Game recommendations for an 80-year-old

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Elpie

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#195699 30-Apr-2016 11:57

My dad has been playing Hoyles Classic Card games for years. He's been hanging on to an ancient laptop I gave him years ago just so he can play his 1999 games. He has a pretty decent desktop (for an old guy)-

i3-3220 3.30GHz

Windows 7 Pro

4Gb RAM

Integrated graphics though

He would have liked to keep the Hoyles running but he's not quite confident enough for me to install (remotely from the other side of the world) a VM running the Win 98 it uses. He's also getting bored with card games so is looking for something else. He doesn't know what.

Any suggestions for something easy and engaging enough to get an elderly man into light gaming?

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#1544448 30-Apr-2016 12:08

Does he like going for walks too? Ingress is a great 'light' game for any age, and only requires a basic smartphone 👍

Elpie

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#1544490 30-Apr-2016 13:30

PhantomNVD: Does he like going for walks too? Ingress is a great 'light' game for any age, and only requires a basic smartphone 👍

He walks a lot but isn't interested in using his iPhone for anything except calls and iMessage.

He's after a good game to play on his desktop computer. Single player - he's not interested in anything multiplayer, or indeed, any online game.
Sorry, I should have said that.

PhantomNVD

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#1545016 1-May-2016 20:35

Then I guess buy the new version for $15 for the new PC?

http://www.hoylegaming.com/p-72-hoyle-2013-card-puzzle-and-board-games.aspx

vexxxboy

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#1545091 1-May-2016 22:44

my 75 year old mother loves the Big fish games site , she plays mahjong and solitare games she has found there. There are a mixture of free online games and ones you download , which you can buy or just play for an hour free.

http://www.bigfishgames.com/

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Kiwiuk

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#1545094 1-May-2016 23:05

Age of Empires or anything similar, oldies love those types of games! Well, me oldest mate who is 74 does

tdgeek

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#1545108 2-May-2016 07:02

Juice Jam. Easy, pretty, sound isn't annoying, strategy comes into it without being a brain drain. A good brain exerciser. Lots of variation in screens.

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#1545253 2-May-2016 11:14

Tetris or clone thereof

BTR

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#1545903 3-May-2016 11:26

Mahjong, bridge, free cell?

xpd

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#1545942 3-May-2016 12:38

Monkey Island type adventures :)

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#1545956 3-May-2016 12:45

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive?

Rikkitic

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#1545957 3-May-2016 12:45

My favourite recreation is Microsoft chess. If he plays chess at all, even if he only barely knows the moves, this is a great game. It looks great and can be set to any level of ability and you can take back moves. I am not a good chess player, never have been, never want to be, but I really enjoy setting the level slightly above my ability and then working out the best move by trying things, getting creamed by the program, taking back the moves and trying something else. Hours of fun. I also enjoy the Hearts and Freecell games in the same package. I think MS dropped these for some incomprehensible reason after Vista, but a downloadable version is on the Internet. I have it on Win 7 and Win 10. I am 71, by the way.

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petes117

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#1546000 3-May-2016 13:31

Stick with point-and-click games, there are heaps of great ones which aren't card games. Depending on his preference try:

"Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis" - adventures and puzzles, contemporary 2D style

"World of Goo" - bridge building physics puzzles in a cartoonish style

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#1549466 10-May-2016 19:39

Desktop Tower Defense is awesome fun.

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#1549473 10-May-2016 19:49

Cities Skylines, but the desktop probably won't run it.

Or alternatively, Sim City 4 if you can get a copy of it, and if he likes to create.

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#1549480 10-May-2016 19:57

Rikkitic:
My favourite recreation is Microsoft chess. If he plays chess at all, even if he only barely knows the moves, this is a great game. It looks great and can be set to any level of ability and you can take back moves. I am not a good chess player, never have been, never want to be, but I really enjoy setting the level slightly above my ability and then working out the best move by trying things, getting creamed by the program, taking back the moves and trying something else. Hours of fun. I also enjoy the Hearts and Freecell games in the same package. I think MS dropped these for some incomprehensible reason after Vista, but a downloadable version is on the Internet. I have it on Win 7 and Win 10. I am 71, by the way.

I'm keen. Is their an iOS app? Brain games are good for the brain

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