In the last few years, I have had the honor of volunteering with older adults, people who need someone to drive them because they have given up their licenses due to age-related concerns such as decreasing eyesight or limited mobility. My primary role is driving these wonderful people from place to place, which gives me time to get to know them on a more personal level. After plenty of deep conversations with these individuals as we head out to doctor appointments or grocery shopping or a well-deserved trip to the beauty salon, I have found that many of them are greatly concerned about the cognitive decline and memory issues that may appear as we age. Some are so worried that they have asked me for ideas to help. Of course, with my board gaming background, I knew just where to turn.
I have compiled a short list of the concerns that I’ve been hearing and games that I think may help. These include familiar standbys along with newer games. Most of these games can be played with all ages, thereby building essential relationships between multiple generations. Keep in mind that for many of these older adults, this is their first introduction to anything beyond monopoly or rummy, so you may have to start with the old familiar and then work your way up to the newer generation of board games.
Memory
Memory – This classic kids’ game is challenging and fun for adults as well. It consists of a facedown grid of matching cards that players must look at and remember with the goal of finding pairs. It can be played with a simple deck of playing cards, printed photos, or one of a million themed cards available at nearly any store. Many store-bought games of this type are child-centered so take care to buy one that is a little less childish, with themes such as dog breeds or fine art.
The Tray Game – This game simply requires picking out a bunch of random items and placing them on a tray. The players get a set amount of time to examine the tray, and then it is covered and they must write down every item they can remember. The person with the most correct items wins!
Foxy –Colored cards depicting 2 or 3 animals are turned over one by one. Players must remember how many of each animal have already been turned over. It’s a good idea to watch a play-through video for details, as it seems a bit confusing at first, but may be a nice addition to your memory game library.
Cabo – This has similarities to a traditional card game called “Golf” that could be played with a regular card deck. In it, you have 4 face-down cards to try to remember. Your goal is to draw cards and replace those face-down ones with lower and lower numbered cards, trying to get the lowest total and not losing track of what cards you have where. Cabo adds some special cards to enhance the game, such as peeking at one of your cards or swapping a card with another player.
Verbal
Scrabble – This old standby needs no introduction. Build words on a grid, score based on tile placement and letter difficulty. Use less letters for a shorter game, or ditch the scoring and just take turns building words.
Bananagrams – This is played exactly like Scrabble, but without the pre-printed grid. You pick 21 letter tiles and then use them to form your own scrabble-like grid as quickly as you can. In the beginning, you may want to ditch the competitive side of things (making players draw more tiles when you have finished your grid) to assure fun and success. Just make your grids and then compare them. As players improve, add in the more competitive parts.
Boggle– This is a classic word-search puzzle. Looking at a 5×5 grid of random letters, players write down as many words as they can find in two minutes. When time’s up, compare your words…if you have the same word, cross it off. Score one point for whatever words are left after that. Again, you can modify as needed…we want this to be fun, not frustrating!
Quiddler – Use letter cards to create words, earning victory points based on the difficulty of the letters. This is played over 8 rounds, each starting with an increasing number of letters in your hand.
Paperback – This deck building game has players making words from letter cards in their hands and then “buying” more letters to make bigger and better words. With a little thought, this can easily be modified for ability level based on players interest/time/skills.
Mathematical/Spatial
Cribbage – I have played this game since I was a child, as it was very popular in my home state of Wisconsin. It is an easy-to-learn card game that requires only understanding runs and pairs and adding to 15 and 31. I recently taught it to an 80 year old friend and she picked it up easily!
Yahtzee – This classic requires decision making and adding, with a bit of dexterity in the picking up of dice. Most people have played this before, and it is always very popular.
Tsuro – I’ve found great success with this beautiful game. It is easy to learn and fun to play. Add to the path and force your opponent off the edge. Definitely helps with special reasoning and planning.
Mountain Goats – Roll 4 dice and add their values to climb the mountain for victory points. Knock your friends out of the top spot and claim the victory tokens for yourself. With the addition of a “screaming goat” figurine that can be activated when your goat falls off the mountain, this game has been a big hit that keeps people laughing and engaged!
Project L – Project L is an easily-understandable game that has you building a supply of Tetris-like pieces to fill in small puzzles for victory points. Valuable for both special reasoning and dexterity.
Critical Thinking
Oui Si – I have not played this one yet, but I can certainly see the value. This game involves a set of vibrant photos that can be utilized in countless ways…color matching, memory, description, storytelling, comparison, just to name a few. People are having great success with this game in memory-care settings, and I hope to add it to my collection soon.
Chess/Checkers – Sometimes the old familiar games are the best, and I’ve had requests for a simple game of checkers or chess to help keep minds sharp.
Dexterity
Mancala – This is an ancient game where you distribute stones or gems into “pots” around a board with the goal of getting the most gems in your home base. It is very simple to learn but requires a fair amount of planning and strategizing. The dexterity comes in with the necessity to pick up a handful of stones and distribute them one at a time around the board.
Jenga – This old standby is fun for young and old alike, and can help with hand-eye coordination. It does take a steady hand, so you’ll need to gauge your friend’s abilities to decide if this would be enjoyable for them.
In addition to having the right games, sometimes you need to consider other accommodations for things like limited eyesite or arthritic hands. Luckily, large-print versions of many classic games are readily available: Scrabble, Boggle, and Rummikub all have large-print versions, as do many other popular games. For difficulties with shuffling cards, there are a variety of electric card shufflers, and several types of card holders when holding them in your hand has become too difficult.
Older individuals are ready, willing and able to learn new games, and the social, emotional, and cognitive benefits are very apparent. With a bit of thought and consideration, we can make gaming accessible and enjoyable for our aging parents and grandparents, providing a fun and exciting way to interact with our loved ones.