Easy Games for Seniors: Card, Board, Word and Group Games

Choosing games for seniors

• Familiar first. A game the person played for decades needs no teaching. Ask what they played with their own parents or at work.
• Match the number of players. War and Kings Corner work with two; Go Fish and Crazy Eights stretch to a family table.
• Short rounds. A game that can stop after any hand is easier to fit around naps, meals and visitors.
• Keep score only if it is fun. Some people love a running tally; others would rather just play.

Each game carries one of three cost tags (Free, Low: household items, Some purchase). No product was tested or priced for this page.

Card games for seniors, with the rules

All five use a standard 52-card deck. Rules below follow the Bicycle playing card company's published rules.

Crazy Eights

A matching game for 2 to 5 or more players. Materials: one deck. Cost: Low.

1. Deal 5 cards each; turn the top of the remaining stock face up to start the discard pile.
2. On your turn, play a card that matches the top card by suit or rank. If you cannot, draw from the stock until you can.
3. An eight can be played any time; the player who lays it names the next suit.
4. First to empty their hand wins. For scoring, the winner collects 50 for each eight left in other hands, 10 for each face card or ten, 1 for each ace and face value for the rest.

Large-print / low-vision option: a large-index deck and a lamp over the discard pile. Easier / harder: skip scoring / play to a points total.

Go Fish

Collect sets of four. Materials: one deck. Cost: Low.

1. Deal 7 cards each for 2 or 3 players, 5 each for 4 or 5.
2. Ask one player for a rank you already hold ("Give me your kings"). If they have any, they hand them all over and you ask again; if not, they say "Go fish" and you draw.
3. Lay down each book of four.
4. When all 13 books are made, the most books wins.

Low-vision option: say the rank aloud each time a book is laid down. Easier / harder: play open-handed with a helper / no hints.

Rummy

Build sets and runs. Materials: one deck, pad for scores. Cost: Low.

1. Deal 10 cards each for 2 players, 7 for 3 or 4, 6 for 5 or 6.
2. On your turn, draw from the stock or take the top discard.
3. Lay down sets (three or four of a rank) or runs (three or more in sequence, same suit), or add to melds already on the table.
4. Discard one card. First to get rid of all cards wins the hand.

Low-vision option: sort the hand by suit in a card holder. Easier / harder: play without scoring / use the full scoring rules.

Kings Corner

A solitaire-style game for 2 to 4. Materials: one deck. Cost: Low.

1. Deal 7 cards each. Put the stock in the middle and turn four cards face up around it, one on each side.
2. On your turn, draw one card, then play as many as you can: descending order, alternating colors, onto the four piles.
3. Only kings go in the corners.
4. First to play out all their cards wins.

Low-vision option: spread the layout on a dark tablecloth for contrast. Easier / harder: ignore color / play quickly.

War

Pure luck for two, good when concentration is low. Materials: one deck. Cost: Low.

1. Deal the whole deck, 26 each, face down.
2. Both turn up a card; higher card takes both.
3. On a tie, each puts one card face down and one face up; the higher face-up card wins the pile.
4. Play as long as you like; the full game ends when one player has all 52.

Easier / harder: stop after a set time / play best of three.

Making card games easier to handle and see

• Card holder: a tray or stand holds the hand so fingers do not have to. A shoebox lid with a slit cut in it works the same way.
• Large-index decks: cards with oversized numbers and suit symbols in the corners. Compare corner size and contrast; we have not tested any.
• Shuffling: spread the cards face down on the table and swirl them, or let the helper shuffle.
• Light and glare: for low vision, NEI points to more light and less glare; a matte tablecloth and a lamp to one side help.
• Talk the play: each player says what they lay down ("seven of hearts").

Ready-made large-print board games, puzzles and decks are compared in large-print games and puzzles.

Board games for seniors: getting more from the ones on the shelf

Checkers, dominoes, word-tile games and classic family board games are often already in the closet. Ways to adapt them:

Materials: the game, a non-slip mat, a lamp. Cost: Free if owned; Some purchase otherwise.

1. Set the board on a non-slip mat so it does not slide when pieces are moved.
2. Sit side by side rather than across if one player needs help reading.
3. Play a shortened version: first to a lower score, or stop at a set time.
4. Leave the game set up between sessions so it can be picked up again.

Large-print / low-vision option: mark pieces with a bright sticker or felt dot. Easier / harder: play as a team with a helper / use the full rules and a timer. Safety: small tiles and pieces can be swallowed or choked on, so keep them away from a player who mouths things.

Word games that need no set

Twenty questions

Materials: none. Cost: Free.

1. One person thinks of an object, person or place.
2. Others ask yes-or-no questions.
3. Guess before twenty questions run out.

Easier / harder: limit to things in the room / famous people only.

Finish the saying

Materials: a list of proverbs or song lines. Cost: Free.

1. Read the first half: "A penny saved..."
2. The other player finishes it.
3. Talk about where they first heard it.

Easier / harder: offer two choices / ask for the meaning too.

Word ladder

Materials: paper, thick marker. Cost: Free.

1. Write a short word: CAT.
2. Change one letter at a time to make a new word: COT, DOT, DOG.
3. Aim for a target word.

Large-print option: write letters very large on a whiteboard. Easier / harder: no target / four-letter words.

Seated group games for seniors

Balloon volleyball

Materials: a balloon, chairs in a circle. Cost: Low.

1. Seat everyone, no one standing.
2. Tap the balloon to each other and count how many taps before it lands.
3. Try to beat the count.

Easier / harder: a beach ball, which falls slower / two balloons. Safety: stay seated, move furniture back, and ask about latex allergy before using a latex balloon.

Table trivia

Materials: question cards you write from a theme (a decade, a hometown, old movies). Cost: Free.

1. Split into two teams.
2. Read one question per team in turn.
3. Teams confer and answer.

Low-vision option: all questions read aloud. Easier / harder: multiple choice / open answers.

Beanbag toss

Materials: beanbags or rolled socks, a laundry basket. Cost: Low.

1. Place the basket a short distance from seated players.
2. Each throws three.
3. Move the basket back after each round.

Low-vision option: a brightly colored basket against a plain wall. Safety: throw from a chair; the CDC's fall-prevention advice includes removing tripping hazards, so pick up beanbags between rounds.

Playing games with a companion caregiver

A regular card game is one of the easiest ways to fill part of a companion visit, and two-player games such as War, Kings Corner or Crazy Eights need nobody else. A companion can also set up the table, invite a neighbor for a three-handed game, or go with your relative to a games afternoon nearby. See what a companion can do on a visit, bingo for seniors and activities for seniors at home.

A companion job on CaregiverConnect is free to post, and the hire is yours to make; CaregiverConnect leaves background checks to families (safety). The companion care page explains the role, and caregiver search shows who is nearby.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Bicycle, How to play Crazy Eights
2. Bicycle, How to play Go Fish
3. Bicycle, How to play Rummy (Rum)
4. Bicycle, How to play Kings Corner
5. Bicycle, How to play War
6. National Eye Institute, Low vision
7. CDC, Older adult fall prevention