Games Games Games (Apps Apps Apps)
Lately, I have been pretty tunneled into playing games on my phone. Multi-tasking and coordination have always been difficult for me and these...claim to help with that. Now I doubt it does much, but I can see it does some. Kinda like playing shooter games gives you some sort of understanding of gun safety and situational awareness....well that might be a stretch, but games have been known and designed to stimulated and stimulate your brain and body and all that comes with it. The games I have been playing are all phone apps (besides Luna playing). Color by numbers helps with understanding colors and counting and placement. The repetitive movements can also be very soothing if you are in that mindset. Games like solitaire and scrabble let you practice your math and or reading/writing comprehension. I have game apps that match shapes and colors (or give you a simplified version of Sudoku and/or crosswords). This works on memory, placement, time management/speed (as most have a timer in all or challenge rounds), and grouping. If you play long enough and level up you will also see patterns that pop up. I like the one that rewards you by building or designing spaces like villages/towns or gardens/houses and all that comes with it. These rewards also will give you a gleam of what one uses or used and how they use/used them depending on the theme and genre of the game. Then I have those semi-role play games. These are the rewards without the puzzle. You build/design layouts of the game. On top of engaging in design it has skills in time management and resource management (i.e., the money, you make/spend, the tools or food you create/gain, the people you acquire, and what you do with them). I prefer the games that still give you enough to do with the added costs (you can always pay for a certain amount of something-which is a lesson in itself, probably). The phone app games are a lot like the videos (well probably more so as they are on the phone, not a console) in which you can engage in social media (usually Facebook) as there are also community forums inside and outside the game where you can chat, help each other out, learn, make friends (or sometimes more). The act of communication and learns the dos and don't of social engagements is a skill and life lesson all on its own. In this social distancing mandatory time, it might be something to try (as serious gamers can attest). I have found that the games built on speed and a variety of situational choices are just not my cups of tea. The fact that they trigger all my issues doesn't help but I also maintained that the idea of gaming (whatever game you play) is to have fun and enjoy the game, and that just doesn't do it for me. :)
