Last Updated on August 29, 2023 by Editorial Team
First, it starts with forgetting why you came to the room or what exactly were you about to do. Gradually, you start forgetting dates, people’s names, and sometimes, appointments too. If you have reached this state, welcome to the world of aging!
Poor cognition and receding memory are the two classic signs of an aging mind. That is why, before it gets full-blown into dementia, it is a good idea to keep working up the brain and maintain its cognitive capacity using gameplay. One of the easier way to give brain the required workout is to play cognition building games.
Why cognition building games are gaining popularity among adults?
Poor cognition in adults has grown into a matter of public health concern in the US[1]. Largely, the causes of poor cognition are attributed to:
- Too much dependence on indulgence into smartphones
- Long working hours
- Stressful life
- Considerable decline in brain development activities or limited time spent in nature
- Poor nutrition or too sugary or sodium-rich food consumption that results in foggy brain[2]
There is no escape from smartphones or gadgets in the present times. So, why not make these the cognition development tool? In addition to storing alerts and reminders, now download or play online cognition development games for adults, and find a way to overcome receding brain capacity.
If the idea of using mobile phones and tablets for better brain capacity building has got you thinking, find here online games and applications for cognition building in adults that can improve memory, maintain logical intelligence and help your brain age slower overall.
Interesting cognition skill building games for adults
1. BrainGymmer
BrainGymmer is not a single game option, but a storehouse of exercises that you can give to your brain to stay sharp and agile till late in life. With a number of brain games that focus on improving memory retention and recall, impulse control, logic reasoning, quick thinking, and so on, you can give the required dose of exercise to your brain.
This fin game requires you to quickly look at the direction which middle fish is facing. To add to the challenge, not just three in one line, but many fishes in various arrangements with one of them occupying the center are given as a challenge. The player picks the direction of the fish from left or right. It is placed in a time-pressed manner where the arrangements start appearing as quickly as possible. Every wrong answer within a minute takes one life granted to you away. Three lives are available to play. Thus, you are sharpening the memory and improving recall, and concentrating the mind and hand in a coordinated manner, so as to pick the right option.
Game Link: Web App
2. Sudoku
Sudoku is the ultimate Japanese number quiz that needs you to work up your brain to identify the correct spot for numbers ranging from 1 to 9 in the 9×9 matrix. This magical matrix very rarely has more than one solution.
This game support memory buildup required to ensure that the number is not repeated either row or column-wise; it is not to be repeated in the three 3×3 sub-matrices as well. Apart from being a memory building support, it is the game that is no less than meditation with open eyes; given the kind of concentration level, it requires solving the puzzle.
Game Link: Web App
3. Peak – Brain Games & Training
Peak is a game app that can train your mind to become more attentive and aware. Cognition is sum total of spatial reasoning ability (which can also be improved through games), self-awareness, recognition, and identification ability of objects, people, things, colors, and also of emotions.
Designed in collaboration with the premier educators from the top universities of the world, the games in this app offer you 45 different ways to work out your brain. Memory challenging games also offer other takeaways like improved logical thinking, language, and overall cognition improvement. Keeping the mind active comes as a bonus and it helps you pass time in an entertaining way too.
Game Link: Playstore
4. Face memory game
Receding memory or memory weakening with age is a common problem that every 50 plus person used to face in earlier times. This issue has now started appearing earlier from the 40s only. So, the need is to do memory building exercises. One of the common issues, any person suffering from early dementia symptoms faces, is the failure to recognize a person’s face and correct name.
The face memory building game takes this problem head-on and offers you a well-designed way to keep it at bay. With regular practice, you may find a considerable improvement in your face recognition ability, saving yourself from embarrassing situations. This game offers awesome memory building ability and keeps the mind agile until late in life.
Game Link: Web App
5. Remember the Words
Another memory building game in which faces are replaced by a set of words. You need to keep the words and their spellings in mind. So, after having memorized, the words start appearing and you need to mention if the given name was the part of the list shown to you or not. A fun activity to do with a lot of working up of the brain, you may find some levels of this game to have incorrect spellings to test your concentration levels in addition to the memory.
This online cognition game for adults prepares the mind well to take on the challenges that come with an aging mind and may help keep it agile. The added benefits of logical reasoning, visual perception improvement, and spelling proficiency are other talking points of this game.
Game link: Web App
6. Lumosity
Lumosity is not just a game but a collection of 50 challenges that help you have cognitive abilities improved in a sustainable manner. This game is designed to stimulate the mind and work it up to reach better levels of logical reasoning, cognition, quick thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
Whether it is an attention deficit issue, the slow thinking power, or the issue of fading memory, the collection of science-based games offer the requisite challenge to prepare the brain to overcome these issues. Better attentiveness and logical approach continue to be your tools even when you experience little fogginess in brain activity due to aging.
Game Link: Playstore
7. Spot the Odd One
Trick your brain to improve its capacity by playing the game – spot the difference. All except one image is the same and the change is quite minute. So, it certainly is a helpful activity for building visual closure ability, concentration, logical reasoning, and problem-solving ability of the players.
With each challenge appearing on the screen quicker than before, the player needs to employ the visual perception skills, leading to its enhancement as a result of the gameplay. The cognition ability of adults can increase considerably by playing this simple game that is quite engaging.
A surge in the feeling of the correctness of decision keeps the confidence and satisfaction level high, making you self-assured towards taking up new challenges.
Game Link: Web App
8. Text Twist 2
Here is a free brain game which adults can indulge in to work their brain whenever they have some free time. The basic concept of this game is to make as many words as possible from a set of given letters. As this is a time-based game, one has to be really quick to think and rearrange given letters to come up with three or more letter words. Players even get extra points and can jump to the next level if they are able to form a word comprising all the letters.
Although this game is available in untimed format as well, the free version works really well to help build cognition and ability to think swiftly. If you are someone who has loved playing board games like scrabble, you will definitely enjoy this game available right at your fingertips.
Game Link: Web app
To sum up
It is a well-known truth that not all people are born with the same level of intelligence. Those born with some learning disorders or auto-immune diseases, or those developing aging-related mental ability issues can get the required boost in intelligence in the form of cognition games that focus on all crucial aspects of intelligence such as memory, thinking ability, logic application, problem-solving, etc. Even when not suffering from any problem, these games can be your play material to pass time when feeling bored.
References
[1] Subjective Cognitive Decline — A Public Health Issue, Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention
[2] Food for thought: how nutrition impacts cognition and emotion, Sarah J. Spencer et al, published at Nature.com
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,