Many people have warm memories of playing games while growing up. Do you remember running around outside as a child playing rock-paper-scissors? You may not have realized it, but games are a very important part of life.
During prehistoric times, humans would play a game called Knucklebones. To play Knucklebones, the players would balance small objects like sheep ankle bones on the top of their hands，toss（抛掷） them into the air, and then try to catch as many as possible.
But why do people love games so much? They are fun to play, but that isn't the only reason why.
For most, games are "like chocolate: a guilty pleasure consumed secretly", Canadian-American game designer Sid Meier said: "They have a series of interesting choices." The rock-paper-scissors game is just an example. In every turn, people make a judgment, which is often based on their personalities and past experiences. "Navigating these choices shapes the course of play, revealing who we are and how we think," The New York Times noted."Playing a game is an act of exposition（展 示）. "
Games such as this require a faster way of thinking than in everyday life. But interestingly, when the game is over, the players can switch out of competition mode quickly and return to normal. "It separates a game from reality," Sam Von Ehren of The New York Times wrote. "We can enter and exit the magic circle freely."
Games can also be used to help improve critical thinking skills. Just take Go as an example. Go is a game that was made in ancient China, and it is still even played today. Even though we don't exactly know how Go started, many researchers think it was invented to help teach tactics and strategy skills.
Even today, games are being used to help solve real-world problems. These types of games are called serious games, and they are used to help find solutions to problems in fields such as education and healthcare, among others. Perhaps playing games helps us to think outside the box in a fun and interesting way.
