Mobile games will never replace other activities known to benefit brain health, like regular exercise, social interaction, and stimulating leisure activities. Of course, not all mobile games are created equal in terms of their cognitive benefits (no, that first person shooter isn’t going to help with memory loss). Mobile games can be just as good for brain health if they’re designed to challenge cognitive skills. Learning games, such as those that teach coding or math, can help to improve specific skills and knowledge.Īnd you don’t have to sit down in front of a board with a group of people to get the benefits.

For example, strategy games like chess can improve problem-solving skills and critical thinking, while memory and attention-based games can improve memory and attention. Playing games can make you smarter in a number of ways. Here are 10 of the best mobile brain games, puzzle apps, and concentration games out there. And if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, we think it’s about time you did. Memory retention, abstraction, divided attention, word memory - a good brain game has it all. We love brain training games because they aren’t just fun, they condition our brains to be better and sharper. But, if we’re talking about simple, brainless entertainment and time-passers, brain training games and puzzle apps have emerged as one of the most wildly popular mobile game genres on the planet. What we love most about the developing platform is that there are dozens of game genres available for our phones: shooters, RPGs, puzzle games, etc.

It’s a far cry from the days of “this is a game I have to play while on the toilet.” Though I’m sure those still exist. The rise of Apple Arcade has meant that folks are actively choosing to pay for and play quality mobile games. Mobile gaming apps have come a long way in the last few years, and that’s probably a bit of an understatement.

Games that can pass the time