You certainly feel stressed from time to time: negative emotions and fatigue quite often come while you’re at work, and it seems really difficult to get rid of them, distract, and relax a little bit. To provide some examples, 80% of workers are stressed while managing their daily activities (especially those in the USA and China), and almost half of them admit they need aid in reducing stress and anxiety. No wonder so many turn to stress relief games!
Beyond that, according to the statistics, 75% of adults encounter moderate or high levels of stress during few months, with 1 out of 75 persons experiencing panic disorder. Stress is also a top health concern for US and Australian teens.
Table of Contents
- 1. Bubble Wrap
- 2. Color Break
- 3. Personal Zen
- 4. Paper Toss
- 5. Relaxing Puzzler
- 6. Candy Crush
- 7. Bejeweled
- 8. Wordscapes
- 9. Super Mario Run
- 10. Pigment
- BONUS GAME: Tetris
Best Stress Relief Games
There are several ways to cope with stress, from reading a book to yoga. This article explains how you can use stress relief games to help manage your stress.
1. Bubble Wrap
Bubble Wrap is a great game for reducing stress. Bubble wrap popping, beloved by many people, is now available virtually. Just press the bubbles with your fingers and make them explode, thus getting rid of destructive emotions. This free mobile app is also a time killer: you can play it while waiting in a queue or during a long and tiring trip.
There’s an option to pop bubbles for as long as you desire, or opt for a mini-game (Blitz Pop: the number of bubbles popped within a minute; Pop 500: the speed at which you pop 500 bubbles; Pop All: how fast you’ll be able to pop the whole sheet that includes 2,000 bubbles).
The app offers a range of colors and pleasant sounds. It also allows users to change the bubble size.
2. Color Break
Color Therapy App grants a marvelous opportunity to relax and have fun. Try digital painting using your fingertips or stylus and relish an amazing variety of patterns. This app will help to encourage your creativity and forget about a tough day.
This stress reliever game boasts an unlimited number of colors and lets users share finished works with friends via emails. This is a great “quiet” game that you can play at work without drawing too much attention your way!
3. Personal Zen
Personal Zen is another of my favorite stress relief games. The app was created with the assistance of neuroscientists, and it’s clinically proven to help people to battle painful emotions and exercise the brain for better wellness.
Researchers say it’s a good idea to play Personal Zen a couple of times a week for about 5-10 minutes. However, the longer you play, the better influence on your well-being you experience.
Furthermore, the game trains your brain so that you can concentrate on positive things in your life and throw away negatives. Just accurately follow the path of a friendly sprite on the screen without allowing the evil one to distract you.
4. Paper Toss
Paper Toss is a nice app to use during a break at work. Whenever you feel exhausted and need to relax, take a crumpled piece of paper to make it in a trash basket on your mobile phone.
The game offers an automatic count of balls that reached the target, 7 levels of difficulty, stunning graphics, great flick control, natural sounds at the office with comments from angry co-workers, varying speed of the paper flight, and more.
So, feel free to have a short break and rest with the Paper Toss app.
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5. Relaxing Puzzler
Relaxing Puzzler represents a meditative puzzle game with which you’ll be able to take your time and have a rest. Hypnotic soundtracks by Winterpark will give you an opportunity to meditate and reach the state of serenity without noticing the change.
The app, inspired by meditative art styles, is easy to use: you just guide the energy by moving rocks around the mystic garden and relax to the full.
6. Candy Crush
Candy Crush is a simple and sweet match 3 puzzle game that is very easy to learn and play. It offers an unending number of levels so you can zone out as much as you like. It’s one of my favorite stress relief games!
The music and sound effects are cheery and delightful, lending some nice background noise as you play. You’ll need to use a little bit of brainpower to help find the best combinations that let you move on to subsequent levels.
Plus, the whole game is centered around candy…and there’s not much happier than that, right? It’s free to play, but some optional in-game items will require payment (you can turn off the payment feature if you like).
7. Bejeweled
Bejeweled is another match 3 game that is a classic. What sets this game apart in terms of being good for stress relief is the different modes available. The Classic mode sticks to the original gameplay, but there is also Lightning, Diamond Mine, and more.
But the best mode for stress relief is Zen mode. This mode includes subliminal positive affirmations, fine aural tones, and even breath modulation to help you relax as you play. The Endless aspect of Zen mode allows you to keep playing with no worries about meeting a specific target to “beat” a level.
You can turn on the breath modulation feature to see a tracking line that encourages you to match your breathing patterns to the line and the sound of breathing in and out that you’ll hear. As the game goes on, the breathing rate will slow…and naturally, you’ll lower your stress.
8. Wordscapes
Wordscapes helps you exercise your brain as you relax. The app purports to sharpen your mind when you play for just 10 minutes each day.
This word game app challenges you with word searches, anagrams, and crosswords. As your mind works on the puzzles, you’ll also relax and be put at ease with the beautiful scenery backgrounds.
Many reviewers state that the app is very relaxing, especially since you’re given unlimited chances to complete each level – there’s no “losing” and getting kicked out of the app while your “lives” recharge.
9. Super Mario Run
Super Mario Run will take you back to your childhood with this nostalgic game. But this one can be played with just one hand!
You’ll control Mario by tapping as he runs forward, timing your taps to pull of jumps and spins to help Mario collect coins and reach his goal.
There are four modes to try out, the most relaxing of which is Kingdom Builder. In that mode you’ll gather coins and Toads to build your own kingdom. Nintendo has also added an easy, pressure-free mode for players who just want to relax and explore the levels.
10. Pigment
Pigment is an award-winning coloring app with thousands of coloring pages and access to exclusive licensed content.
Just 10 minutes of coloring can provide the same benefits as meditation, making this a great way to reduce your stress and anxiety. This app is a great alternative to games that might frustrate you as you fail levels – there’s no failing in coloring!
There are 29 different pencils, markers, and brushes to use as you color. You can also use the tap-to-fill method for a simpler experience.
BONUS GAME: Tetris
Tetris is an “oldie but a goodie.” It is a game that is readily available on a handful of platforms and is user-friendly, regardless of your level of exposure to video gaming. Tetris had to be doing something more than simply providing some light entertainment for an hour or two for it to be around this long… In fact, there is ongoing research for using Tetris in clinical settings in order to help treat symptoms of PTSD.
Summary
These are only a few of the mobile games available to alleviate anxiety and help you feel relaxed for a certain period of time. However, you can use ordinary ways to respond to the challenge of improving your mental health, find other custom healthcare applications (not mentioned above) to address your personal needs or invent some original methods to control emotions. There has been significant research performed on the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction for the use of managing and decreasing stress.
Find the mindfulness activity that works for you and start taking control of your stress.
