Playing Games Has Its Benefits | WordScapes — A Brain Challenging Fun Game By PeopleFun!
By: Kristin Judd C. Bernal BSIT-3A
Technology has become an integral part of our lives. It has transformed our lives in many ways. It makes life more convenient for us. Nowadays, adolescents are more likely to be seen playing video games. Whenever a wave of teenage violence strikes, movies, TV, or video games often take the heat. Some adults assume that movies, TV, and video games are a bad influence on kids, and they blame these media for causing various problems. Purported negative effects such as addiction, increased aggression, and various health consequences such as obesity and repetitive strain injuries tend to get far more media coverage than the positives. While there are some negatives on playing video games, there’s no denying that they stop us from getting outside. There are also some benefits. Surprisingly, playing video games can help our physical, mental, and emotional health. We improve in ways that we never expected, whether we’re playing World of Warcraft with our friends, playing Call of Duty alone, or even pulling out the Wii dancing in to the rhythm of Just Dance as an exercise. A growing number of researchers said that if used in the right way, video and computer games have the potential to inspire learning. And they can help players improve coordination and visual skills.
Playing games such as puzzle games, word search, crosswords, mix and matching, scrabble, etc. are brain stimulating problems that test one’s ingenuity. These games boost brain power which makes them a proper choice for use in educational purposes besides just providing mere entertainment. They educate, improve your intelligence quotient, improve your cognitive ability, improve your concentration, enhance motor skills, improve your problem solving skills, improve productivity and can improve your social skills.
My favourite game at the moment is the game developed by PeopleFun! named “WordScapes”. Wordscapes is a brain challenging fun game which is made with the combination of word search and crosswords. The game starts with easy puzzles and becomes challenging. There are over 800 puzzles in this game which is really amazing. Though, the developers call it modern word game, it’s quite regular word games. I mean, not too much unique like Alpha Swipe or Under a Spell. But, it’s really enjoyable and one of the most addicting word puzzle game. The gameplay is simple. You have to make words using given alphabets. Actually, you have to make lots of words using same letters on one level. To make words, swipe your fingers from one letter to another to make a word. If you create a correct word, it will fill the puzzle boxes automatically, and then you have to make another word. Sounds easy, right? But, not always. Harder levels are really too much challenging. You need to pay concentration to complete levels faster. But if you stuck somewhere, you can use Hints.
In this game, you can stimulate your mind by visiting 10 beautiful locations named Sunrise, Forest, Canyon, Sky, Tropic, Mountain, Winter, Flora, Autumn and, Jungle. The site names make you interested in playing this game. Visually, Wordscapes is 2D. The graphics are good enough as well as colourful. The game is very user-friendly that you can easily handle it. Music and sound are also cool, but you can mute them in the Settings folder.
Games have great educational potential in addition to their entertainment value. Games specifically designed to address a specific problem or teach a specific skill have been very successful, precisely because they are motivating, engaging, interactive, and provide rewards and reinforcement to improve.