Brain Games & Riddles To Play In The Car

Written by Carly Hallman

Car trips can seem awfully long and boring if there’s nothing to do, and not all cars have room for board games or movie players. However, did you know that there’s a special kind of game that can be played anywhere? All you need is the power of your own brain and a little bit of imagination. This kind of game will make you smarter, but it can also make you laugh, too!

Brain Games

Brain games are special kinds of games that exercise your mind while you play. In fact, you’ve probably already played brain games without realizing it. One of the most popular brain games is called a matching game. This is when a deck of cards containing pairs of images or shapes are spread out face down in front of the player, so only the backs of the cards are visible. The object of the game is to flip over two cards at a time and try to find the matching images. There’s a catch, though! If the two cards that were flipped over don’t match, they have to be put face down again, and it’s up to the player to remember what images were on them.

There are other brain games that can be played without any cards at all, making them perfect for car trips. Another memory game is a game where one player sets a certain rhythm, either by clapping, or by saying an alphabet word, and then the other player has to remember the first thing and add to it. For example, Player A might say, “Apple.” Player B would then say, “Apple, banana.” When the play goes back to Player A, they have to remember the first two words of the chain and then add on another word, like “coconut.” You can make a memory game be about whatever you like. The main challenge is to try and remember everything correctly. These aren’t the only kind of brain games out there, either. Many popular board games are actually brain games because players have to use their memory or problem-solving skills to win.

Brain-Teasers and Riddles

While brain games are designed to help train your brain to recognize and track tricky patterns, brain-teasers and riddles are meant to help you think critically. The great mathematician Archimedes used brain-teasers to help his students think better. Some brain-teasers are still based on math and are solved like a math puzzle, but brain-teasers can also be funny jokes. You can play brain-teasers with your siblings or your parents to help make a dull car ride more interesting. You can come up with your own brain-teasers, or you can find some online.

Riddles are a special kind of brain-teaser that have a double meaning. For example, a riddle might ask, “What has one eye but cannot see?” The answer, “a needle,” is a play on the fact that the thread hole in a needle is called an “eye.” Riddles have been popular throughout human history. One of the most famous riddles, “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” shows up in an ancient Greek legend. Riddles popped up throughout the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages, and they are still enjoyed today.

Another fun version of a brain-teaser is called a code. There are many different kinds of codes, and figuring them out is like decoding a secret message. The answer may not be obvious right away, but just like with brain games and brain-teasers, a code can be solved with a little careful thinking. Some codes use one letter of the alphabet to stand for another one, and these are called substitution codes. Pictographic codes use pictures to represent letters. You can even make up your own code by assigning a certain picture or drawing to each letter of the alphabet. No matter which kind of brain-teaser or riddle you choose, they’re bound to make any car trip into a fun one!