Games for Senior Citizens on the DS
Older adults who want to play video games often face a bit of conundrum. Many games are geared toward the interests of children and teenagers and hold little interest for them; yet the Alzheimer's Association recommends games, puzzles and other brain-engaging activities as protection against Alzheimer's disease. The Nintendo Dual Screen system is an excellent solution. The DS is easy to use and carry, and there are games made specifically for the system which are designed to be both interesting and mentally stimulating for adults.
Brain Age
Brain Age and Brain Age 2 are a series of puzzle-based games for the DS. Each Brain Age title actually contains several different kinds of puzzles, from word puzzles and number puzzles to concentration, connect-the-dots and sudoku. The game provides a tracking system for your to keep account of your "brain age" as it progresses over the time you spend playing the games, with the goal being to attain a brain age younger than your chronological one.
Nintendo actually developed Brain Age with seniors in mind, and consulted the Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the Discovery Channel and various health publication when creating its marketing strategy for the games.
Big Brain Academy
Big Brain Academy is the second title in Nintendo's planned series of brain games. In Big Brain Academy, you must use five mental skills: thinking, memorizing, analyzing, computing, and identifying. The faster you can complete the activities at the academy, the heavier your "brain weight." The object of the game is to keep increasing your brain weight, and to help you do this, there are three game modes. A practice mode helps you to get ready for the challenges, the Test mode is the challenges themselves, and the Vs. (versus) mode lets you challenge up to seven friends using the same game card.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright stars in a series of mystery games which ask the player to use their problem-solving skills and logic to help him defend his innocent clients. Upon its initial release, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was scored highly by Game Spot, critics and users, and is recommended by the AARP for its visuals, fun quotient and ease of play.
Clubhouse Games
Also recommended by the AARP, Clubhouse Games packs more than 40 classic board, card and parlor games into one little video game cartridge. Not only does it have standards like solitaire and hearts, it also features hangman, checkers, backgammon, mah-jongg, chess, dominoes and poker games such as Texas hold 'em and five-card draw. You can also play rummy, old maid and blackjack. Clubhouse Games also has the ability to play with up to seven people.
Tags: Brain Academy, Clubhouse Games, Phoenix Wright, your brain, Brain Brain
