Nowadays there are a host of ways you can play your favourite games. Nothing beats being in the company of friends and enjoying a classic gaming experience in person, but in certain circumstances alternative ways of playing may be the superior option. Below we take a look at three popular games and explore in what ways these may end up being best enjoyed in their online forms.
Chess
Chess has a long running history as a game associated with the development of strategic thinking and forward planning since its origins in ancient India, through its heyday in Medieval Europe, and right up to the present. Much of this benefit comes from finding players that are a good match for your ability, and who will push you to grow in skill. This can be difficult to achieve in your day to day life, as you may not know many people who play chess. Furthermore, of those people who know how to play and are open to regular games with you, how many are going to be playing at a similar level? More realistically, you will be better than most and worse than some. While there are benefits to playing with people above and below your skill level, to advance continuously you’ll need to do better than this. It should also be noted that if you only ever play 1 or 2 people, this will limit your growth as you will not be exposed to a wide range of play-styles.
Playing chess online can circumvent these issues. Chess.com is the most popular online community of chess players. This online chess platform attracts players of all levels, right up to former world champion and grandmaster Bobby Fischer. Chess.com utilises the Elo rating system, a method of ascribing a numerical score to a player’s skill level. By using the Elo system, you can be sure you’ll be facing off against people of a similar level.
Blackjack
Blackjack, as well as other card games, enjoy many distinct advantages in their online versions over their physical counterparts. For one, these classic games are best enjoyed with other players and it can be difficult to find people who want to play with you at the same time, and in the same place, in your day-to-day life. Gaming platforms that host these titles use matchmaking features to pair you up with other players also interested in the same rule-variants and game-type as you. This enables you to get on with the business of enjoying the game. The open ended quality of online rooms also means they’re a good way to practise and hone your skills at a particular game variant ahead of an upcoming match or tournament.
Word Games
This type of game, made popular by the classic Hasbro board game Scrabble, offers an enjoyable, relaxed and therapeutic gaming experience. Players who enjoy word games find great satisfaction in figuring out high scoring combinations, and in coming up with creative word choices. Scrabble, and similar word games, face a similar issue to the above titles insofar as in-person gaming requires the presence of an able and willing competitor.
Many people form connections over games like scrabble, and enjoy hanging out with specific friends while playing. Online word games, like the immensely popular Scrabble Go, offer many distinct advantages over in-person play. For example, many of these types of word games are played on Facebook’s in-house gaming platform. This lets Facebook’s billions of users play with one another, wherever they are in the world. Furthermore, Words with Friends is not time-bound in the same way an in-person game necessarily is. This makes it a great choice for people who have busy lives. Weeks or months can pass between players taking turns in a game of Words with Friends, letting the game become a means by which two people can come together and play whenever each has the time or space to do so.
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