The Best Board Games to Develop Valuable Life Skills
Board games are a lot of fun to play, but some of the more challenging and challenging games can really help you learn a thing or two. Whether you’re trying to improve your math skills or become a stronger negotiator, here are a few skills you can develop (and games to help you develop them).
Master the basics of arithmetic on the fly
Arithmetic is a valuable skill no matter what you do for a living, and the faster you can do it in your head , the better. The ability to quickly add, subtract, and divide helps you manage your finances, add prices in the store, and solve basic day-to-day problems. Most card and board games involve some form of math, but some games require you to do lightning-fast calculations to keep you thinking on your feet.
Smash Up is a card game in which you select two decks of 20 cards from different factions (such as vampires, wizards, and zombies) and then shuffle them together into a deck of 40 cards (such as zombies / wizards). Your goal is to play your cards that are assigned points on “base cards”, which are usually silly places like a castle or a haunted mansion. The base cards are assigned the maximum number of points, and as soon as the total value of all cards played in that location reaches the maximum, the player with the most points captures the base. As the game progresses, you constantly do calculations in your head to determine how many points you and your opponents have at the base, and as the game progresses it gets more and more difficult because there are always multiple bases in the game. It’s continuous addition, subtraction and division at every step. Bad math in your head can cost you games, but once you get the hang of it, you calculate and plan your moves ahead of time like a mathematician.
The game is similar to collectible card games like Magic the Gathering, where the emphasis is on good mental arithmetic. However, Smash Up has a distinct advantage because everything you need to play is in one box, just like in a board game. Instead of buying an endless number of new cards as they are released, you have everything you need in one box. You also don’t have to worry about getting bored, because the number of possible combinations of decks and matches is astronomically large. It takes two to four people to play, and a full game can take up to an hour.
Learn to collaborate with others
Learning to communicate with others and recognize people’s strengths will only benefit you. In cooperative board games, all players are on the same side and working towards the same goal. Most of the time, if you can’t find a way to work together, everyone loses, so collaboration is as necessary as the game board itself. Playing these games basically forces you to think like a team player (as opposed to many games that are purely competitive).
Escape puts you and the other players in a cursed temple that falls apart and you must find a way out. The game is played in real time, with a countdown timer, and everyone frantically rolls their dice to navigate the temple. Escape gives you a number of opportunities to help your teammates, but every step you take comes with risks. The more time you spend helping someone else, the less time you have to run away from yourself. However, everyone must get out together, otherwise everyone will lose. Because of this, communication is extremely important. Many groups will even develop shorthand after a few games to make the whole process easier. It takes two to five players to escape, but the game always takes only 30 minutes due to the timer.
Hanabi is a cooperative card game in which you and your teammates set off the ultimate fireworks display. But here’s the catch: you can’t see what cards you have in hand, but everyone else can. You keep your cards in the opposite direction and can only play based on the information your teammates give you. Instead of your turn of thinking what to play next, this is a discussion of how to make the game the best for everyone. As with a team at work, giving the wrong information hurts everyone involved. As you play, you begin to understand the importance of being direct and as clear as possible. You’re not in a time crunch like you are with Escape, but again, poor communication means everyone walks away as a loser.
Cultivate a sixth sense of reading people
Knowing how to identify people’s body language and listen to their voices can help you better judge people in real life. In some games, this is the key to the whole experience, and they can be very interesting. Learning to read people better will mean that you will better understand when someone is lying , you can feel if someone is interested in talking to you or not, and you can see the intentions of people. a little clearer.
In One Night Ultimate Werewolf, reading people is central to the gameplay. Everyone is randomly assigned a card to determine who they are in the game. Nobody else knows who you are, unless you choose to reveal it. At least one person is a werewolf, and it is up to the other players to figure out who it is. Things get pretty complicated, however, because everyone who is not a werewolf has a job to do, and their job can make it easier or more difficult to define who a werewolf is. Some players have a vested interest in hiding who the werewolf is, while others want to help everyone understand them. However, no matter what your role is, you are constantly trying to guess who is who by asking questions, listening to how people say (or not speaking), and observing how they act. It requires at least four people to play, but is much more fun with six to ten people, and each play only takes about 10 minutes. (This means you can play over and over and be able to try out all the different roles.)
Likewise, the Resistance assigns each a secret identity, but these are only two sides. You are either a member of a corrupt government or a member of the resistance. Both sides try to complete missions and sabotage the other team, but the problem is that no one knows who is on whose side. You are trying to partner with players who might want to kill you, so you need to watch and listen carefully to make the right judgments. One Night Ultimate Werewolf and Resistance are simple enough to play at parties, but they require you to pay attention to every word and action of other players. For more complex challenges, the Battlestar Galactica board game works with the same concepts.
Learn to conduct diplomatic negotiations
Disagreements, whether personal or professional, are usually best resolved through diplomatic means, where both parties get something and in turn give up. Being able to recognize these opportunities in real life will help you avoid many unnecessary conflicts. Good negotiation skills can help you find a better job, get promoted, make a sale, and even bargain in the market for the best price. Many board games make great use of these skills because you can’t win if you don’t use them.
The settlers of Katana have become popular worldwide due to their simple system of rules and the fact that each game is unique. You pave roads, build cities and collect resources to earn points and make your empire the best. However, you are sharing land with other players, so you will have to trade resources and make deals in order to expand your settlements. If you refuse to be diplomatic, it is unlikely that you will be able to win. At the same time, as you play, you realize that good negotiation skills will help you to make better deals for yourself and convince other players that they are making the right decision to help you. You can play with three or four players and the game takes about an hour.
If you want something a little more intense, A Game of Thrones is a board game that pits three to six players against each other in a popular fantasy world. This is similar to the classic board game Risk, in which you move armies around the world, but there is no way to conquer the whole world alone. You must engage in diplomacy and negotiation in order to find allies, knowing full well that they can attack you at any time. This sense of danger makes your political tactics far more important than the strength of your army. In Game of Thrones, you either win or die, and it all depends on how good you are at making a deal. This game requires three to six players, but the disadvantage is that the game can take a very long time (several hours). If you’re looking for a good two-player game with the same type of skill development, Twilight Struggle is playing out a Cold War in which one player is the Soviets and the other is the Americans.
Promote better time management and prioritization
Time management is something a lot of people struggle with. You have a limited amount of time to do things every day, so it’s important to make the most of that time. Better time management helps you plan ahead and account for every action . You will learn to stop wasting time and start identifying the most effective ways to get things done. Good time management can turn a seemingly stressful work day into a well-done workflow.
In some board games, there is no time to procrastinate or waste time because that can mean the difference between winning and losing. In Arkham Horror and Eldritch Horror games, you and your playmates must work together to stop the horrific monsters from HP Lovecraft’s stories from destroying the world. However, you have so much time, because with every turn, things get worse and worse. Eventually, time is running out and players are almost certainly doomed to death if they don’t use their time wisely.
Obviously you probably aren’t fighting monsters or saving the world at work, but the same strategies apply. You have a deadline and need to figure out the most efficient way to meet it. Each step you take has its own benefits and costs, so the decision to take on one task means the other will remain the same. As in real life, you must prioritize how you waste the precious time you have to be effective. Escape is another good example of a game that uses time management as a game mechanic but is played in real time. For everyone to win, you must prioritize quickly.
Acquire Leadership Skills for Your Personal and Professional Life
Leadership roles in the workplace may not be what interests you, but good leadership skills are still important to everyone. They help you take responsibility for your life, for your own tasks, and enable you to be competent when you need it. Leadership skills help you identify tasks that you can handle on your own so you can delegate the rest to others. However, developing leadership skills involves much more than just following orders. You must learn to see the usefulness of everyone on your team, know when to deal with problems or back down, and understand how the roles of others are interrelated. Basically, you are the glue that keeps things from falling apart.
Space Cadets puts each player in different roles on a Star Trek-like spaceship. However, one person takes on the role of captain and must make decisions that can ultimately decide whether everyone wins or loses. This game is great for teaching leadership because it avoids the common problem in cooperative games known as the “defender.” This is when one player knows more about the game, so in the end he tries to do everything and tells everyone what to do on his turn. It might make fun cooperative play a drag, but Space Cadets makes it so that each role can only do certain things, and no one can do everything. Without teamwork and a strong leader, your space exploits won’t take you very far.
However, if you are not the captain, you still have a lot to learn from the game. As a subordinate, you must realize what you are capable of and convey this information to the captain. You also have to learn to speak, and when only to follow orders. You can learn a lot about leadership simply by working with a leader, because you get a feel for what it is like on the other side and you can see where they go wrong and learn from it.
You can develop even more skills by playing board games, which will make playing together with friends even better. You can keep your games feeling fresh by playing with new people and trying out different rule variations. Obviously, not all great board games can be represented here, so if you have any suggestions for a great board game that teaches valuable skills, feel free to let us know below!