online instructions in the 5-minute test of thinking skills.
- Skill: “Brain cross-training,” exercises all five major brain functions.
- Level: Easy-Medium
- Get it here: fitbrains.com
4) Memory Matrix
- Object: Test your memory by repeating a set of patterns.
- Rules: You get a few seconds to study a tangram-type design of squares, then repeat the sequence without making any mistakes.
- Skill: Spatial Recall
- Level: Medium-hard
- Get it here: luminosity.com
5) Hangaroo
- Object: Decipher the phrase.
- Rules: Just like the classic word game, hangman, keep choosing letters until you can guess the phrase.
- Skill: Vocabulary
- Level: Medium
- Get it here: miniclip.com
6) Sudoku
- Object: Fill in each grid of numbers, from 1 to 10.
- Rules: Simple to play, difficult to master, this cool Japanese math game has taken the nation by storm. Arrange numbers so that each box, column, and row reads from one to ten, without duplications.
- Skill: Math Logic
- Level: Medium-hard
- Get it here: juggernart.com
7) Penguin Families
- Object: Guide the penguin families across the river.
- Rules: Penguins travel in father-son pairs across a block of ice, but no more than two at a time may travel.
- Skill: Logic
- Level: Medium
- Get it here: braintraining101.com
8) Japanese Nonogram
- Object: Fill in the squares to produce a picture.
- Rules: Numbered rows and columns indicate how many individual squares, in addition to how many “sets” of squares appear in each line. Addicting game, but requires some practice.
- Skill: Math Logic
- Level: Medium-hard
- Get it here: infinitygameplay.com
9) Counterfeit
- Object: Figure out the difference between the two paintings.
- Rules: The classic “Spot the Difference” game, but for grown-ups. “Masterpiece” paintings are identical, save for one hidden alteration. It’s up to you to find the counterfeit.
- Skill: Observation
- Level: Medium-hard
- Get it here: gamesforthebrain.com
10) Dual N-Back
- Object: Use your keyboard to answer memory-based questions regarding blocks and letter sequences.
- Rules: Pay attention as your computer screen shows you a pair of colored block and letter of the alphabet. Don’t get distracted, because you will need to remember that exact placement after viewing two different sequences, and then on. According to research, this brain training game significantly raises your IQ level.
- Skill: Memory
- Level: Hard-genius.
- Get it here: Soakyourhead.com
Related reading:
Ten Bites to Better Brain Power
7 Reasons You Have Brain Fog…And What to do About It
B12 Prevents Brain Loss in Old Age – Confirmed by UK Study
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