7 Old-School Games With Continued Appeal (And Why You Should Play Them)

Gamers rarely need to look too far — or wait too long — for a new game to pop up. The number of new releases that hit the market each year is staggering, with some years seeing nearly 10,000 titles released.

With marketing, hype, and the fascination with all things new, that means that gaming culture tends to look forward. But think of this: while thousands of games might be released each year, only a very small percentage of them will be considered a hit.

And out of all those thousands, perhaps there will be a handful that stand the test of time and are still being played a decade down the line. The number that become all-time classics will be even smaller.

The more games we play, the more we become impressed by those bona fide classic games that have been around for decades, centuries, and, in some cases, even thousands of years. In this post, we’ll run through some of the very best old-school games that are all freely available and which are very much worth playing.

Blackjack

Blackjack has been around since approximately 1650, when it first appeared in France, and is still going strong. It’s a classic casino game that blends simplicity with strategy. You can learn how to play blackjack in a matter of minutes, yet mastering the game takes a fair amount of work.

You don’t have to be in a casino to enjoy blackjack, however. It’s fun whether you’re playing with friends or against a computer online. With that said, if you do find that you have a talent for the card game, then it might be worthwhile planning a trip to Vegas — of all the casino games, blackjack offers some of the best odds.

Tetris 

Tetris was far from the first video game, but in terms of influence, there aren’t too many that can match Tetris. It helped to bring video games to a whole new audience, and even today, it remains highly popular — and not just for nostalgic reasons.

Tetris has inspired a whole legion of researchers, who have undertaken the task of figuring out whether the game offers tangible benefits to users. As it turns out, it does. One study even found that it was effective in the treatment of PTSD. It also offers cognitive benefits and has been shown to reduce anxiety. Plus, it’s fun!

Poker

Is there a more iconic game than poker? Its roots are pretty fascinating. It originated in the late 1700s and slowly worked its way across the South of the United States. Today, an estimated 100 million people play poker online, which essentially makes it one of the most popular games in the world.

What’s even more fascinating about poker is that it’s remained more or less the same through the past few hundred years, with only slight evolutions. What makes the game eternally interesting is that poker strategy is continually evolving. A person who was a great poker player ten years ago might struggle in today’s playing environment unless they’ve evolved their play with the game.

Solitaire 

If you had a Windows computer back in the 1990s, then you’ll be familiar with solitaire. Its free inclusion was believed to be a way to get new computer users with the mouse, since the Windows version relied on click-and-drag movements.

But the history of solitaire goes back much further than Windows, and the game also offers a ton of other benefits that extend beyond learning how to use a mouse. The earliest versions of solitaire date back to the late 1700s, with spider solitaire — the one most people are familiar with — emerging around the 1930s/40s. Microsoft removed the game from its computers back in 2012, but spider solitaire is still freely available online. Studies have shown that, in addition to being fun, solitaire functions as ‘white noise for the brain,’ making it powerfully effective at reducing stress levels.

Pac-Man

Pac-Man belongs in the same category as Tetris. That is to say, it’s a certified classic that is still bags of fun to play. It was released back in 1980, and even today, it remains hugely popular. It’s so popular, in fact, that there are still major Pac-Man tournaments held around the world, including Phoenix Fan Fusion and Pac-Man 99 Challenge.

But you don’t have to take Pac-Man overly seriously. A big part of the charm is that it provides instant fun. There’s no need to learn complex instructions, you can play for three minutes or three hours, and it presents a great challenge.

Chess

We maybe should have included chess higher up on the list, because it is virtually universally agreed to be the world’s greatest game of all time. It originated in India more than 1500 years ago today, and since then has been on a fantastic journey that is unlikely to ever be repeated.

Today, the game remains more popular than ever. It is, admittedly, more challenging to learn how to play chess than most other games, but it’s worthwhile taking the time to do so. Once you know how to play, you’ll have unlocked a passion that will stay with you for the rest of your life.

And, as you might expect, this game offers bags of mental benefits. Just through the course of playing, you’ll be helping to boost memory, strategic thinking, focus, and creativity.

Bridge

Bridge is a truly outstanding game, so it’s a bit sad to see that its popularity is beginning to wane. It’s popular with the older generations, but less so with younger generations. That’s probably because of the rules, which are without question a lot more complicated than those of other games.

With that said, anyone who does bypass the learning curve will discover why many people consider bridge to be the best card game ever invented. As with other games on this list, bridge is available to play online (and it’s a good idea to start there in order to get to grips with the rules), though it can eventually be fun to play in person with others.