For people used to Flash widgets and the many types of gaming consoles available today, a life without a chance to play games (individually or against other players) would seem very dull indeed. Games are so integral to human society that people cannot imagine a time when there were no board games or amusing puzzles to solve. And people’s intuitive opinion is probably right. The oldest board games originated long before when people had just learned to read and write – which probably accounts for the fact that kids today would rather play an RPG than do their homework. Senet was a board game popular with Egyptian Pharaohs almost 5000 years back. Ancient Persians, Chinese, Mayans, Ethiopians, and Indians were fond of games – anything to break the tedium.
The love for games has not diminished over the last millennia. Indeed, as life becomes busier and stress becomes an almost constant factor, the need for games and the almost ritualistic fervor of playing these games only increases. Today, the simple wooden boards have given way to sophisticated software based games. You may not play Chess on a wooden board anymore, but there are plenty of opportunities for you to play it online, against someone sitting on the other side of the world. You can solve jigsaw puzzles without ever misplacing or losing any of the pieces, thanks to computer games and gaming.
Computer games caught on fairly recently in the history of games and gaming, but now the sales of gaming CDs outnumber conventional games equipment such as boards, pieces, and decks. Tic tac toe was first adapted for computers as far back as 1952, but then only the dozen odd people working at the EDSAC lab in University of Cambridge had access to the game. Pacman seems ancient when compared to the MMORPGs out there, but you need to remind yourself that very few people had access to computers or gaming arcades as recently as 30 years back.
Online games offer many advantages over the conventional games and puzzles. They can be accessed free of cost in many cases. A single website dedicated to games and gaming presents visitors a chance to try their hand at dozens, and even hundreds of games. These games are innovative and well designed, so you can play games featuring your favorite car, Disney character, or sports personality. Your choices are not limited to a rehash of old board games and puzzles – you can virtually drive a car, take part in target shooting, solve mysteries, search for treasure, command ships, create battle strategies, or try to survive on an island after a shipwreck. Not all games are this grand in scale – if you like something simpler, try the delightful games where you get to help Santa light a Christmas tree or choose the perfect dress for a bank manager, salesgirl, or even a movie star.
Play them when feeling stressed over deadlines, assignments, homework, or dentist appointments. As far as stress busting goes, nothing works better than games and gaming.
