Who doesn’t want to have a sharp mind? Having a sharp mind is something we all want. I recently read a thought-provoking article about it entitled Cognitive Fitness in Harvard Business Review. The article talks about how the minds of people like Warren Buffet and Alan Greenspan stay sharp even in their old age.

What is the secret? The secret is brain workout. They exercise their brain continuously and that makes their minds sharp.

One way to exercise your brain is playing:

Play engages the prefrontal cortex, responsible for your highest-level cognitive functions – including self-knowledge, memory, mental imagery, and incentive and reward processing… Activities like bridge, chess, sudoku, role-playing games, and challenging crossword puzzles all provide rigorous neural workouts.

Looking at myself, I must admit that I do not play as much as I should. So I went around the web and searched for places where I can play games to have fun and exercise my brain. What I want are places where I can play for free and – whenever possible – play alone without having to find partners first. This way I can easily exercise my mind whenever I want.

Here I would like to share what I found along with resources to help you play those games better. But, first of all, here are some tips to get the most out of the games:

Set aside time to play

Though not everyday, you need to allocate time to play. This is not just playing anyway; this is time investment to sharpen your mind. Start with a game you are familiar with

If you found it difficult to understand how to play a game, you might not be motivated to play. So start with the games you are familiar with. This way you can soon train your brain without being distracted by the game rules. Choose a new game later

After you have played a game quite often, you should try a new game. It gives your brain a different kind of training that enriches it. Increase the level of difficulty

Just like you should increase the weight you use in weight training to build your muscles, you should also increase the difficulty of the games you play to build your brain muscles. This way you stretch your mind beyond its current boundary.

With those tips in mind, here are 10 free mind games to exercise your brain:

1. Sudoku

About the game

Sudoku is a logic-based number placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9Ã—9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3Ã—3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contains the digits from 1 to 9, only one time each (that is, exclusively). The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid. (source)

Where to play

Resources

2. Chess

About the game

Chess is played on a square chequered chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight square. At the start, each player (one controlling the white pieces, the other controlling the black pieces) controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in “check”) and there is no way to remove it from attack on the next move. (source)

For more information, see the rules of chess.

Where to play

Resources

3. Bridge

About the game

Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game of skill and chance. It is played by four players who form two partnerships; the partners sit opposite each other at a table. The game consists of the auction (often called bidding) and play, after which the hand is scored. (source)

For more information, see the rules of bridge.

Where to play

These sites require you to log in and play against other human players. I couldn’t find free sites that allow you to play bridge online against computer.

Resources

4. Crossword

About the game

A crossword is a word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of black and white squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers. (source)

Where to play

Resources

5. Go

About the game

Go is played by two players alternately placing black and white stones on the vacant intersections of a line grid. The objective of the game is to control a larger part of the board than the opponent. (source)

For more information, see the rules of Go.

Where to play

Resources

6. Checkers

About the game

Checkers is a form of the draughts board game played on an 8Ã—8 board with 12 pieces on each side that may only move and capture forward. (source)

For more information, see the rules of checkers.

Where to play

Resources

7. Reversi

About the game

Reversi are names for a board game which involves play by two parties on an eight-by-eight square grid with pieces that have two distinct sides. The object of the game is to make your pieces constitute a majority of the pieces on the board at the end of the game, by turning over as many of your opponent’s pieces as possible. (source)

For more information, see the rules of Reversi.

Where to play

Resources

8. Connect Four

About the game

Connect Four is a two-player board game in which the players take turns in dropping alternating colored discs into a seven-column, six-row vertically-suspended grid. The object of the game is to connect four singly-colored discs in a row — vertically, horizontally, or diagonally — before your opponent can do likewise. (source)

Where to play

Resources

9. Chinese Checkers

About the game

Chinese checkers is a board game that can be played by two to six people. The objective of the game is to place one’s pieces in the corner opposite their starting position of a pitted 6-pointed star by single moves or jumps over other pieces. (source)

For more information, read the rules of Chinese checkers.

Where to play

Resources

10. Mastermind

About the game

Mastermind is a simple code-breaking board game for two players (source). For more information, read the rules of Mastermind.

Where to play

Resource

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The ten games above are enough to improve your brain fitness. But, in case you got bored, there are plenty of other mind games you can find on these sites:

Whatever game you choose, play it and boost your brain’s performance.

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