Retirement Community Activities: Game Programs That Work

Game programs are the most common retirement community activities on any calendar and, in our experience, the most unevenly run. One community has a Tuesday euchre table that has met for eleven years and would riot if cancelled. The one down the road has “Game Time, 2:00, Activity Room” and three people who wander in for the cookies. The games are the same. The program is not.

This article is for activity directors, life enrichment staff, volunteers, and family members who want to understand what separates the first room from the second. It draws on what residents, staff, and volunteers describe, and on the research on why this matters.

Why do game programs matter in senior living?

Because they are the cheapest reliable way to do the thing the research says matters most.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 advisory on loneliness associated chronic loneliness or isolation with roughly 50 percent higher dementia risk in older adults, more than double the odds of depression, and premature death. A 2011 systematic review of programs for socially isolated older adults found that group-based programs were more likely to report an improvement than one-to-one ones, roughly four in five versus just over half, though the underlying studies were uneven in quality. And the Lothian Birth Cohort in Scotland found that people who played more non-digital games like cards and board games in their 70s scored better on memory and thinking tests, and that those who played more over the decade showed less decline. The researchers described the association as small and did not claim cause.

A good game program is group-based, recurring, in person, and mentally engaging, all at once, for the cost of a few decks of cards. Few other line items on an activity budget can say that.

What separates a game program that lasts from one that fades?

We asked that question of everyone we could, and the answers cluster into six things.

1. The same game at the same time, every week. Residents build their week around standing commitments. “Euchre, Tuesday, 2:00” becomes an identity. “Game Time” with a rotating activity becomes an option, and options get skipped. Pick a game, give it a slot, and do not move it for a year.

2. A resident owns it. The programs that survive staff turnover are the ones where a resident keeps the scorebook, calls people who miss a week, and teaches newcomers. Staff set up the room and then get out of the way. Find that person early. They are usually already running something informal.

3. The group has a name and a record. A standings sheet on the wall, a running tally, a trophy that moves. It sounds small. It turns an activity into a club.

4. New people are recruited in person, by residents. Flyers do almost nothing. “Dorothy asked me to come” does everything. Give the regulars the job of filling the fourth chair.

5. The game matches the room, not the catalog. This is covered below, but the short version is that the games residents already know beat the games a vendor recommends.

6. There is no timer and no fuss. A slow turn is fine. An unfinished game is fine. A program that makes people feel rushed or tested loses the people who most need it.

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Which games work in a retirement community?

Start with what residents played at 35, then add a few that are easy to learn and adapt well. The table below groups them by setting.

Regional knowledge matters. In Indiana, euchre is close to universal among people over 70. In Pennsylvania it is pinochle, in parts of the South it is spades or rook, and in many Jewish communities it is mahjong. Ask. The residents will tell you.

Avoid games with small text, long rulebooks, timers, or elimination. Nobody wants to be knocked out and sit watching for forty minutes.

How do you adapt a program for vision, hearing, hands, and memory?

Most failed sessions are environment failures. Fix the room first.

• Light. Table lamps in addition to overhead light. No one seated facing a bright window.
• Cards and tiles. Large-print decks, card holders, jumbo dominoes, large-number Rummikub, a battery shuffler on every table.
• Tables. Round or square tables of four beat long tables. Keep shared pieces within easy reach.
• Sound. Television off. One conversation per table. The facilitator sits beside, not across from, the resident who hears least.
• Rules. A one-page large-print rules card on every table, so nobody has to ask twice.
• Pace. Sixty to ninety minutes, early or mid-afternoon, with a pause. Games that can stop and resume next week are better than ones that must finish.
• Memory. Consistency is the adaptation. Same room, same table, same facilitator, same game. Novelty is fine in the game itself; it is hard on the structure around it.

For a closer look at the individual table, what a 90-year-old’s game night looks like walks through the setup in detail.

How do you bring families and volunteers in?

The best game programs are porous. Families and outside volunteers come in, and residents occasionally go out.

Families. Invite adult children and grandchildren to the standing game rather than to a special event. A grandchild who comes to Tuesday euchre twice becomes a regular; one who comes to Grandparents’ Day comes once. The grandparent-grandchild game describes why this bond forms so well across a board.

Volunteers. Local game groups, high school clubs, churches, and scout troops will often send people. Give them one job: be the fourth at a table. Do not ask them to run the room.

Game lounges and cafes. Where a community has one nearby, a monthly outing to a game lounge in the afternoon is a real event for independent-living residents, and the lounge gets a table of people who know how to play. The Ludarium intends to host exactly this in Indianapolis.

Social prescribing. A growing number of health systems and community organizations refer isolated older adults to group activities directly. Social prescribing and game nights explains the model and how a community program can be on the receiving end of it.

What are the common mistakes?

Quickly, because they are easy to avoid once named.

1. Rotating the game every week so nobody builds competence or attachment.
2. Scheduling in the evening, when energy is lowest.
3. Staff running the table instead of residents.
4. Buying new games from a catalog instead of asking residents what they already play.
5. Using timers, elimination, or anything that makes a slow player feel watched.
6. Cancelling for low turnout in the first month. Programs take about eight to twelve weeks to find their people. Give it a season.

The game is the reason. The people are the point. In a retirement community, where the people are often the ones with the most to lose from isolation, that is the entire program.

FAQ

What are good game activities for a retirement community?

Standing weekly card games such as euchre, bridge, or pinochle, plus Rummikub, dominoes, Skip-Bo, Yahtzee, Qwirkle, bingo, and team games like Codenames: Pictures. Choose what residents already know first.

How do you get residents to attend game programs?

Hold the same game at the same time every week, let a resident own the group, keep a visible standings sheet, and have regulars personally invite newcomers. Flyers alone rarely work.

What games work for seniors with dementia?

In memory care, sorting and matching games, dominoes, large picture cards, and simple familiar activities with a consistent facilitator work best. Focus on the process and the company rather than winning.

How long should a senior game session last?

Sixty to ninety minutes in the early or mid-afternoon, with a pause, is a reliable length. Pick games that can be set aside and resumed next week.

More ideas for your activity calendar

The Ludarium writes about play across the whole lifespan, and the Indianapolis lounge we are building will have a standing afternoon table for exactly this crowd. If you run programs for older adults, subscribe to the Ludarium newsletter for new usable ideas on games and togethering.