Sometimes it’s fun to chill out and play something mindless. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with capturing NPCs on The Sims for hours at a time. However, sometimes you’re just not in the mood for that and that’s fine too. Sometimes you want a game that you can get really stuck into.

Maybe it involves some pretty deep strategy, maybe a little maths, maybe some time management. Whatever skill it is that’s going to help you conquer it, it’ll involve a little brain work. If you’re after one of those sorts of games, then we’ve got a whole list of them here that you’re likely to enjoy.

Poker

Poker is a popular choice amongst those who want to keep their mental arithmetic skills sharp and it’s simple to find somewhere to play online. This rundown of the best poker sites provides all the information you could need to make an informed decision on where to hone your skills.

Wherever you choose, you’ll be working on skills that will allow you to think clearly and logically under pressure. Depending on the level that you’re at, you’ll be either exercising basic maths skills, or much more complex if you want to get into calculating pot odds. The great thing about this game is that as you advance so does the challenge.

Chess

Chess has been the go-to thinking man’s game for centuries, so long that the FIDE have made more than 1700 grandmasters. Whether you’re hoping to reach these dizzy heights, or just to exercise your logic and strategy skills, this is also an easy game to play online. The big bonus of playing online is that you can choose the level of partner that you’d like to play with, meaning that as your own skills improve, the challenge can become more difficult.

Deathloop

Deathloop made the list of our best video games of 2021, so you know already that it’s great fun, but what about the ‘thinking’ credentials. This game involves time travel and allows you to assume the role of an assassin. Your mission is to eliminate the Visionaries, a rival group.

In order to do this though, you need to use your time wisely, as every night at midnight the clock resets. In order to be successful in your mission, you’ll need to look carefully for clues that can be cryptic. The key to success is to make sure that you can get all the Visionaries in one place so that you can take them all out before the clock strikes twelve.

Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Although the skills you’ll gain from this game are pretty nice, becoming a pilot is one of the most difficult things a human can do, so you’ll need some brain power to be successful. This game is often touted as being the closest simulation that there is to the real experience of being a pilot.

You can play through more than 80 different missions which will take you, virtually, all over the globe. You’ll learn all about how planes fly and the different navigational skills and controls that you’d need for a successful flight.

2048

Mathematicians will love this simple mobile game. You’ll need to use logic as well as maths to beat this tricky app. The game requires you to swipe tiles around the screen with the aim of getting two of the same numbered tiles to touch. When this happens the numbers combine into one tile with a higher number.

The aim is to get a tile with 2048 on it, which might seem simple but can be fiendishly difficult. There are some talented players who’ve managed to get a tile reading even higher than 2048 though, so just because you make it, doesn’t mean the challenge has to stop.

Source: Honk News