Word Games and the Brain

Most of us have heard it at some point: “Do the crossword – it keeps your brain young.” It’s the kind of advice that gets passed around at family gatherings and printed on puzzle book covers. But is it actually true? And if word games are good for us, what exactly are they doing?

The honest answer is more interesting than the slogan. Here’s what happens in your head when you play, what the research really shows, and how to get the most out of the time you spend on puzzles.

What your brain is doing when you play

A word game looks simple from the outside, but it asks your brain to do several quite different jobs at once.

Finding words in your memory. When you hunt for words in a set of letters, you’re searching the huge store of words you know and pulling out the ones that fit. Psychologists call this verbal fluency, and it’s one of the things doctors test when they check how someone’s memory is working. Games like Word Hive and the Anagram Challenge are almost pure practice at it.

Holding things in mind. Keeping track of which letters you’ve used, which ones are left, and what you were trying a moment ago uses your working memory – the mental notepad you use for everything from mental arithmetic to following directions.

Thinking quickly. Timed games such as Word Grid and Word Scramble add pressure, which works your processing speed – how fast you can take in information and respond.

Reasoning and deduction. A cryptogram in Cipher Desk or a Wordle-style puzzle is really a logic problem. You form a guess, test it against the evidence, and change your mind when it doesn’t fit.

Thinking flexibly. Puzzles like Connected Words set traps on purpose: a word that seems to belong in one group but actually belongs in another. Letting go of your first idea and looking at something a different way is a skill in its own right.

Planning ahead. In a Word Ladder, the obvious move isn’t always the right one. Sometimes you have to step sideways to get closer to the goal, which means thinking a few moves ahead.

What the research says

Scientists have studied puzzles and the brain for decades. The findings are encouraging, but they come with some important “buts”, so it’s worth looking at them properly.

Puzzle fans tend to have sharper minds

In 2019, researchers from the University of Exeter and King’s College London published one of the largest studies of its kind. They looked at more than 19,000 healthy adults aged 50 to 93 taking part in the online PROTECT study. The more often people said they did word puzzles, the better they tended to score on tests of attention, reasoning and memory. On one reasoning test, the researchers estimated the difference was equivalent to around ten years of age.

That sounds remarkable, but there’s a catch. This kind of study shows a link, not that puzzles cause the difference. It could simply be that people with sharp minds enjoy puzzles more.

Mentally active people may have a lower risk of dementia

A well-known study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 followed older adults in the Bronx, New York, for several years. People who took part more often in mentally stimulating leisure activities – such as reading, board games and playing a musical instrument – had a lower risk of developing dementia. The link held up even after the researchers allowed for people’s starting level of memory and thinking.

Again, this was an observational study, so it can’t prove that the activities themselves were protective. But it’s one of many that point in the same direction.

Crosswords beat computer brain games in one trial

Some of the most interesting evidence comes from a 2022 study by researchers at Columbia and Duke universities, published in NEJM Evidence. They took 107 people aged 55 to 95 who already had mild memory problems, and randomly split them into two groups. One group did crossword puzzles online, and the other played computerised “brain training” games, for about 30 minutes, four times a week.

After 78 weeks, the crossword group had done better on memory and thinking tests, and showed less shrinkage in parts of the brain linked to memory. Because people were randomly assigned to each group, this is stronger evidence than the studies above. It was still a fairly small study, though, and it involved people who already had memory problems, so we can’t assume the same would happen for everyone.

But you mainly get better at what you practise

In 2016, a team of psychologists reviewed the evidence behind commercial “brain training” in a major report called “Do ‘Brain-Training’ Programs Work?”. Their conclusion was sobering. There was lots of evidence that training makes people better at the tasks they practise, less evidence that it helps with similar tasks, and little evidence that it improves everyday thinking.

In plain English: playing lots of anagram games will definitely make you better at anagrams. It won’t necessarily help you remember where you left your keys.

So – are word games good for your brain?

Putting it all together, here’s a fair summary:

People who regularly do word puzzles tend to have better memory and thinking skills.
Staying mentally active throughout life is linked to a lower risk of dementia.
There’s some trial evidence that crosswords may help people with mild memory problems more than computer “brain games” do.
But no puzzle is a magic shield against ageing or dementia, and the strongest benefits are for the skills you actually practise.

Word games are best thought of as one healthy habit among several. Physical activity, good sleep, staying socially connected and looking after your heart all matter for brain health too – and they’re not optional extras.

And there’s one benefit nobody argues about: puzzles are enjoyable. A satisfying challenge, a little “aha!” moment and a few minutes of focus are good for your mood, whatever else they do.

How to get the most out of word games

If the research tells us anything, it’s that how you play matters. A few ideas:

Mix it up. Since you mostly improve at what you practise, variety is your friend. Try a speed game one day, a logic puzzle the next, and a crossword at the weekend. Each one works your brain in a slightly different way.

Keep it challenging. Once a game feels easy, step it up. Move from a Mini crossword to a Standard one, try Cipher Desk’s Hard puzzles, or set the computer to Expert in Word Tiles. The benefit seems to come from effort, not from going through the motions.

Learn something new. When a game shows you a word you didn’t know, look it up. Building your vocabulary gives you more to work with next time, in puzzles and in conversation.

Try before you peek. Hints and solution buttons are useful, but the hard thinking happens while you’re stuck. Give yourself a few minutes before reaching for help.

Make it social. Do a crossword with a partner, compare scores with a friend, or share your results. Social contact is good for the brain in its own right, so combining it with puzzles is a double win.

Make it a habit. The people in the studies above who seemed to benefit did puzzles regularly, not occasionally. A few minutes most days is a great place to start.

A quick note

This article is for general interest and isn’t medical advice. If you’re worried about your memory, or someone else’s, the best first step is to talk to your GP or doctor.

Over to you

All the games on Wordletz are free to play, with no sign-up. Why not try something new today? If you usually play quick games, give the Crossword a go. If you love crosswords, try the fast-paced Word Grid. Your brain might thank you – and you’ll almost certainly enjoy it.