Board Game Arena

Hey All,

My mom is retired and in her early 70's. She loves playing solitaire on her computer. Anyway, I was curious if the community has suggestions for games on BGA that would be easy for an elderly person to learn and play.

I'd like to start her off playing some simple games and then see where she wants to go from there.
I was thinking games that have simple rules, few decisions to make, and maybe something visually simple(not many complex patterns or colors).

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

I know two games with the name of Solitaire, so I am not sure which one you are talking about. If you mean the card game also known as Klondike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_(solitaire), I’d suggest Spite and Malice, a somewhat similar game for 1-4 players. If you mean peg solitaire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peg_solitaire, you might start with Chinese Checkers or Battle of Lits.

I have listed here https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=107984 a huge number of games not too complex. Although this list was originally created to help finding games for kids of the age of 6-8, you may get there some ideas for your situation as well.

Are you looking for more Solo play games or open to games Vs other plaers?

No Thanks is a pretty simple to learn game, only a couple of things you can do each turn but still very fun

Kings in a corner will be more like the solitaire she knows. Goto games. Click on short games. Check them out and look for 0 or 1 complexity. Nearly all of those games she will be able to play. Many casual games the same. Dice games. Farkle, Martian dice, can't stop, shut the box. Just to name a few. Cards games. 31, speed99, Odin, rummy, to name a few. Most games on bga also lead you thru a game and highlight choices to make it easier.

101: The Match are Drop Down Poker Solitaire two possibilities. The latter is solo only.

6 Nimmt. One problem with it (and with a lot of popular games here) is you get some opponents who are all rush, rush, rush.

This raises the question of real-time vs. turn-based. Turn-based could allow her to take on slightly heavier games. Real-time might feel more natural, but can also be stressful against opponents.

There's a number of traditional games on BGA that they may already be familiar with: Backgammon, Checkers, Bridge and Cribbage.

Cant stop, Captain Flip and 7 Wonders Architects are all fun games with fairly limited choices

My Mum, who is 80+, enjoys Kingdomino, Lucky Numbers and Sushi Go

Fizzy_Soda wrote: ↑18 November 2025, 13:40 I was thinking games that have simple rules, few decisions to make, and maybe something visually simple(not many complex patterns or colors).

She may already be familiar with Yahtzee (also known as Yacht, General, Kniffel, etc), which is available here on BGA. Games are quick, few decisions need to be made, and the site even highlights which fields the dice result can be entered into.

A step up from Yahtzee, but still easy to understand and play, is Qwinto. It's slightly more complex and there are more decisions to be made, but she'll understand how to play it within a few minutes. It's been popular with my friends when it's late, we're waiting for food to arrive, or we're looking for a fast game that doesn't require much mental bandwidth.

Dodo
https://www.marksteeregames.com/Dodo_rules.pdf

Just move forward until you can't and you win.

I purposely designed Dodo so that even a "dodo" can play it. (Not to suggest that your mom is a dodo.)

Yahtzee, Can't Stop, and all the other games suggested here are WAY more complicated than Dodo.

It's actually a decent game and a hard game to play well. It's mostly played by Japanese people here on BGA.

Someone mentioned "looking for a fast game that doesn't require much mental bandwidth." This is a perfect description of both 420 and Run Buster, the two most popular of my 20 games on BGA.

Thanks all! I appreciate all the suggestions. I'll introduce her to a few.

Thanks again!!