Pandemic Boosts Gaming

The pandemic has done much to change our lives, and one positive change is our desire to seek out positive interactions with one another. More people are playing board games, cards, and puzzle games together – either staying in and playing at home or playing in an online environment. These online competitive games have given many a focused outlet in a time when other activities were limited.

The wildly popular Wordle (https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/) allows you to solve a word puzzle and share the results via text or social media without revealing the answer. Who can guess the word in fewer tries? Board Game Arena (https://en.boardgamearena.com/gamelist), based in Paris, has hundreds of games people can play against each other remotely. Options include classic, well-loved games like chess, checkers, clue, backgammon, hearts, Chinese checkers, cribbage, and spades. For the more adventurous, there are also some less-known games like Patchwork, Viticulture, Race for the Galaxy, and Stone Age.

Avid card players will enjoy Trickster Cards (https://www.trickstercards.com/home/bridge/) on which players can compete online in spades, euchre, pitch, hearts, whist, and pinochle. Trickster Cards also lets online players see each other as they play, adding that “real feel” to the game. Of course, you can always invite your card-playing club to log into the same Zoom session for a virtual face-to-face game!

Chess.com offers players of all skills levels a fun online gaming environment through which to enjoy the game and hone their talents. Individuals can compete against one another or a computer-generated component, and they have the option to solve chess-based puzzles in which they try to make the best move in difficult scenarios.

If you love challenging yourself with solitaire, check out solitaire.com, which has over 500 different games, including classic Klondike, Spider, and Pyramid along with many solitaire options you’ve likely not tried yet. Another great individual option is puzzles. Master puzzlers can assemble jigsaw puzzles online at sites like Jigsaw Explorer. A warning for all – these games can be fun but addicting!