I do something
similar, but don't quite
think of it as a
game. I think of how
numbers are
connected. Since I can remember I had trouble
falling right to sleep. Now it's
easier because I hardly get any
sleep, but my mental "
game" started with me
watching my clock. The : became an
equal sign,
plus,
minus, etc. I would make
connections.
Whenever I see numbers, I notice immediately if there's some cool association between them. I never knew that anyone else did this. It helps in other math to be doing this sort of practice all the time, I've found. Your brain processes the simple stuff more quickly, which enables the hard shit to not be as horrendous. I would recommend for anyone to try to get into the habit of doing this. It makes your thoughts less boring, I think...
No, Arithmetwists are dumb. Those are forced and imposed. These games are for fun in our crazy little heads...