Dementia Journey – Games to Play

We played these games at the ATSC Memory Cafe, led by our good friend Beth M. (thanks Beth!)

  1. Spot It!  (We played as a solitaire play to find image that matches on both cards, but it is traditionally played competitively.)
  2. Tenzi (We played with 5 die per person, but it is usually played with each person having 10 die each.  We play where we roll die and try to get all 1s.  Set aside 1s rolled, and continue rolling other die until get all 1s.  Then move on to 2s, 3s, etc.  Many other adaptations, such as the first to roll all 1s and 2s; or the first to roll five different pairs; etc.)
  3. Shake Loose a Memory – available HERE

Other games Beth brought to show as possibilities for people with dementia (including some explanation/description by Beth below) include:

  1. Animal Upon Animal – balance wooden animals
  2. Blink (I adapt by setting up solitaire play with 3 stacks of cards to match with a card from the deck with one of the qualities – # of items; color; or shape.  Once in a while a card doesn’t match one of the 3 stacks, so we set it aside and come back to it when it is playable.)
  3. Connect Four
  4. LCR – Left Center Right (or Feed the Kitty for alternate version)
  5. Suspend – a game where you try to balance the different length rods
  6. Uno (I adapt by taking out all or most of the special cards, and sometimes play our hands open faced.)
  7. War – the old-fashioned card game
  8. Yahtzee (I adapt by reducing the number of point goals.  Another option is to assist person playing it and have them play it in solitaire mode.)

OuiSi (shared by Memory Cafe leader Toni P.): in this game, which you can play somewhat like dominoes, you place picture cards next to each other using your own “reason.” Perhaps the color is the same, or the pattern or what it makes you think of. You can also place a card and add to a story.

Games for Older Adults 

Stay Sharp has a website HERE offering board game suggestions for older adults who would like to exercise their brain in an effort to ward off dementia.**  Click HERE to see the many games they recommend

**   many also work for people in the early stages of dementia, or can be adapted.

Some additional games that Beth personally recommends for this stage of life, include: Can’t Stop, Ingenious, Lanterns, Set, TransAmerica (a simplified version of Ticket to Ride), Qwirkle, and Qwixx.