The universal appeal of online games is astounding. Research shows that one in four internet users visit online game websites, bringing the annual total to more than 217 million online game players worldwide. Online game communities are populated by people from both sexes and all age groups. Everywhere, people are spending time playing strategy, board and trivia games. But is all this game play healthy? Yes – probably in more ways than you think.

Boost Memory and Develop Cognitive Skills

Problem-solving has long been known to improve brain function, but finding the right games or a partner to play with has sometimes made it difficult to exercise these skills on a regular basis. Today young and old alike are finding fun challenges and cognitive boosters in online games targeting memory and responsiveness. Puzzle games such as Mahjong or Sudoku, trivia games like Slingo MatchUms and strategy games like Quiximity are easy to learn and start playing, yet offer an ongoing challenge for players.

Adults tend to use certain parts of their brains often, while other parts are less active. By playing games that focus on reasoning, logic, speed and memory, you can “work out” those lesser used parts of the brain. Studies have shown that memory, puzzle, trivia and logic games can help stave off dementia and the forgetfulness that sometimes comes with old age. Using all areas of the brain can have big benefits for you now and as you grow older.

For children, these same challenges can enhance the cognitive development they are undergoing as they grow. Where speed and memory might not be as much of a challenge to a 13-year-old, reasoning and logic probably are. Games have always been a part of the childhood growth cycle. Alternating physical play with today’s plethora of online games offers a healthy balance and gives the brain the workout it needs.

Foster Social Interaction

Mental challenges, cooperative play and rich story lines draw game players in, but part of what makes online games highly popular is the social interaction. Through online interactions, players build both casual and meaningful relationships.

Through time spent in multiplayer games and online game communities, players have the opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and meet new people. Chatting with partners or competitors during play adds a higher level of enjoyment to the game and creates a sense of camaraderie. Players often find that partnering up with someone to overcome a difficult challenge through personal experience and know-how can be as satisfying online as it is in the real world.

Staying Connected

Multiplayer online games and online game communities offer opportunities to promote social interaction within existing relationships as well. When friends and family members are miles apart, staying in contact can be challenging at best. But, today grandpa and grandson can go head to head each night battling it out over chess, backgammon and 8-ball, while old college buddies are playing checkers, bingo and sub-hunt – all the while talking about the day and staying involved in each other’s lives.

Illness and Recovery

There is also the potential for online games to help families deal with chronic illness and other health issues. In 2006, the not-for-profit Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation released several online games designed to help children understand and cope with serious illness. Games can be easier to understand than books and pamphlets, especially when dealing with health. From battling cancer cells to understanding bone morrow, from pain management to managing dyslexia, free online games allow families to use imagination and creativity, while opening the door to understanding and recovery.

About Slingo.com

Slingo.com is a leading online destination for people who enjoy playing games, winning prizes and having fun. Slingo offers free, original online games, downloadable games, and contests with cash prizes, as well as a social-networking community for game players. For more information, please visit http://www.slingo.com.

Think backgammon is an easy game? Think again. Whether you’re new or play backgammon for years, if you wish to win the game, you’ll definitely need some – if not a lot - skill and strategy, and that means – practice, practice, practice.

This article will guide you on your way to become a great backgammon player, who knows not only how to play backgammon, but also how to win it.

First thing is strategy. Playing backgammon is not just moving checkers into your home board and then bearing them off. You have to trick your opponent, meaning – make him (or her) think he knows who you are when he actually doesn’t. How can you do that? There are lots of way to deceive your opponent, one of them, for example, is to lose one or more of your checkers during the first moves of the game. This will make the impression that you’re not such a good player. Then, of course, in the following moves you’ll make your surprise…

Another backgammon strategy is the blocking technique. This technique, just as its name implies, focuses on blocking the opponent’s checkers in your own home board. This way he’ll have some hard time trying to get them out of your area. A small tip: points 4 and 7 are ideal for blocking the other player. No matter what you choose to do, just remember to visualize your moves before you actually make them and hit as many checkers as you can.

Of course you won’t be the master of backgammon strategies overnight. As we had already mentioned before – it is all about practice. You should play again and again and then some more. This is why we recommend on playing backgammon online. Online backgammon allows you to practice and sharpen your gaming skills while playing against others from all around the world.

Backgammon, especially its online version, is one of the most popular board games in the world. However, before it became a part of the life of almost every online gamer from around the world, the board game was allowed to be played only by Egyptian kings and was chased by the Church. Here we will review the history of backgammon starting from 3000 B.C. until our computerized days.

Backgammon has been recognized as the most ancient board game in history. It is believed that an early version of the game, called Wee Battle, used to be played in Mesopotamia in 3000 B.C. A similar version of the game, called Senat, was commonly played in Ancient Egypt.

Senat rules are very similar to contemporary backgammon rules. However, the massive popularity the ancient board game enjoys in our days is far from resembling to the popularity of Senat; back then, only royalty and the upper classes were allowed to take part in Senat.

For a while, an early version of the backgammon game was even banned. When the game had spreader to Europe, the Christian priests declared a war on the game, which was sought as a representative of devil worship. Nevertheless, the game was still played far from the public eye, with or without a board.

Since the beginning of the 17th century, the game is known around the English speaking world as “backgammon”. The origin of the game name is arguable: according to one version, it had derived from the Saxon phrase “bacgamen”, which means back-game; according to a different version, it is the Welsh term for little battle which provides the game its name.

Since the famous English game rules authority Edmund Hoyle had dedicated a book to backgammon rules, the game had enjoyed world recognition. However, the internet version of backgammon is responsible for the massive boost in the popularity of the ancient game.

Ever since the early days of internet gaming, backgammon has been attracting huge attention from enthusiastic players from different parts of the world. There are dozens of downloadable backgammon softwares, such as motif backgammon for example, which feature multiplayer backgammon games and tournaments.

Online backgammon is currently the last level in the development of the game that has been known to men for about 5000 years. It will not be hasty to assume that a game that had survived so much in such a long time and only grew bigger - is here to stay.