We are sometimes so caught up in the here and now of things, that we forget that we need to invest in the well-being of our mind and body if we want to enjoy quality of life in our golden years. Experts have shown that people who take part in activities that cause the brain to the work in a certain way, will retain their memories for longer and keep their minds agile. One way to exercise your mind is to play board games.

When we play board games we are forced to think about strategies and moves in order to stay ahead of the game. Board games such as backgammon are a good blend of skill and luck and allow us to consider several different moves before making the right one. In backgammon, we need to not only think what moves we need to make, we also need to consider what the other side might or might not do. We thus need to keep our minds lithe and alert at all times during the game.

Not all board games contribute to the health of our minds. There are only a handful of quality board games that remain classics and firm favorites, no matter how old they are. Examples of games such as these include Monopoly, chess, checkers and – of course – backgammon. The bottom line is that if we want to continue to have excellent memories even in later years, we need to ‘work out’. Playing good quality board games is an excellent way to do just that.