I have my 75 yr. old mother living with me temporarily. As part of her recuperation, we are trying to get her to do puzzles. She has never used a computer, never mind a mouse before, so I need something very simple. I have downloaded Peter's Easy jigsaws (12 large pieces) for her to try and she had a blast. I'm quite willing to purchase something, especially from BigFish which I'm looking to join. Things like word games, memory, manipulation and observation would be good. Ideally something suited for the mature adult would be great.
Thanks,
Jo

Does she like to play cards? Fairway Solitaire is a lot of fun and easy to play. Big City Adventure San Francisco is a good starter for hidden object games. It has some memory minigames.

Big Fish also has a lot of free games in their Game Community. I like Lobe and Mush as well as free Fairway Solitaire.

Thanks for the suggestion. She likes to play cards, but Fairway Solitaire is too complex. She has a lot of trouble just figuring out how to move the cursor on the screen. I would say that she has very poor motor skills right now.

If she likes Word games, Flip Words is fun and I don't think it's timed.

I also like Bookworm Adventure, but she might not care for the cartoon figures.

Does she like Mahjong? There are a ton of those games.

Heartwild Solitaire is more of a matching game than a real solitaire game but it is easy to learn and I don't remember any timer.

BVS Solitaire has more ways to play solitaire than I've ever seen and BFG has it as well as Top Ten Solitaire.

Do you think she would like Match 3 types? If so, Ancient Quest of Saqqarah is fun and has several variations of Match 3 and it has a relaxed (untimed) mode.

I like Big Kahuna Reef and the Jewel Quest games too.

Do you think she would like the Hidden Object games? My MIL is 78 and she likes them.

She likes the ones with a timer, but I like the ones without.

Here is a link to the Favorites Thread.

About the same age as my mom. She likes Tetris (not sure if possible), Jeopardy (play with mom gets a kick out of the antics), Family Feud, and Bigjig puzzles. Can download and try out Bigjig which comes with a Jigmaker. Convert pictures from calendars to give more variety. Get 6 free puzzles and a free one to download every week.

Uno and Skip-Bo are fun card games and the Big Fish versions are really cute.

My mom is 86 and I introduced her to the computer about 4 years ago. She really likes Spider Solitare that comes with all Windows programs. You might want to start with that one - you can do the easy level with just one suit.
My mom now even does her banking online! Just shows you are never too old to learn new tricks.
Kathy

She might like to join Pogo where you don't buy the game just pay 5 or 6 a month and you can play all the games for all ages.

They have a trial offer for free if she wants to try that. Some of the games there are very easy because there are a lot of young people as well as old there.

Examples: BINGO, JUNGLE GIN (rummy), PERFECT PAIR (easy solitaire matching), Yatzee, HANGMAN, SLOT MACHINE GAMES (seniors love those!)and BOWLING.

Can't hurt to try it. www.pogo.com

Thanks to everyone for all the help.
I had forgotten about Windows Solitaire. I'll try that with her.

Is buildalot ok for adults or is it more for kids? I haven't op
ened it and I can't find a trial one that will let me try it.

ssouping, the game is a bit strategic in order to succeed and I would not recommend it for a senior just learning. It is also not whaty I would consider a kids game. BigFish always has one hour trials on their games except for Large File Adventures. You can download a trial Here.

Ana

Look what Peter's been up to:
Peter's Easy Puzzles
It's perfect!

How awesome! Let us know how that works out for your mom!

I was very sad to see that Cooroora might be the last.

Ana

Colpet, that's a fabulous link. I get questions from parents all the time about how they, or their own parents, can get used to a computer, and this will be a wonderful resource. Thank you SO much!

Thanks colpet,
I gave Peter's Puzzles to my mom, but they were a bit too hard for her. She used to do jigsaw puzzles on the dining room table. I will send her these easier puzzles. I will also send a thank you to Peter. He is sure great.
Kathy

How about the jigsaw puzzle games that are available? I think there are many different sites that offer downloadable jigsaw programming, and with most you can upload your own family pictures to scramble for the puzzle. You usually can make it as easy or as difficult as you want to. I have Brainsbreaker on my PC and laptop and have solved many a complex jigsaw. You can opt to be able to flip the pieces (harder) or have them already in the correct position.