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Love that song, and am coming to love games again as well.
Now I have your attention, what old games are getting you through shut-in and lockdown?
My partner and I were remembering all the games of our childhood. Grandparents who played Euchre by the hour. We looked up the Rummy rules and it came back just as quickly as riding a bike. We play the occasional game of bananagrams, Scrabble, but haven't broken out the chess set or the Viking game or the backgammon. Haven't seen the Queen's Gambit yet, though. Kids downstairs are enamored of Battleship. An old game to me, but new to them. They're both studying to be Lawyers, and it gives them a break. A good friend does puzzles.
I so remember all the fun my bro and I had of a Sunday night when we, poor as church mice, played Parchesi and Monopoly by the hour, split a pint of ice cream four ways, and listened to radio dramas as a family. Was how I came to love the Marshall, Matt Dillon.
You can only garden, sew, walk, read, and watch TV so much. I guess the game I play most is Solitaire, and occ. the partner and I play together but separate at the same table.
Do you do cellphone games? I am not fully into the 21st century yet with my jitterbug.
What games are you playing?
What game would you give for Christmas?
And one last question. We were amazed how quickly Rummy came back to us; do any of the seniors you care for still remember card games in the same way they sometimes have a sort of automatic memory of such things as piano playing?

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I'm solo so I'm glad that the internet is available to be my partner. I play a few games of scrabble and micosoft's spider and freecell every day - back in my caregiving days I used to gauge how stressed I was by how well I played 🤣. I like to do the occasional crossword or jigsaw puzzle too. In real life I HATE playing games, that's because I can't handle the pressure and/or the disapproval from the other players - I guess I've never gotten over being the youngest and therefore most incompetent player when I was little!
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CWillie, the Sunday New York Times Puzzle Page has a word puzzle I just love, in which they give letters and you have to see how many words you can get. I am always incompetent at cards. Everyone wants to sit on the side I pass to if it's that kind of game. I pride myself on my ineptness at card games! I do better at Chess because it's WAR and I am pretty good at war.
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Euchre is still a popular senior activity here, there are frequent progressive euchre tournaments (or at least there were pre covid). Solo is another popular tournament card game and there are intense rivalries between local communities, I learned to play that when I was younger but have no idea how to play now (thank goodness), if you don't know it I think this game has German roots. Pickle ball is the newest craze for those who want to play something more active, back in my grandmother's day (80's & 90's) it was shuffleboard. Games I didn't hate - yahtzee, bunco, snakes & ladders, Chinese checkers, dominoes, backgammon... 🤔
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I'm partial to Mah Jong.  I do like Solitaire and Dominoes and Tri-Ominoes.  They remind me so much of evening games at home, after dinner.    We used to play Canasta with neighbors but that was decades ago, and now I wouldn't consider it b/c of the pandemic.   But I do enjoy playing against myself.  

We used to play Chinese Checkers as well; that's something I might resurrect.

Playing games was so relaxing. 

Unfortunately, any automatic memory I might have seems to have been filed away in unknown storage areas.   I do plan to practice piano again as eventually I want to play in rehab centers as I did years ago.    That was a very worthwhile endeavor.
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Wow, GardenArtist. I always wondered about MahJong. Isn't it impossibly difficult.
My Mom played piano. I refused lessons in all my wisdom (not). So not in this life, and I wish music was more in my life.
CWillie, you may be right about Euchre. My lineage all German, and the Grandparents were from Germany.
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This year my 'gift' to my kids and their families is a literal BAG of games--new ones, mostly, but a couple of vintage ones that I had to search high and low to buy. I also went online to a specialty printer and put together family puzzles for each family. They all have BIG puzzles with pic from the last year and pics of the cuzzies and of my DH and me. They turned out adorably well and my kids are all big puzzlers, so that's one gift they should enjoy.

I put a 'letter' in each bag and told them the idea behind the games was to spend more time together as a family in 2021 as we await the slow return of our 'normal lives' if they ever do.

It remains to be seen if this very- time consuming chore was a hit or miss. With my son's kids, who are spoiled absolutely rotten--I doubt they'll like it--but the other 4 families should.

Anyway--I am ALL DONE with Christmas shopping and it feels good. I can spend December doing service projects and relaxing a little.

I have such memories of playing endless hands of Canasta with my grandmother. I mean---hours on end. We had such fun. I can't even remember how to play, but I do remember my grandma was one big cheater and we loved to catch her out.

I play Batteship on ZOOM with my 10 yo granddaughter and she beats me every time. It's kind of embarrassing. But it's a really fun game for a quick ZOOM, if you don't have a lot to talk about with a younger kid.
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Midkid, what a great gift for the grandkids.
I cut school to play canasta with Mary Ann and Gaye and Shirley. Wouldn't you know I would cut school before I cut most of my teeth!
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I have my Grandkids playing Monopoly with me. Great thing is I have each one of them take turns being the "banker" (can you say teaching math skills)
I have them hooked on Gin, Rummy, Crazy Eights (weren't they surprised to find out it is just like UNO!) I am working on Spades with them.
I have taught them several types of Solitaire games some on the computer some with "real" cards.
I truly want them to get into Scrabble a bit more but it is tough. They seem to like numbers more than letters. (I am opposite)
Several different Dice games and they both love Yahtzee.
My Granddaughter has found a love for reading and for her birthday (12 years) I gave her The Book Thief. For some reason she has become fascinated with that era. (we were watching Woman in Gold last week)
And baking! (again with math skills)
Art projects are always a go to.
I love the idea of a Bag O Games! That might be one I put together for the whole family.
On New Years we do a "Pizza Taste Off" We order 3 pizzas from 3 different places and we each try 1 piece of each and vote for the best. Then we play what the kids call "Drunk Cards" my daughter and I will finish off a bottle of bubbly while we all play cards. Then about 10:00 pm I walk home.

Thanks for starting this, gives me some ideas.
I might have to get out the Dominos.
Look up the rules to Backgammon and teach (and learn ) a few new games.
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I am a crafter, reader so I have time now to start by doing more reading, crocheting and painting ceramics. I also love to garden and cook.
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I'd totally forgotten about Parchesi and it was one of our favorites as kids, along with Trouble (with Pop-O-Matic!!), Life, Clue, Operation, checkers, Yahtzee. We lived in a small coal mining town where everybody, I suppose, was borderline poor but my parents always made sure we had toys at Christmas and taught us to value them. When we outgrew our toys (and clothes) they got handed down to cousins. I still have my Lite Brite and Monopoly game (remember when there was only the classic version?) both of which were gifts probably around 1970.

Later in life my husband and I would play partner pinochle with my mom and dad nearly every Friday night in the fall and winter at their house, mom and I teamed against my husband and dad because the "rule" was that married couples should never be pinochle partners... mom would make dinner or we'd order a pizza and then we'd play cards until midnight, singing along with Casey Kasem's Coast To Coast Countdown on the radio. Those nights are some of my happiest memories that I never, ever want to forget. Now I play pinochle against the computer; since mom passed away neither of the guys wants to play 3-handed cut throat pinochle.

cwillie I also play the Microsoft solitaire games... I hate playing online with other people and would much rather either play against the computer or just solo for pretty much the same reason.

Great topic, took my mind off things in the nicest way possible for at least a few minutes.
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There is a game called Triominoes which we must have played hundreds of times with my Dad. It's lots of fun and different every time.
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Great thread! I love picture puzzles of all kinds, and word games, too--Boggle is one my sister and I played endlessly, and Scattergories is another good one. I am very visual. Used to love Mastermind. And Rummikub is a fun tile variation on Rummy.

There are a couple of soothing visual matching phone games out there--one called "butterflies" and another called "Tiles", from the New York Times. Crosswords are great, too, but they have to hit that sweet spot between possible and challenging. Not too easy, not to hard.
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I play Scrabble, but on an iPad as my family aren’t fans. We do a Christmas puzzle every year and then pass it to a friend for her to do next. Here’s and odd or interesting memory, I’m not sure if I was seeing first runs or reruns, but I have an early childhood memory of the show Family Affair. There was a butler who played chess with a friend, I think somewhere in Europe (England?) They each had their board set up and awaited letters back and forth to see what move each had made. No idea why I remember this, but can you imagine the patience to play a game at that slow speed?!
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Mom 95 has trouble with most organizing and reasoning, but is still a whiz at Mah Jonng and Mexican Train! Even her beloved puzzles are too difficult, but the games are still there! She still wins all the money!
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We just broke out the old Viking Game. Because it is an easy game of WAR, absolute and utter, I love it. I will sit now and play by myself, first as kind, next as attacker. Watch a few YouTubes on it and you may want to play it as well.
Scandinavian name is Hnefatafl. Don't ask me to say it.
Weeroo, I love that about your Mom.
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What we tend to do as adults is return to the simple card games we played as children. We also play boardgames, old and new, but family games of hearts, various rummy games, crazy 8's and spades are what we play most. We have given up the more complicated games of canasta, pinochole (shoot, I can't even remember how to spell it!), and bridge that we played in our prime years and have returned to the simple games that require little thought or strategy. Mostly those games are a background to the conversation that is the real reason we get together. Since March we have pretty much only seen each other on Zoom and FaceTime calls as we each wait out the pandemic alone in our own homes, but we look forward to resuming these games as soon as we can.

I loved Queens's Gambit, though I was never a good chess player, and always loved Parcheesi and Monopoly. We used to play Monopoly on the set my Dad's family got back in WWII or just after.

I never got into cell phone games, though I do play Runescape, an online multiplayer computer game which often has hundreds of thousands of players at a time. I have a group of about 30 friends there from around the world that I only know in that game.

Thanks for the questions, it is fun remembering back to the '50's when we played games every night in the winter and when it was too hot to play outside in the summer.
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Interacting with an elder, I would think COLORS, points (and get excited for them when they 'win', and realizing that it is the CONNECTION and CARING the elder feels with you that matters most. With this said:

I'm wondering if play dough would be good? Make sure no one eats it.

With my older friend, Jer (87), I play scrabble with a 'real' board that my client, Anne (101!) gave me during one of her 'cleaning out' sessions. It is a magnetic board which makes placing the letters easier although the letters are small. Still, playing w/Jerry, I need to be patient and remind him "you can go up-down or side-ways 'hooking' on to a letter already on the board - and ALL need to be words.

While I am not advocating using an iPad or phone for games, I'm personally totally hooked on computer SCRABBLE, blackjack (21) = got up to over a billion so started over and over... and if locked out of those, backgammon or hearts. THESE ARE STRESS RELIEVERS for me.

Unfortunately ... I'm too young to know of some of the games mentioned here. I played whisk/bridge, poker, Chinese checkers, monopoly as a kid. I created my own 5 card draw poker game. Low card wild; two card exchanges which could easily change the wild care. Lots of fun. I'm a low-grade gambler at heart. Gena.
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If you want to gift some games that your folks like, here are a few: Phase 10, Monopoly Deal, Codenames, Nertz, and many games with regular playing cards are also very popular.
we play games with our young adult children every week!
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There is an edible playdough that I learned about when I was doing my old job.
Applesauce and enough cinnamon to make a dough . Yeah not real good to eat but nothing harmful. And it smells good and it can be shaped and dried to make ornaments. (I think it comes out to equal portions of applesauce and cinnamon)
I suppose the only real "problem" with it is that it is brown. Not a real pretty color, not a Holiday color but at least it smells pretty good.
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Thrifty parents have been making a simple "edible" play dough for decades, there are different recipes but the basics are flour, salt and water (veg oil?) with food colour as desired. This dough can be dried/baked for crafts and ornaments or saved in an air proof container or bag to mould again and again.
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I too am not techie (maybe by choice?)...but I enjoy the word search(newspaper) daily. I time myself as a challenge.
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Imho, I play as many games as I can in wakeful hours to keep a lucid mind. I play three different type games on social media with a variety of players, some friends and some are not. In addition, I uploaded the newer version of two of these games, allowing me to play additional opponents. As well, I play games through AARP. There are a lot, increasing in skill levels. I like to challenge myself to get better also. Although I must admit I do like to win, that is never my goal. Originally I started playing when a non blood relative was dx'd with Alzheimer's.
Though not a game, I also love to author greeting cards that I gift.
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I had no idea AARP had games. How do you access these, Llamalover?
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My teen aged and twenty-something children introduced me to “Ticket to Ride”, a board game that can be played with 2-5 people, and “Pandemic” which is a game in which all players work together try to rid the world of a particular disease. Believe it or not, the latter was created long before covid. Both are lots of fun.

Rook is my favorite card game but you need 4 people to play and that’s not always possible these days.

This was a wonderful idea for a thread, Alva!
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Suz I had no idea there was a game called Pandemic. That is sure a fascinating one and wonder if now it is completely sold out.
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