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What Are the Best iPad Games for Dementia?

Here are seven iPad games for dementia that can help ease these feelings of anxiety by introducing new activities and ideas into your everyday life. These games will help keep your mind sharp while also giving you something fun to do during those tough days.
Ipad Games For Dementia Featured Image
Ipad Games For Dementia Featured Image
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Dementia is a general term that refers to a range of symptoms caused by brain deterioration. It can be related to aging or other health conditions, and it’s estimated that six million people in the United States are living with the condition.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia, it’s understandable that you may feel overwhelmed. You might not know how to plan for the future, or what changes will take place over time.

Playing games with dementia patients combats boredom, stimulates brain and memory, and stays mentally active. Keep reading to learn more about this important category of game apps for seniors.

Elevate – Brain Training

When diagnosed with dementia, it’s easy to feel defeated. But there are many things you can do to keep yourself active, even if dementia limits your daily activities. It all starts with the right attitude, and having fun is crucial for keeping your spirits high.

Games like Elevate – Brain Training offer engaging mental workouts that challenge your brain without feeling overwhelming. The game promotes cognitive function through five different categories: logic, memory, mathematics, strategy, and language.

Each category consists of games that gradually increase in difficulty as you hone your skills and develop new mental muscles.

You can choose to play a quick game or sign up for a month’s worth of exercises to amp up the challenge level.

Layton: Curious Village in 4D

Professor Hershel Layton’s adventures are known for their engaging stories, but they also offer some of the most entertaining puzzle games on the market.

Layton: Curious Village in 4D offers a series of mini-games that strengthen problem-solving skills and reading abilities. The game takes advantage of augmented reality to make playing more fun. Players don’t just see the puzzles unfolding around them, they can also use items they find along the way to solve them.

Games that offer more than one level of difficulty are ideal for dementia sufferers because they’re able to choose how much or how little they want to challenge themselves.

Jigsaw Puzzles Epic

Simple, yet highly engaging games like Jigsaw Puzzles benefit dementia patients because they stimulate memory and concentration skills. It gives the players a much-needed sense of accomplishment. They don’t feel stuck with the game, because they can keep moving forward and improve their skills.

Jigsaw Puzzles Epic is an app that offers many different puzzle levels with various themes like animals, landscapes, and food, with over 100 different puzzles. You can even create your puzzle from your favorite picture, making the game an excellent customization tool as well.

It’s easy to get caught up in the game because each piece fits perfectly into place no matter how small it is. Although the game is designed for children, dementia patients can benefit from its puzzles because they’re never overwhelmed.

Once the puzzle is complete, you can take photos of it and share them on social media. There are also bonus challenges that make completing each puzzle even more rewarding.

dementia-knittingPin
It is recommended to keep seniors with dementia busy and active and games for the iPad can help with both!

Brain Challenge Deluxe

If you’ve played Brain Age or Big Brain Academy before, then you’ll be familiar with this app. It’s one of the most popular brain-training games on the market and for good reason – it’s super fun and challenging for both kids and adults.

Brain Challenge Deluxe offers over 50 different games that test your memory, language, and visual skills to keep dementia patients entertained. You can choose to play a quick game or sign up for a month’s worth of unique challenges to amp up the challenge level.

With nine different fun modes, players will never feel bored. They can switch up their challenges to keep playing new games regularly.

Brain Challenge Deluxe also includes leaderboards that let you compete against other players or your own personal best scores, which is refreshing for dementia patients who are used to being isolated from society.

Wordscapes

Test your vocabulary skills and learn new words with this fun game that injects some education into your day. Continued education is important for seniors and the elderly and this is a fun way to get it.

Wordscapes is played by joining two or more letters to build words. The challenge comes from choosing letters that are located in various spots on the board, forcing you to construct words vertically and horizontally without crossing paths. As you progress, the difficulty also increases.

You can use hints to move forward in the game if you get stuck. The game’s unique layout makes it perfect for dementia patients because similar letters are grouped so they can’t be confused with one another.

It doesn’t matter if players have zero experience with crossword puzzles or words of any kind. The game’s simple design makes it easy to pick up for all levels, making it the perfect choice of game for older people to challenge their brains and push it harder.

Lumosity

The most popular brain-training app available, Lumosity features more than 40 different training exercises that help dementia patients improve their memory and problem-solving skills. Players advance through the game by completing different levels of challenges, which means there’s always something new to look forward to.

One unique feature about this game is that it has a personalized training plan that adapts to your progress. It builds new challenges based on how well you play certain games, which ensures that the players are always doing something different.

Lumosity’s smart adaptive technology also helps prevent boredom by giving players something fresh to try every day. The game is designed for kids and adults, but it’s especially great for older adults who are looking to improve their cognitive skills.

Memory Match Mania

It might seem like a simple game, but Memory Match Mania is one of the most beneficial apps you can download for people with dementia. It forces players to think logically and recall information to beat the clock and achieve their highest score.

With its super fun layout, Memory Match Mania is an entertaining way to keep dementia patients engaged. At the same time, they’re also strengthening their brain’s recall and memory systems that are vital for everyday tasks.

The game comes with four different categories so players can test themselves on different types of information. The game also helps improve your short-term memory by forcing you to remember things in the right order.

What to Look For in iPad Games for Dementia

When looking for similar games to play, here are some factors to take into account:

  • Design: The game should be easy on the eyes and not too cluttered so it’s more enjoyable to play.
  • Cognitive Challenge: The game should require players to think and adapt to new patterns.
  • Personalization: It’s beneficial if the game can adapt to your specific playstyle so it can keep challenging you for optimal results.
  • Replay-ability: The game shouldn’t be boring or repetitive so it’s more engaging, which means dementia patients won’t get bored and give up.

The best games for seniors with dementia are those that combine these factors to create an overall enjoyable experience. They should feel like a true challenge instead of something you breeze through without trying.

With the right game, dementia patients will see results because they can actively improve their brain’s functionality. Pick games with these four key factors to ensure that your loved one is having fun while he or she is also making progress.

Final Thoughts

The brain can be strengthened by completing different activities that are designed to improve memory and problem-solving skills.

These iPad games are the best way for dementia patients to do so while also having fun. These games offer fun and challenging ways to keep dementia patients mentally active.

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Scott Grant, CSA®, SHSS®

Scott Grant, CSA®, SHSS®

With over 20 years of experience and certifications as a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® and Senior Home Safety Specialist (SHSS)®, Scott Grant provides reliable recommendations to help seniors maintain independence through informed product and service choices for safe, comfortable living.

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