When it comes to succeeding in business, there’s no shortage of suggestions, courses, and services available. Each is designed to offer some industry insight and help launch your brand into the next market. But knowing which advice applies to your industry can be difficult.
On top of that, some business skills seem abstract and hard to nail down. How can someone predict whether a partnership will pan out well? And what about knowing how to phrase a press release perfectly for its audience? There are tons of moving pieces, and many seem to involve at least a bit of intuition and instinct.
If you’ve got all the right pieces to help your business succeed but you’re a bit worried about your own ability to navigate tough decisions, then try to work on developing your analytical skills. The more you trust your own mind to analyze, calculate, and break down complex situations, the more prepared you’ll be for the next unexpected situation.
Best of all, you can develop your analytical thinking with the help of accessible games. Get started with one of the titles suggested below.
Roulette
If you’ve played online roulette before, you might be wondering how this game correlates to logical thinking. After all, the game involves a huge element of chance—where will the ball land when the wheel stops spinning? That unknown isn’t totally unfamiliar to entrepreneurs, who often have to make decisions with limited information.
And in roulette, players must forecast complex probabilities. There are dozens of strategies that dictate how much to bet, when to bet that much, and whether to stick to inside or outside bets. In other words, there are dozens of moving pieces that can be quantified through probability and mathematics—and that type of exercise is extremely helpful for entrepreneurs.
Sudoku
In case you missed the sudoku zeitgeist, this numbers game requires players to fill in a square grid with numbers so that each row adds up to the same number. Unsurprisingly, sudoku has been tied to multiple mental benefits, including analytical thinking and memory skills.
Memory skills are particularly important for business people, as they must recall accurate information at a moment’s notice. Depending on their industry, that information may be hard numbers. A game like sudoku will train your brain to remember complex mathematical calculations and number sequences.
Clue
Similar to roulette, Clue might not seem like an obvious choice to help an entrepreneur develop analytical skills. However, this game requires players to solve mysteries with limited information as other players seek to mislead them—which certainly isn’t unfamiliar for entrepreneurs in a competitive industry.
More specifically, Clue helps train the brain to use deductive reasoning. As players figure out who killed who, in which room, and with which weapon, they’ll have to juggle varying pieces of information to build a case and draw a conclusion. It helps the mind think quickly, thoroughly, and accurately.
Furthermore, even if you don’t come out on top, there are lessons to take from watching others succeed. It’s the same reason that choosing to use Wordtips to unlock complex word puzzles is sensible. Seeing the inner workings of a puzzle by getting the solution given to you is part of the process of developing cognitive skills.
Chess
Chess is an incredibly obvious choice when it comes to training the brain to become more analytical. Of all the games mentioned on this list, chest includes the most shifting variables and possibilities. In fact, the game is such an exercise for the brain that studies have shown that as little as four months of chess practice can boost someone’s IQ.
So, what are you waiting for? Chess, though a multiplayer game, can be played easily online just like roulette. Dozens of websites are available to help train new players, who can then compete against other anonymous players online or take on a computer program.
Settlers of Catan
This multiplayer strategy game requires players to quickly build settlements in order to claim resources. The goal is to expand across the board and limit other players’ movements. Similar to PC games like Civilization, it’s about emulating human infrastructure and expansion.
The game includes multiple elements that will directly help entrepreneurs. First, they must allocate resources appropriately to succeed. Second, they must analyze competitors to make smart decisions. Third, there’s often a lot of negotiation involved.
