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Growing up, we all must have been touched by puzzle games. Before technology offers tons of entertainment through video games, doing puzzle was one of the go-to indoor activity for fun. Unfortunately, puzzles have already been forgotten by a lot of people nowadays.
As we all know, puzzle basically is a game which tests our ingenuity or knowledge. Speaking of puzzle, it doesn’t necessarily mean strictly of jigsaw puzzle, but also games like sudoku, crossword puzzle and so on.
The History
The oldest and perhaps the most popular form of puzzle is jigsaw which was invented around 1760 by a British engraver and cartographer John Spilsbury. Puzzle game also becomes a unique gaming genre in the video games world. Dating back to the 1980s, there are games like Flag Capture (predecessor of Minesweeper) as well as the great Tetris.
By the early 20th century, magazines and newspapers started to publish puzzle contests to increase their readership. Beginning with crosswords puzzles, then later on also making modern day sudoku. From the short history, it’s safe to say that puzzle games remain to be a popular genre among gamers even to this day.
The Benefits
For the most part, puzzles are given to kids as a gift, or even some kind of collector’s item for the adult. Well, we all have to admit that puzzles can be a lot of fun, even for adults. Though, not only just for fun, but puzzle is considered as a constructive and beneficial game. Without getting too much into details, let’s take a look on what kind of benefits will adults get from doing puzzles.
- Improved memory
- Better problem solving skills
- Increased IQ and education opportunities
- Delay dementia and alzheimer
- Relieve stress and improve mood
- Increased productivity and attention to detail
- Better collaboration
Now that we know all the wonderful benefits we can get from doing puzzle, it’s time to go back to the game we used to love! So, dust off an old jigsaw puzzle and start putting the pieces back together. Or, do other puzzle games like crossword as well as sudoku on the magazines or newspaper.
Let’s exercise our brain by doing some puzzle!