Board games are highly entertaining but aren’t just for kids. They also offer a fun pastime for residents in Independent Living and Assisted Living communities, with a surprising array of benefits for aging adults. Whether you’re looking for some friendly competition or a tournament-style showdown, these games provide hours of enjoyment while keeping minds sharp and spirits high. Let’s explore some benefits of board games and a few recommendations for your next game night.

Benefits of Playing Board Games

Playing board games offers an opportunity to socialize with other residents within your senior living community while reducing isolation, relieving stress and getting beneficial mental exercise. Incorporating gameplay into your weekly routine provides enjoyable and meaningful experiences along with various other benefits for aging adults, including: 

• Encourages get-togethers. Board games are great at bringing people together because they serve as a catalyst for social interaction and encourage a sense of community among residents of Independent Living and Assisted Living communities. Playing games also provides plenty of laughs and camaraderie as you form meaningful connections with others. Whether it’s just a casual game night or a regularly scheduled tournament, board games unite seniors looking for lively entertainment.
• Supports overall cognition. Seniors flex their mental muscles as they try to think of the right answers, plan their next moves and adapt to changing game dynamics. Engaging in strategic thinking, problem-solving and recollection while playing board games also offers a mental workout that helps maintain cognitive function. This cognitive stimulation can help keep your mind sharp and positively contribute to your overall cognitive health. According to a study featured in The Journals of Gerontology, playing more games resulted in less cognitive decline from age 70 to 79 among those studied.
• Strengthens memory retention. Many board games require players to remember rules and objectives, enhancing memory retention skills. Some games may require you to recall specific information or actions taken in previous plays, further helping you exercise your memory. Regular gameplay can help aging adults retain and even improve their ability to remember details, which is essential for everyday tasks and activities.
• Enhances mental clarity. Board games require focused attention, potentially enhancing mental clarity and improving concentration. When seniors concentrate during gameplay, they block out distractions and stay present in the moment. This level of engagement helps sharpen focus and clarity, reducing confusion and indecision and promoting a sense of calm that improves overall well-being.

4 Board Games to Consider for Game Night

1. Trivial Pursuit – Generations is like the classic Trivial Pursuit but breaks the questions down by generation. Each card has five generation-specific questions players can choose from, ranging from the Greatest Generation to Generation Z. Besides the included questions, you can also create your own, personalizing the game. This version of Trivial Pursuit also features larger cards with easier-to-read print, allowing older adults to see them better and enjoy reminiscing while exercising their memories.
2. Aggravation features a vintage design with retro artwork and brings back the nostalgic marble game where players race to get all their marbles from the starting Base to Home. Aggravate your opponents by landing on one of their marbles and sending it back to Base to start the journey over. Aggravation has easy rules that appeal to all skill levels and guarantees loads of laughs through friendly competition and lively social interaction.
3. Really Loud Librarians encourages players to get loud as they shout out words matching the category drawn and beginning with the letters on the racetrack. Players split into two teams, allowing for larger groups, with each team getting 60 seconds per play to shout as many words and move as many spaces as possible around the board. The team that moves the furthest in each round wins points, with 12 points being the goal to win the game. This exciting board game requires you to think fast and provides light physical activity.
4. Chronology combines history with hilarity as players try to decide what came first. Which was invented first, decaffeinated coffee or mayonnaise? A player who knows the answer builds their time line of cards, with a goal of 10 cards containing events in chronological order to win. Seniors might enjoy jogging their memories while trying to figure out the order of things, with memorable historical events mixed in with forgettable ones and lots of laughs in between.

These are just a few games that can provide a night of entertainment as you reap the benefits of exercising your memory and interacting with others. Montereau offers a wide variety of activities and services to help seniors lead an engaging lifestyle. From Independent Living to Home Care, we’ve got you covered. Book your tour today by calling 918-495-1500.