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Brain training, puzzle, word and cognitive games — with any cognitive-benefit claim tied to a linked study and its limitations.
The largest randomised trial of cognitive training in older adults ran for a decade. Speed and reasoning training held up at ten years; memory training did not. And at two years, none of it transferred to everyday functioning.
Some studies show real brain and skill changes from playing, others find no link to wellbeing either way. Here is what four key studies found and where each one stops.
The best brain training games are the ones you will keep playing, because the research shows you improve at what you practise but rarely at anything else. Here is how to pick one without paying for a promise.
Do brain training games work? Players get better at the games themselves, but a major review found little evidence of real-world benefit, and one trial shows a narrow exception.
Professor Layton and the New World of Steam finally has a date. Level-5's puzzle adventure arrives 10 December 2026 on PS5, Switch, Switch 2 and PC, with the series' biggest puzzle set.
Patch 1.7.3 for the acclaimed roguelike puzzle Blue Prince landed on Steam on 16 September 2026, as creator Tonda Ros steers the shape-shifting mansion toward one last update.
LinkedIn's Games tab now runs eight daily puzzles, from Queens and Tango to the new word hunt Wend, and more than 3.5 million people were playing at least one a day by May 2026.
The New York Times has added bonus puzzles, a weekly Wednesday drop of five to six twists on Wordle, Connections and more, made in-house and aimed at subscribers.