Some people will tell you that playing Scrabble is good for you because it forces you to calmly focus your attention on the board. However, if you are a competitive person, the word “calm” may not even be in your vocabulary. Either way, here are 3 reasons why playing Scrabble is good for you, whether you’re a thinker or a screamer.
Improve your vocabulary: Obviously, if you play Scrabble regularly you will improve your vocabulary. With over 180,000 words in the official Scrabble dictionary, you are sure to learn a new definition or two. Assuming, of course, that you also look at the definition and not just the spelling.
Learn to think strategically: Scrabble is a game of strategy. Sure, that blank tile can be reproduced anytime you want, and it makes it a bit easier to clean your tray. But if you play it at the right time, you will accumulate an additional 30 points. You also learn little tricks like when not to play a word and how to prevent your opponent from building on your words. In Scrabble, it’s not just about how you place the tiles, it’s also about how you play them.
Improve Cognitive Function: Of course, playing Scrabble is good for you. Makes you smarter, right? Somehow it does. If you couldn’t solve quadratic equations before you started playing, you still won’t be able to, even with years of gaming under your belt.
However, a recent study shows that regular play improves some cognitive skills. For example, the human brain finds it much easier to read and understand words that are spelled horizontally, but it is not as fast in drawing with vertical spelling. Studies have shown that the ability to read and understand vertical spelling is greatly improved in people who play Scrabble regularly.
The human brain also quickly recognizes and understands tangible words like ‘tree’ or ‘house’ or ‘child’, but when it comes to abstract concepts like ‘happiness’ or ‘disgusting’, our brain takes a fraction of a second longer to recognize and interpret the words. That ability has also vastly improved among regular players.
So the idea that if you play Scrabble for the rest of your life you will always be smart as a tactic has little merit, as you are exercising your brain muscle. You keep your brain flexible. However, if you are not Einstein now, you will not be in the future, even if you play for 100 years.
However, you will have a lot of fun because, unlike the crosswords you’ve been doing to exercise your mind, you will need at least one opponent to play Scrabble. That means you will socialize with other people. And any expert will tell you that socializing is always a good thing.
Smiling, relaxing, and laughing help reduce stress levels, lower blood pressure, and ease depression. You will sleep better at night, your digestion will improve, and you will have a better outlook on life. So set up that Scrabble board, get some friends together, and let’s start spelling.
