Thing is, I don't want to waste money on something that doesn't carry an "old person certificate". That's why I'd like to hear other people's experiences.
They already have a "match 3" game. Replacing it with another won't help anything. I'm looking for some new concepts...
Card games might work... Chess won't, tried that already.
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It was the graphics card driver causing bugcheck 0x141 in the kernel, crashing it to the point where the BSOD wasn't displayed and the minidump wasn't created in its usual place (but thankfully it was created, despite the computer looking completely frozen). Downgrading the driver to an older version seems to have worked.
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I'd suggest simple tower defence games. Maybe fieldrunners 2?
Maybe FTL who knows, maybe they'll love it after they get it.
Triple Town
Angry Birds Space
Unholy Heights
Bad Hotel
World of Goo
Genesis/Snes Games
Various other IOS games.
To The Moon was a great story based RPG. Might a little confusing, though.
After they've tried some more games you should make a new thread or update this one so we can choose more to their tastes. [which will evolve over time as they become more confident with games]
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Evil Genius is a pretty good game that doesn't require any quick actions, it has a lot of references to some good old movies, so your parents will probably have fun playing it.
UPD: I saw "English is fine in very small amounts". I'd appreciate if you told us what's your parents' language so we could search for games with that language.
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Maybe hidden object games: Orphanage the Tale of Lagoon,Farmington Tales
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Quote on Alawar's Farmington Tales page:
" pgoddard
I just finished playing the trial version. Having lost my beloved Mary to cancer, the minute I reached the part of the story where Floyd's wife was gravely ill I had to play on."
That... won't work.
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Lego Star Wars/Harry Potter/Batman/Indiana Jones/Marvel/Lord of the Rings.
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Glad someone made this thread. I've been on a search for quite some time myself. I am always on the lookout for games that a certain 60-some-odd-year-old will be interested in. Luckily, the Groupees Mumbo Jumbo fits the bill and will save me a few bucks.
This person loved the Shadowgate games and Luigi's Mansion, so that's what I go off of.
"Thinking" isn't a problem with my senior, it's the mechanical aspect and the ability to remain interested. I have been wondering if any of these farming sims would fit the bill.
Maybe Faerie Solitaire?
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Another I've never heard of. I'm glad I'm not the only one in this predicament. HaHa
I'm sure there are many of us.
I bet Portal would also be a decent fit. I've never played it, though. What do you think?
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Nope... Portal is really demanding in terms of thinking and puzzle-solving. It's also not replayable, and the end of the game is so challenging that even I had issues with it, at a tender age of 30 at the time :)
The limit of thinking and realization of old people is at the level of "I should put this three-pea-shooter in a lane that's not the topmost or bottommost".
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Reach For the Sun is on my list to get. Not sure about pops, but Moms might enjoy it.
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Check my wishlist. Towards the bottom of it are where I've kept these exact games, but there are others peppered throughout the list.
Thanks for the heads up on Portal.
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HAHa!!! That's actually on my list for a completely insane reason, but you know what? That may actually work! O, can't stop laughing.
Also, seems Steam isn't doing a very good job keeping my list how I organize it.
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If you're looking to branch out:
You Don't Know jack had a lot of older popularity for a while, in it's time.
Tycoon games (which I am going to lump the farm games into) often do well, but more often with women. I have had some success with Railroads! and a huge success with SimGolf (but you'd be hard pressed to find that one, I think).
Flight sims like Microsoft Flight Simulator have a large older following. Which may seem odd, due to complex controls, but there's often a lot more desire to learn such a game than the flashier games.
Some other odds & ends that I have had success with. Axis & Allies. Pro Golf, Trucking sims, and Elder Scrolls series (go figure).
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I have tried many times to get my grandfather to play games. And I have tested some games - he can't play race games or fps - nothing that moves quickly, also older people hate time limits of any kind. So, best games for my grandfather were: minespweeper, solitaire, zoo tycoon, gta vice city (but he just drove a car around the city). I wanted to teach him civilization, because he has time to do his turn and he doesn't have to pay attention all the time, but it was too complicated, because it's "confusing mess" acording to him :) . Old people in general are not friends with computers and (most of them) dont want to learn how to use them or they think it's beyond them, so they just give it up. Also they cant play many games, it's just too fast for them.
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Yeah. Things need to be really simple and repetitive.
Seeing how mother liked Farm Frenzy, I was thinking that maybe "Cook, Serve, Delicious" could work, but from what I've gathered watching some videos, it might be too fast unless you use the keys... And keyboard+mouse at the same time is definitely a no-go.
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Omg I started playing zuma when I was around 3 :P and my grandma liked it so much she's better than me at this game now XD
Also try bejeweled twist as my grandma also loved that one
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these might be fun for them (i enjoyed them as well): bejeweled, puzzle quest, anno 1602, castle storm, might+magic crash of heroes, pinball fx (humble bundle), civilisation, zuma
then again it might not hurt to ask your parents for opinions. i mean enough old people play COD and such.
and regarding language, most games arent available in yours?
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4 Elements? I haven't played it myself, but from the screenies, it looks like it's casual enough.
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Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Civ 3 and Civ 4 are ok for old pc and they didn't require lightning reflexes.
Casual games: Cogs, Rush and Magical Drop V
If they enjoy RPGs you can try Avadon: The Black Fortress and Avernum: Escape From the Pit.
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My new computer seems to finally be working (it's been randomly freezing; I'll give it a few more days until I declare it stable), so my old computer is getting transferred to my parents.
Right now they have a rusty piece of crap that's based on turn-of-the-millennium technology. As such, it can't play anything more than Plants vs. Zombies, some Breakout clones, Mahjongg, Peggle, etc.
So, with a newer computer, they should be able to play something a little more demanding. I just don't know what, but I definitely need to stop the "OMG we need different games, we're bored" complaints.
They can't play any flashy arcade stuff that requires fast reflexes. Mouse is fine. Arrow keys and spacebar is fine. Anything more than that, like a mouse+keyboard combination, or more keys - nope, too much for old people.
Complex adventure games are also out of the question. English is fine in very small amounts. I tried Botanicula, but it ran at like 3 fps on that computer. That said, the games should have high replayability, so my attempt to give them Botanicula was just novelty; it's not a valid solution to their gaming problem.
Father had no use for old NFS: Underground. Too fast. So that takes racing games out of the equation as well.
The computer is in the same room as the TV. Games that rely on sound are also unacceptable.
Do you have any suggestions? What do your parents and grandparents play?
EDIT
Tried and failed: World of Goo, Crayon Physics, The Sims
Will try: Angry Birds, Cogs, Little Inferno, Zuma, Faerie Solitaire, Reach For the Sun
Tried and working: Bejewelled (forgot to mention it when posting), Farm Frenzy, Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, mahjongg, "match 3", breakout
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