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Best Game Apps For Seniors With Dementia (Memory, Matching, and More)

Best Game Apps For Seniors With Dementia (Memory, Matching, and More)

Playing memory or word games may help in preventing cognitive decline. And to those affected by dementia, it is important to maintain their mental health even if via playing games. Here are the best game apps for seniors with dementia including word games, puzzle apps, brain games, and more.
Game Apps For Seniors With Dementia
Game Apps For Seniors With Dementia
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Game apps are one of the best tools for people affected by dementia. According to Living Maples, word games happen to be one of the best activities that can help to prevent the onset of dementia in seniors.

A Harvard study proved that cognitive decline can be prevented or slowed down with healthy practices like playing memory or word games. Fortunately, the games apps available to seniors and the elderly are nearly endless.

Here are the best ones for seniors with dementia.

Best Game Apps For Seniors With Dementia

1. MyReef 3D Aquarium

MyReef 3D Aquarium is a simple game that seniors who even have advanced dementia can enjoy. Apart from relaxing the mind by enjoying the colorful reefs in the aquarium, there are also various interaction events.

These exchanges are enabled by:

  • Choosing from a list of fish and then arranging them in the aquarium.
  • The glass can be tapped to position the fish, which isn’t the easiest task, but seniors can become engrossed in this activity. 

2. Flower Garden

All seniors that have dementia would have usually once had hobbies like gardening. When they are no longer able to continue with these activities, Flower Garden is an app that offers the ideal solution to this abandoned pursuit. 

This popular gaming app allows seniors to:

  • To virtually plant flower seeds to raise their garden.
  • Water the seeds and then watch the plants grow.
  • This activity continues until all the flowers are in bloom.
  • Seniors often enjoy this diversion, and it provides a feeling of creativity.
  • Flower Garden is a really useful game app for a senior with dementia. 

3. Let’s Create! Pottery

Many people enjoy creating things, and Let’s Create! Pottery (available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) is an app that attempts to bring out creative skills in people that have demented minds. And it manages to succeed. 

Below are the steps that a senior needs to adopt when using this app:

  • The game starts with a rotating pottery wheel.
  • From here, the player throws “virtual clay” at it.
  • Once there is enough clay on the wheel, the player can drag their “fingers” across the clay.
  • From here, the player gets to create the pot and refine the shape. 
  • There are also lots of different sizes and colors to choose from, which can help a senior to become more aware of their creativity, which might not have existed a few minutes ago. 

Word Game Apps For Seniors With Dementia

1. Witty Words

Witty Words is an app that is specially designed for seniors to enhance cognitive function, improve memory, stimulate the brain, and for entertainment.

This is the perfect app for a senior to test their memory, challenge their vocabulary, or find new words using crossword puzzles and word connections.

This game is available for download on Android and is the ideal app for “memory practices.” 

As far as accessibility features go, the Witty Words game comes with big buttons and enough contrast for improved experiences for seniors that may have a visual impairment.

Witty Words will allow the player to view the words (for a limited time), and then they will need to remember these in order to solve the puzzles. 

2. The Word Search

Pencil and paper word-search puzzles have always been one of the popular favorites. But now, they are available in a digital format, which offers an easy way for seniors to carry on enjoying this pastime.

In the Word Search app (available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store), there is an extensive range of different word-search puzzles to choose from.

Some of these categories include science, television shows, sports, music, and more. There is also the option to go offline, where these puzzles are also available for printing. 

game apps for seniors with dementia freePin
Here are some free game apps that focus on the brain training of seniors.

Free Game Apps For Seniors With Dementia

1. Brain Games – Left vs Right

Brain Games – Left vs Right (available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) is one of the mobile applications that is focused on testing a player’s reasoning, precision, patience, awareness, adaptability, and reflex.

This is made possible through 49 fantastic mind games divided into 6 categories. This game is targeted at helping seniors with disabilities to increase their alertness. 

Features:

  • 47 unique brain games
  • 6 training categories cover awareness, patience, precision, adaptability, reflex, and reasoning
  • The player can use this app to train and play every day

2. MindMate

MindMate is a popular app for elderly people with dementia and is often an invaluable tool for people suffering from these types of conditions.

The app includes a range of features such as brain-training games, workout plans, daily planners, and instructional videos, along with an extensive library that contains many articles. This app can also be connected to Apple’s HealthKit for tracking daily steps and dietary goals. 

RELATED: What Are the Best iPad Games For Dementia?

Matching Games Apps For Seniors

1. Matching Games For Elderly: Designed For iPad

Matching Games For Elderly (available on the Apple App Store) is an app that involves finding the same memory games in grids. These are memory games that are designed to train memory ability, boost and exercise memory, and train the brain using one of the best pairing games ever.

This is a fun dinosaur game that is suitable for both adults and children and offers a fantastic method to improve memory. 

The aim of this game involves matching the same cards. To achieve a high score, the pairs need to be matched as fast as possible (with the fewest mistakes). Memory Match is a highly addictive game that can keep a player engrossed for hours on end. 

Features:

  • Find pictures of the same dinosaurs in a grid, and the theme changes after each mission are completed. 
  • 8 difficult levels of animal memory games
  • Multiple difficulty levels
  • Turn the cards over to match up the pairs

2. Matching Games For Seniors 4+ – Designed For iPad

Matching Games For Seniors 4+ (available on the Apple App Store) is one of the most enjoyable English Alphabet Matching Puzzle Games. It includes 600 addictive and challenging levels that increase in difficulty.

This app allows players to explore beautifully-designed layouts and enchanting fantasy lands. 

Features:

  • 600 levels of hand-crafted layouts
  • Gets more challenging as you start leveling up
  • 10 Fantasy lands to play with
  • Easy to play
  • Players can use fun power-ups when they are faced with sticky situations

This app is designed to train the brain and improve concentration in an entertaining way. 

game apps for seniors with dementia memoryPin
Simple games are ideal for seniors for them to not be overwhelmed.

Memory Game Apps For Seniors

1. Train Your Brain – Memory Games

This app is one of many from a company known as Senior Games. They have also released attention games and reasoning games designed specifically for seniors. Some of these include familiar games such as hangman. 

The Train Your Brain – Memory Games (available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store) app is simplistic and bright, which makes it easier for a player to see what they need to do. This is ideal for seniors that feel a bit overwhelmed when it comes to technology. 

The 8 games available in this app include:

  1. Risky Road
  2. Pairs of Cards
  3. Faces and Names
  4. Color Challenge
  5. Cooking Challenge 
  6. Find the New
  7. Bright Squares
  8. Shopping List

Every game also includes a level set of around 30, which typically contains 12 or more individual challenges. The main issue with this format is that the player has to go through each of these levels, starting at 1.

This can mean that the player starts off with a few very basic and simplistic games. 

Cost

The app is free, but it is supported by ads. This can sometimes mean that the player will need to tap out of ads or even watch videos before they will be able to proceed. 

If these ads become confusing or too annoying for a senior, there is an option to pay for the app, which will remove them. Making sure these ads are not displayed is going to cost $4.19, which isn’t that bad, especially if the senior finds this app enjoyable. 

2. Matching Games: Remembery

Remembery (available on the Google Play Store) involves a simple game of matching cards. It includes 12 difficulty levels using several images. The tiles contain pictures of shapes, flags, numbers, cats, and so much more.

The game also includes different versions such as:

  • Time Challenge
  • Remember All
  • Simple
  • Campaign
  • Limited Tries

Some options can only be accessed with the “paid version” of this game, but the offerings in the free version are still pretty impressive. 

Cost

Remembery is among the cheapest apps on the market. The app in itself will be free, and players are offered a high level of functionality without needing to pay.

However, similar to just about every free app on the market, these applications are ad-supported, and for some people, this can get really annoying. To play ad-free, all that is needed is to pay a small fee of $1.59. 

See more brain apps and memory games for seniors here.

Conclusion

Playing games is regarded as one of the best activities to improve cognitive skills. And, thankfully, there are many choices for older adults via apps.

At this stage, there isn’t any proof that supports that memory and brain training games can actually prevent a condition like dementia, but some evidence has shown that some brain games can help reinforce skills that get weaker as we age.

Some of these important skills include decision making, improved short-term memory, increasing processing skills, and planning. Games are said to assist with maintaining mental health in seniors or those affected by conditions such as Alzheimer’s, memory loss, and dementia.

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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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