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6 Reasons Why Playing Board Games Makes You A Better Human Being And Helps You Live Longer

September 23, 2014

In the modern world, it may seem old fashioned to sit down with your family or friends to play a board game. With all the technology available, and 1000’s of hours of entertainment one click away, board games don’t seem to be a priority anymore. But before you throw them out, make sure you read this article. We’re going to let you know why playing board games make you a better human being, happier, smarter, more attractive to the opposite sex, and a better parent and friend, just to name a few.

It’s time you dusted off the old Monopoly board, collected all the missing Scrabble pieces, pulled down Trivial Pursuit from your spare closet and gathered up your family and friends for an old-fashioned board game night.

6 Reasons Why Playing Board Games Makes You A Better Human Being

1. Learn Winning Strategy

Winning a board game is like winning at a competitive sport, but instead of physical assertion, you need to strain your brain. So board games are a powerful learning by teaching you problem-solving skills which, like a muscle, are strengthened with practice.

2. Experience Raw Emotion

Playing a board game like Monopoly with your family can bring you close to divorcing them, if that were possible. It will bring you to the edge of your patience, teach you to keep your cool, and communicate better, therefore improving your relationship. You will get to know each other so much better, without having to go through actual real life drama to do so, which will lessen the damage that it can do.

3. Save Money On Entertainment

A good board game can last countless hours, and they’re definitely not boring with the right players. To get many hours of entertainment with your friends or family any other way would cost so much more. You’d all have to go to a theme park or send the day paintballing or lazer tagging,and even then you wouldn’t get the benefits mentioned above or below. Board games are a cheaper and more productive form of entertainment, and the money saved can be spent on buying more board games:)

4. Relieve Stress, Gain Mental Balance and Relax

Playing board games is an excellent way to kick back and relax, according to an online survey by RealNetworks, Inc., a board games developer.

The survey found that:

64 percent of respondents said they play games as a way to unwind and relax

53 percent play for stress relief

42 percent believe game play is a way to keep his/her mind sharp

75 percent of those with children said they see educational benefits for their children who play casual games

5. Don’t Become A Murderer

Playing board games isn’t just for elementary school. Take a moment to watch this TED Talks presentation, where Dr. Stuart Brown shows us that play is for all ages, that it does a lot more than just help us exercise our brains.

From his TED bio: “ Dr. Stuart Brown came to research play through research on murderers — unlikely as that seems — after he found a stunning common thread in killers’ stories: lack of play in childhood. Since then, he’s interviewed thousands of people to catalog their relationships with play, noting a strong correlation between success and playful activity. His book Play describes the impact play can have on one’s life.”

6. Don’t Get Alzheimers

Playing board games can help the older generation, too! A study by Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center showed that regular game-playing and puzzle-solving were shown to promote mental stimulation that dramatically kept memory function performing at a higher level. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was shown to reduce by 47 percent for people who did these activities the most often.