I just wanted to remind you today that games can be a good educational tool. I have a board game called NumberQuest that I played with my kids. Each child plays at whatever mathematical level they are at individually. I like math, so this one is a great one for me.

Microsoft Casual Games has a couple of numbers games that can be good to help you or your child. One is Sudoku. If you are not familiar with Sudoku, it uses the numbers 1-9 and they are used once in each row, column, and grid. It is a very good game which promotes thinking through these kinds of concepts.

Another math game I found recently, but have played without knowing its name, is Kakuro. This one I’ve played in paper and pencil format but recently found there is a free game app. I wish it were a Microsoft Casual Game because they have daily challenges, so there is always a new game but it is still a good game. This one is like a crossword puzzle where the digits in each square across add up to the total specified and a number can only be used once in any calculation. It’s some good thinking practice. It takes a bit to get started but I found that if I use the pencil feature and place possibles in each square, I can find the right answer in a few tries.

This week I also found some good games on Gamehouse.com which may be found elsewhere and maybe even for free but I haven’t looked. One is Sumico where you are given a target number and you click adjacent tiles to sum up to the target given. It is really good and makes you think a bit. It includes negative numbers as well.

Another game I played on Gamehouse is Chillout 2048 where you slide like numbers together until you reach the sum of 2048. There is some strategy necessary and lots of practice on the doubling of numbers.

Well, this is running a bit long, so I’ll just remind you that there are also a lot of word games available as well. Microsoft casual games has a couple I like that are quick to play: Wordament and SnapAttack. In Wordament it is like the Boggle game where you are given grid with letters and you create words by clicking on adjacent letters. SnapAttack you are given a rack of letters and a grid with a several words on it and you try to use all of your letters intersecting one of the words on the board.

There are some apps on my phone that I enjoy that provide word building: Word Bird, Word Cookies, and Word Monsters are a couple I can think of right now.

I enjoy games from Gamehouse.com and have purchased some from them without incident. They allow you to play games for an hour to see if you like it enough to purchase it. They also have a monthly subscription where you can play all of their games.

It is good to exercise the brain. I hope this will serve to remind you that there can be value in playing games.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº