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Games for old people

Uncle Mike

By Uncle Mike
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Uncle Mike

Uncle Mike

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(If this topic doesn't work, I'll freely admit I just need to recommend my parents something, but I thought it was worth a shot.)

 

My parents (70+ years old) are, unsurprisingly, indoors a lot right now with nothing to do. They owned a PS4 (me and my Dad play Everybody's Gold most weekends over PSN) but aren't exactly gamers.

 

I got my Dad Return of the Obra Dinn for his birthday in May and they have loved it. They completed all 60 Fates (whatever that means - I haven't played it) despite being a little stumped at the start, and confused by 1st person shooter controls so a lot of time was spent manoeuvring and looking at the floor/ceiling.

 

What games are good for the brain and easy on the fingers? I don't think they really care about story, but they do like a puzzle and to figure things out, and my Mum and Dad have really enjoyed collaborating on the Obra Dinn. Recommend away!

 

Also, other people with old person needs feel free to join in.

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Thor

Thor

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Didn't @Opinionated Ham Scarecrow get his mum hooked on Skyrim?

 

As a suggestion, how about The Talos Principle? 

 

My mum is now a widow, so I'm thinking something similar might be good for her. Back when I was a kid she got addicted to Squirm on the Commodore +4, and later Alien 3 on the Megadrive. But not much else other than simple games on her phone. 

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Wiper

Wiper

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Sticking to the specific interest in puzzles/figuring things out, there are a lot of visual novels/adventure games I'd recommend, but the aesthetics might be a challenge. Stuff like the room escape-oriented Virtue's Last Reward (and, you know, the other games in that series) and the Ace Attorney games (though the puzzles there are slighter) might work. More puzzle-focussed, but needing a DS, would be the Professor Layton games and the superb Ghost Trick.

 

Otherwise, well, traditional point and clicks might be worth a look - the readily available remasters of Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, perhaps?

 

And there there's the Myst-likes; aside from, well, Myst itself, I believe the relatively-recent Obduction was well-received by fans of that subgenre. The slightly more abstract, large-scale puzzling might appeal more than the above games' linear procession of discrete puzzles, it just depends what your parents enjoy!

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Darren

Darren

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Gorogoa seems like a good fit - some really clever puzzles in that.

 

And another vote for Everyone's Gone to the Rapture, plus also Gone Home and What Remains of Edith Finch. To go with Edith Finch I'd be tempted to recommend the Unfinished Swan, but if they struggle with first person controls that might not be so good for them.

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Wiper

Wiper

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Oh, actually, one strong suggestion I'd make - shorter than most games and unusually open-ended (you stop playing when you decide you've finished, rather than a dictated end state, so it'll be up to your parents to determine when they've 'solved' it), but Her Story is fab, particularly for two people playing together.

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jonamok

jonamok

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Nothing to add other than congrats and jealousy that your parents are engaging with games in any capacity.

 

Mine are both in their late 70s and only fit to engage with Sky Sports and the Daily Heil comments section.

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Uncle Mike

Uncle Mike

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Thanks all so far. The Witness might be a good shout - I'd been thinking about that. And maybe The Talos Principle. For the things like Rapture, Gone Home, Edith Finch - are there actually testing puzzles in those? I'd got the impression it's mostly walking about (which is the part they're least good at.)

 

How many people's parents play things other than me?

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Graham S

Graham S

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We like playing games like Obra Dinn as a family( not with parents) The Witness and Gorogoa are the closest match for our tastes in group puzzling. We loved Fez too but that's too platformy for parents. Heaven's Vault had a very appealing decode-an-ancient-language puzzle game running through it, but did involve a lot of RPG / point and click style wandering around talking to people and we gave up before the end.

 

I'm not playing it, but my daughter currently seems to be enjoying Ed Epistaxis' Phoenix Wright / Picross mashup, Murder By Numbers.

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Mawdlin

Mawdlin

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My dad has Alzheimers and plays Tiger Woods 2008 on PS2. We've given him other more up to date versions but it has to be 2008 for him. I reckon he must have played it more hours than anyone in the world.

 

What about Picross or something similar.

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Camel

Camel

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12 minutes ago, Uncle Mike said:

 

How many people's parents play things other than me?

 

My mum is in her 70s. For a fairly long period she really got into (some aspects of) gaming, has a Wii, then a Wii-U, a DS, then a 3DS. She loved Wii Sports, Professor Layton, random platformers she would download on her 3DS and she became obsessed with Yoshi's Woolly World on Wii-U. Her and her mate would phone each other and swap tips.

 

She's lost interest in it completely in the last couple of years which is a shame seeing as she's in the shielded group and stuck at home on her own. 

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PaB

PaB

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54 minutes ago, Uncle Mike said:

Thanks all so far. The Witness might be a good shout - I'd been thinking about that. And maybe The Talos Principle. For the things like Rapture, Gone Home, Edith Finch - are there actually testing puzzles in those? I'd got the impression it's mostly walking about (which is the part they're least good at.)

 

How many people's parents play things other than me?

Yeah rapture doesn’t have puzzles , it’s a radio 4 play for today in video game form ( and utterly brilliant )

 

Have you considered getting them a ps now sub,  Mike ? £18 for three months and loads of games on there . 90% of which I am sure would be no good to them but there might be a few In there .

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Stevie

Stevie

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2 hours ago, Opinionated Ham Scarecrow said:

 

Yes! She's still gaming hard as she approaches 70 and is ridiculously excited for The Last of Us 2 on Friday. I'm a proud son.

 

This isnt her is it?

 

 

 

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