A few rounds of Word Cookie may feel like a way to pass the time and take a break, but for visual artists, it is quickly becoming a useful way to train themselves in self-discipline and self-organization. While most players look for solutions for Words Cookie to get ahead in the game, artists are starting to recognize its deeper creative benefits.

Patterns Beyond the Canvas

As with many other games, Word Cookies is based on a principle of achieving something—ordering chaos through rearrangement, in this case, to form meaningful sequences. This is a description of how visual artists work with composition.

Be it shaping segments of a still-life composition and arranging shapes, layering colors on a canvas, or through myriad other creative forms. The process of decoding scrambled letters lightly exercises the mind to search for design and structure, a fundamental part of visual narrative.

In a way, the rhythm, balance and other structural elements of a painting are akin to logical patterns. And so are word puzzles. Artists, in particular those who have trained themselves in the use of abstract or multimedia forms, have remarked on heightened effectiveness when arranging shapes.

The Strength in Restrictions

The concept of boundaries isn’t new to artists, but it becomes particularly advantageous when harnessed in puzzle games. Every level in Word Cookie is designed to provide a specific set of letters and a finite number of words to form. As a result, players are compelled to inventively utilize the available resources.

Versatility can also stem from the emptiness of a canvas, but in the case of artists, resilient daily puzzle routines conditioned them to embrace restrictions and encouraged an experimental mindset. Structure becomes a wellspring of value rather than a blockage when faced with daunting tasks. Adaptability within an artistic practice, which enables reaching set goals, becomes self-sustaining.

 

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Building Mental Stamina for Long-Term Projects

Artwork preparation, such as a mural painting, spanning a series, or showcasing a gallery, demands endurance and consistency in one’s attention. The mental stamina cultivated from daily, specific goals in focus with spatial reasoning, such as through the game Word Cookie, aids focus in incremental portions. Streamlined daily goals of even ten minutes can exponentially build stamina for greater creative works.

As a warm-up for more complex tasks, some artists call it a short, creative warm-up—“creative calibration.” As with any performance, such as dance, focus is a necessity to allow immersion into the task. A few rounds of intuitive puzzle-solving sharpen focus, clear mental clutter, and relax the mind, resulting in greater immersion into studio time.

An Unlikely Studio Companion

Although not designed as an artistic resource, Words Cookie has integrated itself into various creative workflows. From brief pauses during artistic endeavors to full-fledged “resets,” the game acts as a subtle structure for deeper contemplation. As boundaries between artistic practices and digital practices blur, formerly perceived as frivolous, technologies of the past are today viewed as unexpected partners in the creative journey.

And perhaps that is the understated elegance of word games. Besides enriching one’s lexicon, they stealthily hone a person’s descriptive and fine motor skills along with their cognition.