Mind Games
Wracking your brain for an idea can be mentally draining (literally!) and physically exhausting (stress and tension can be a real pain in the neck… and back.)
Stimuli collected from reading and other research can relieve some of the brain drain, but research can also be tiring (though I find it a bit energizing, too) and does little or nothing for the stress.
Back when I originally learned to play Chess at the Fleet Branch Library in Cleveland, Ohio, I discovered that games could be mentally stimulating, educational, and foster creative thought. Few games over the years have matched Chess in these regards, but a couple recent finds on The Grommet have been pretty close.
Quoridor is probably my favorite game in recent years. It is a board with squares on it and the goal is to get your figure across to your opponent’s side by moving one space at a time. Players alternate turns and may move their piece forward, backward, and sideways (but not diagonally) or they may choose to leave the piece where it is and place a “fence” (a wooden wall) on the board to block progress of their opponent. Erecting a wall also serves to block your own path, and once they are in place, cannot be moved. You also only have ten walls, so you must be strategic in where and when you choose to use them (or not).
It takes 5 minutes to learn this game, so it’s very simple for just about any age — but it’s almost chess like in the thought that goes behind each move. Games finish very quickly and it’s easy to get caught up in playing a series of them with a good opponent. I gave this game to several of my friends for Christmas last year, in hopes of finding some suitable opponents (as of right now, I am undefeated!!!)
Quarto is another game I find almost as fun (probably because I an NOT undefeated in this game!) It’s kind of a combination of Tic-Tac-Toe, Connect Four, maybe even a little Chess. There are multiple pieces that you place within a 16-box area in an attempt to align four of a kind — but there are a LOT of ways the pieces can be counted as “four” — first there is the basic light and dark colors, then there are squares and circles, then there are tall and short pieces, and finally there are solid and hollow pieces. with all those options, it is incredibly easy to lose track and miss an opportunity to spot four in a row.
The really sick twist in this game is the fact your opponent gets to choose the piece you play, and you pick the piece your opponent plays. It’s tough enough keeping track of the possible combinations on the board and the remaining pieces, but now you have to be careful not to choose the winning piece for your opponent — devious indeed!
Both Quoridor and Quarto are made with wooden pieces and have a wooden board. It looks and feels like a high-end heirloom game, but each is less than $30 at TheGrommet.com.
The next time you’re hard at work trying to come up with some great idea, or stressed out because a deadline is looming — take a moment to play one of these two quick games to get your mind of the problem and thinking in new dimensions. THEN go back at your project with renewed mental energy and agility!
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Note: Although I personally own both these games, given them as gifts, and highly recommend them to you, the links I used in this article will earn both you and I a $10 credit at TheGromment.com if you decide to use my link to make a purchase. I figure, I would recommend these games to you any way — why not earn us both a little discount on future purchases while I’m at it?
