Can Word Collect make you smarter?

Everyone wants to become more intelligent, but many intelligence-boosting methods are quite dull. Luckily, certain games make educational concepts more exciting. Word Collect, for example, is a free smartphone app that claims to train your brain. In this article, we’ll look at Word Collect and determine whether it can make you smarter.

What is Word Collect?

This free smartphone app gives you a series of letters and tasks you with using them to create words. It features over 1200 levels and awards you points each time you complete one. As you progress through the levels, they become more challenging. Still, most reviewers said they enjoyed the challenge.

Can Word Collect improve intelligence?

This game requires knowledge of the English language, but can it make you smarter? To better understand, we’ll look at proven brain-training concepts and determine whether Word Collect incorporates these methods.

Gamification

Gamification involves adding gaming elements to non-gaming tasks. This concept is widely used in the e-learning industry, as it’s seen as an effective way to enhance education. According to a study published in Smart Learning Environments, “[learners using gamification concepts] had a significant improvement in the quality of the submitted solutions.”

Word Collect gamifies traditional language exercises by incorporating points, levels, and rewards. This methodology can improve your overall engagement and retention. Still, it’s important to note your personality type may play a role in this method’s effectiveness. For example, gamification tends to improve introverts’ performance more than extroverts.

Problem-solving

Solving problems is generally good for healthy brains, whether you’re using letters to make words or doing math. According to Jessica Caldwell, Ph.D., neuropsychologist for Cleveland Clinic, “My idea about those types of word games is if you enjoy them and they’re giving you a challenge, so you can’t do it on autopilot, you really need to think about it, then it’s really serving you a good purpose in terms of supporting your brain health for life.”

The important thing is that the game continues to challenge you. Many say Word Collect gets pretty tricky as you advance through the levels, so it’s safe to say it fits the bill. Still, it’s worth mentioning there is competing evidence on whether word games can improve your intelligence.

Penny Pexman, a professor of psychology at the University of Calgary tasked with studying Scrabble players’ brains, says, “Scrabble players recognize words faster, especially in vertical orientation, but we didn’t find that those advantages transferred to non-Scrabble-related tasks.”

What’s the verdict?

Word Collect is an exciting game that challenges players to create words from groupings of random letters. As the game progresses, it becomes more complex, ensuring you stay engaged. Many of the concepts utilized by Word Collect suggest the game could improve cognitive function, but there’s no conclusive evidence on whether this is true. Still, games like word collect are sure to stimulate your brain while you play them, so if you enjoy it, there’s nothing wrong with devoting time to it each day.