Staying sharp as you age is not only important for your health and quality of life, but also your finances. The average cost of memory care in the United States is $6,935 per month, which will put a significant dent in your nest egg. Although you can’t change your genetics, there are steps you can take to keep your mind as active as possible, such as playing memory games. Being proactive and working on your brain health now will hopefully help you reduce elder care costs in your golden years. Here are the top 10 AARP games that will engage your brain while helping you relax and have fun.
10 AARP Games to Help You Stay Sharp
Mem Machines
Mem Machines is an entertaining matching game for AARP members. At the beginning of the round, you’ll be shown machines that have various buttons and levers on them. You’ll have a limited amount of time to commit the design of these machines to memory before they disappear. Then the game will test your memory by showing you a machine and ask if you’ve seen it before, which you can answer by checking yes or no.
The game even shows you the accuracy of your responses and the time it took you to choose your answer at the end of the round. This allows you to compete with yourself and try to improve your performance each time you play. However, you have to be an AARP member to play, so keep that in mind.
AARP Trivia
Trivia requires you to remember important facts and can help improve your recall. The best trivia-related AARP game is Right Again! Trivia, which is free to play. There’s a new set of trivia questions every day with topics ranging from art history to travel. If you’re a football or baseball lover, there’s even a sports version that allows you to test your knowledge of your favorite games.
The unique thing about these trivia games is that the final question is a puzzle. You’ll receive clues to help you solve it throughout the game. The more questions you answer correctly, the easier the final question will be to solve. This final round adds an extra layer of cognitive challenge to trivia to help keep your mind sharp.
Daily Crosswords
If you’re looking for more free AARP games to engage your brain, check out the daily crossword. It has a leaderboard that tracks the top scores of the day, month, and week so you can see how your performance stacks up to other players. There are also several variations of the daily crossword, including a quick version if you’re short on time and an American trivia crossword. There’s even an anagram crossword that you need to break out a dictionary to play.
If those aren’t enough AARP games for you, then you can become an AARP member to unlock even more daily crossword puzzles, such as the easy crossword and the hard version for an extra challenge.
Blackjack
Blackjack is a game of strategy that requires you to figure out when to stop taking cards to avoid going over 21. You have to perform mental calculations based on your hand and the dealer’s upcard, which helps keep your brain sharp.
However, going to the casino to play blackjack for the brain benefits isn’t a smart move because you could lose money. Luckily AARP has a digital version of blackjack its members can play to keep their minds sharp without risking any cash. It even features a leaderboard so you can see the best scores of the day, week, and month to compare your performance to top players.
Word Wipe
Word Wipe is a challenging free game that can help you maintain your vocabulary and language skills. The objective of Word Wipe is to clear the board by forming as many words as you can within a short time limit. You’ll earn more points for forming bigger words, so try to string lots of letters together to earn your spot on the leaderboard!
SongTheme
Listening to music is a great way to keep your mind active and healthy. Studies have shown that hearing music can improve your memory, mood, and mental alertness. According to Johns Hopkins, jamming to music is a total brain workout, not to mention a great way to have fun!
One of AARP’s games called SongTheme can help you experience the mental benefits of music. It’s a song matching game that requires you to submit song recommendations based on specific themes or prompts. For instance, right now AARP is asking for songs by musicians who sadly passed away in 2023. The game is even integrated with Spotify so you can create playlists and listen to songs submitted by other users.
Retro Games
AARP also offers a host of retro games on their website. Games include Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Missile Command, Pong, Space Pinball, Snake, and Throwback Crosswords. The wide variety of games challenges you to remember multiple sets of rules and controls, which can improve your memory.
Plus, studies have shown that seniors experience the most cognitive benefits from playing unfamiliar games, so having access to a wide range of games will help you stay sharp. These classic video games will also boost your hand-eye coordination, which is crucial for completing everyday tasks such as cooking and grasping objects.
Mahjongg
Mahjongg is a fun tile matching game that has been shown to improve cognitive function in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment. There are several Mahjongg AARP games to choose from, including a holiday version, a candy-themed tile matching game, a solitaire version, and more. The wide variety of different versions ensures that you’ll never get bored!
2048
This tile matching game called 2048 is part of the lineup of members-only AARP games. It features a grid full of tiles that all have numbers on them. Your objective is to combine these numbered tiles to create new tiles with higher numbers on them. If you merge enough tiles to reach the number 2048, you’ll win the game.
This game requires you to perform mental math to determine which numbers you should combine, which can help improve your logical reasoning. This puzzle can also boost your pattern recognition and spatial awareness as you move tiles around on the grid. But you’ll hardly notice that you’re exercising your mind because you’re having so much fun!
Word Search
A study of older adults performed by the University of Exeter showed that doing word puzzles daily can help you perform better on cognitive tests. Word puzzles can keep your mind active and improve your attention, information processing, executive function, and memory. A great way to take advantage of the cognitive benefits of word puzzles is to play AARP’s word search game. It features words associated with African American culture to help you learn important history and engage your brain.
What are your favorite ways to keep your mind sharp? Share your tips in the comments!
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