A new year starts, your New Game+ begins!

A new year starts and a new journey begins.

Roleplaying gamers would probably call this their “New Game+”! We hope you enjoyed your holidays and celebrations, and now it’s time to start the year strong with a positive mindset!

Speaking of mind-setting and motivation, we highly encourage you to give our recent podcast a listen. We interview the creator of KenKen Puzzles and how they have grown their business over the last decade, including how they pitched and landed in the New York Times.

Listen to that here.

And now, onto today’s issue!

Five game insights we think will pique your interest!

Oh Scrabble, how we love playing you! This classic board game that challenges the lexical abilities of all ages has been a mainstay bonding activity for many groups of people. From family to coworker gatherings, Scrabble always seems to have a place in any event. But aside from being fun and learning new words, did you know that playing Scrabble also improves strategic thinking?

If you like having game nights, then there’s another thing that’s also as important as the choice of entertainment—the food. When you’re playing a fun game with the perfect company while taking bites of healthy snacks, the game night just becomes a lot more memorable!

Ever heard of Rummikub? It’s an old game that uses tiles with numbers on them. It’s similar to Mahjong but has a different ruleset. While not many modern game players are familiar with it, it’s definitely a fun, classic game that is best played with two to four players. Learning the rules of Rummikub isn’t difficult, so we highly recommend you try out this game that dates back to the 1940’s!

Have you ever wondered how learning Math in primary school could go beyond just counting apples or using popsicle sticks? There was research in 2020 detailing how primary school teachers use games for Math class to improve both the teaching and learning experience for everyone involved. Games like Greedy Pig and Dice Cricket were a hit among the kids!

As you move forward into the new year, remember that new opportunities also present themselves in this new chapter in your life and career. Just like when you find yourself in front of a new puzzle and you know you can beat it, look for every opening you can try out and see what happens. Who knows? Most of the time, success is found where you least expect it. For example, did you know that the game Pictionary was made by a waiter?

Truly, we never know what the hard game of life has in store for us, especially with this new year. But the most important thing is to keep trying to succeed! As Jane McGonigal, an American game designer and researcher, would say:

“Gamers always believe that an epic win is possible and that it’s always worth trying and trying now.”

We hope you had a great New Year celebration, and we hope that you continue your successes this year as well!

If you want to learn more about what we’re up to at Hey, Good Game, you can find out more about us here. 

That’s all for this week. See you next Friday!

-The Hey, Good Game Team