Nowadays, as adults we tend to engulfed ourselves with work and family commitments that we almost feel like time is never enough to insert pure fun in the picture. We would prefer to black out in front of the television or computer for some leisure time than get involve a more fun activity like we did as children. Somewhere along childhood and adulthood we have lost the essence of play. But because we’re adults, that doesn’t follow that we have to take everything seriously. We all need to play and being an adult is no exemption.

This is one of the reasons the board game How Game Are You?™ was invented. It’s a fun and also educational way to learn more about ‘Couples and Money’ or ‘Couples and Intimacy’. Get a copy of How Game Are You?™ Couples Intimacy Edition and let the fun begin, but if you need to know more about why we should have fun, read on.

WHY ADULTS PLAY?

So why adults play? Play can function as an essential source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as it is for kids. Being able to play with your romantic partner, friends, co-worker, pets and even your children can ignite your imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities and emotional well-being in a fun way.

THE BENEFITS OF PLAY

Playing can be done on your own or with your pet, but for greater benefits shows when playing involves at least one other person and avoiding electronic gadgets.

• Relieve stress
• Improve brain function
• Stimulate the mind and boost creativity
• Improve relationship and your connection to others
• Keep you feeling young and energetic.

PLAY AND RELATIONSHIP

Incorporating more humor and play into your daily interaction helps improve your love relationship as well as how you connect with co-workers, family members and friends.

• Play helps develop and improve social skills
• It teaches cooperation with others
• Playing can heal emotional wounds.

PLAY AT WORK

A lot of companies have long acknowledged the link between productivity and a fun work environment. They believe that the more play at work develops more productivity, larger rate of job satisfaction, better workplace morale, and lesser employees skipping and leaving work.

The amount of time you spent at work does not define your work success, but rather the quality of the work you deliver. And this is highly determined on your well-being. Taking a time to replenish, taking a pause through play is one of the best things you can offer to your well-being and career. Below are some benefits of adding some play at work:

• keeps you functional when under stress
• refreshes your mind and body
• encourages teamwork
• increases energy and prevents burnout
• triggers creativity and innovation
• helps you see problems in new ways.

Some tips for managers and employers:

• Provide opportunities for social interaction among employees
• Encourage workers to take regular breaks from their desks.

PLAYING WITH YOUR CHILDREN

Play is important for a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical development. It’s the time when your child is learning the most. And at the same time it’s good to your own health. Playing with them brings you closer and strengthen your parent-child bond that will last a lifetime.

So how to play with your children? Here’s some tips how:

• Establish regular play times
• Give your child your undivided attention
• Get down to your child’s level
• Embrace repetition
• Let your children take the lead
• Don’t force play or try to prolong a game.
• Make play age-appropriate and consider safety.

DEVELOP YOUR PLAYFUL SIDE

It’s never too late to develop your fun-loving side. Experiencing more fun and play in a daily basis can improve not just your relationships but as well as your mood and how you look at your daily life. And here’s some few examples on how you can create more opportunities to develop your playful side:

• Host a regular game
• Arrange nights out with work colleagues
• Schedule time in a park
• Play with a pet
• Surround yourself with playful people
• Joke with strangers
• Visit a magic store
• Play with children.

It’s good to note though that there’s truth in what they say that laughter is the best medicine. It makes you feel good and that good feeling when laughing while having fun surely will remain with your even after it subsides.

So the lesson is, all play is virtually good play and especially on topics like ‘Couples and Money’ or ‘Couples Intimacy’ where you learn and have fun. How Game Are You? Couples Intimacy Edition is now available through our website, Amazon (US and AU) and Ebay (AU). You can order your own copy of the game now and be one of the first to receive it. 

Visit HelpGuide.com for a complete copy of this article and experience how play can benefit adults.

We play games for many reasons and playing board games offers many opportunities for us to discover more about ourselves, our friends and how we interact with others. Additionally, board games teach us lessons about the real world. Here’s a list from Geek And Sundry on the life lessons they’ve learned from playing board games.

1. Being behind doesn’t always mean that you’re losing. Anything can happen in a game. You might see the changes coming while other times it’s a total surprise. In many cases, winners are usually determined or points are counted at the end of the game, so you can never truly know where you stand. And someone else’s decision and strategy can drastically change your prospects.
2. Taking a different path sometimes gives you the best results. Take the road less traveled by. Because sometimes, it’s best to think outside of the box, and if anything, it might surprise other players and give you the upper hand.
3. The dice can roll either way. Don’t blame yourself. Most games features random chances as a method of determining outcomes, and this means that no amount of genius strategy can make a difference. Even the best preparations can miss this mark due to this uncertain situations and you just can’t blame yourself for an outcome dictated by fate or by the roll of a die.
4. Overcoming analysis paralysis is challenging, but not impossible. In life as well as with board games, we sometimes can be faced with so many choices that we suddenly freezes up, unable to come up a decision, strategy falls apart and our progress comes to a halt. And getting past this paralysis involves narrowing down your options and especially to be calm in the face of pressure.
5. You don’t always need to think of the perfect solution to a problem. If you somehow find yourself under analysis paralysis, remind yourself that the ‘perfect’ solution may not just be there. Or even if it’s there, you’d be better off settling for the idea that you can actually see rather than spending a lot more time and effort looking for that ‘perfect’ solution.
6. What happens on the tabletop, stays on the tabletop. Some friends can be ruthless in games but try not to let their in-game behaviour influence your out-of-game perception of them. This does not mean that they hate you, they only wanted to him just like you do. It’s just a matter of learning which friends fit in which circumstances and knowing your friends better can help you shape your gaming experience – and life – for yourself.
7. Find the information relevant to the task at hand and weed out unnecessary clutter. Playing board games practices you to find low-stakes way and take out unnecessary stuff that will only way you down. This goes the same with listening to a lecture, you won’t be able to memorize all that information and would highly go for taking notes.
8. Know what you bring to a group and when to let others take the spotlight. This lesson goes for collaborative games as well as group projects, tasks and challenges in real life. If someone from the group has a plan that seems like could work, let them try it and coordinate. Working with the group means knowing when to take charge and when to step back.
9. Being a good loser can help you face the next challenge with expert calm. It’s accepting failure graciously, learning from your mistakes and accepting that you actually did nothing wrong. You can’t just change the past but accepting this failure will help you be unfazed and more ready than ever for the next game as well as challenge in life.

Speaking of games, we have our own ‘How Game Are You? Couples Intimacy Edition’ and we think this is the “BEST ROMANTIC GAME EVER” . Think of this as a real-life conversation starter. The game starts with a Pledge Card to set the scene for a truthful game. Player 1 selects a Level 1 (1 chilli) card with simple ice-breakers to get conversation going, and then you move to more open-ended general questions. The next level (2 chilli cards) is about relationships specifically, romance, gratitude and date nights. Level (3 chilli) is more about physical intimacy questions, but in a tasteful way. You’ll learn a lot about yourself, your partner and your relationship. At the end the winner gets to choose a task for the loser, to be performed over the next 14 days or they have to pamper the other player in whatever ‘reasonable’ way they want. It’s a fun game to play and conversations linger way after playing the game, providing a basis for better understanding and more meaningful connection between couples. There are many romantic game nights to be had with over 150 base cards plus the bonus 4 chilli image cards. How Game Are You? Couples Intimacy Edition is now available through our website, Amazon (US and AU) and Ebay (AU). You can order your own copy of the game now and be one of the first to receive it.

For a complete copy of this, visit Geek And Sundry.