Memory-training games

[Matt77]

My friend has learned that his short-term memory is damaged due to our old friend, cancer. He needs to exercise it. He asked me to suggest some games.

He's not a gamer and not into sci-fi. He's an ex-submariner so I think Silent Hunter would suit him, and he's also interested in flight sims to a point. He's interested in WWII. Problem is, his current PC is an old laptop with no 3d capability. I don't think he'd be interested in most casual games, so stuff like Brain Training is out. Oh he loves music too.

As I said he's not a gamer so skill-based or twitch games are a no.

Any ideas?

[Shpaget]

You (or him) should seriously not be asking for medical advice on internet.

Why not have a neurologist suggest something?

[Flymetothemun]

He might be interested in Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 & 2; It isn't a memory game per se but if you wanna build anything like a rollercoaster you gotta remember where you want it to go, where the station is to make the track a loop, what you might want to name it, etc.

SpaceChem's also a game he might like; Think a really complex, really nice version of the classic Sokoban. And on that thought, he might also like Sokoban, it's essentially moving boxes around a maze to get them into various positions. There are many clones out there to suit his OS and specs; Just look around.

There is also a game called LYNE that is essentially connecting together like shapes in a grid without the line of one shape crossing over the line of another shape.

There is also a game called Words For Evil that he may like; It's essentially fighting a series of monsters by making words out of a grid of letters.

You might also want to take a look at some old DOS games. You can get them running on DOSBox and you can edit the files to where when he starts it up it'll do any mounting for him and even point him towards a menu if you wish. There are a few sub games I've seen so far, and all of them seem to be good. And all these games are free and they'll run on anything. PM me if you want any help setting up DOSBox..

Dos games websites:

http://www.abandonia.com/

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games/v2

http://www.dosgames.com/

and DOSBox: http://www.dosbox.com/

I've just provided some general, leaning towards casual games. If you're looking for something in a WWII realm, you might not get much because most of them are FPS's and I gather that FPS's aren't suitable for him. This may help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_video_games. And since he's interested in Flightsims, Why not pick up a copy of FS2004? FSX might not run on his hardware and any computer built within the past 5 years will run it a treat. You can pick up a joystick for under 50 bucks too.

And no, I didn't just look these up. I don't like twitchy, fast-paced games too much and most of the games I play are what you've specified.

- - - Updated - - -

You (or him) should seriously not be asking for medical advice on internet.

Why not have a neurologist suggest something?

I wouldn't say he's asking for medical advice; Medical advice for this situation would be like "How do I improve his memory?" When all he's asking for are games that would suit his memory deficit and maybe make it better.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Flymetothemun

[Matt77]

He might be interested in Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 & 2; It isn't a memory game per se but if you wanna build anything like a rollercoaster you gotta remember where you want it to go, where the station is to make the track a loop, what you might want to name it, etc.

SpaceChem's also a game he might like; Think a really complex, really nice version of the classic Sokoban. And on that thought, he might also like Sokoban, it's essentially moving boxes around a maze to get them into various positions. There are many clones out there to suit his OS and specs; Just look around.

There is also a game called LYNE that is essentially connecting together like shapes in a grid without the line of one shape crossing over the line of another shape.

There is also a game called Words For Evil that he may like; It's essentially fighting a series of monsters by making words out of a grid of letters.

You might also want to take a look at some old DOS games. You can get them running on DOSBox and you can edit the files to where when he starts it up it'll do any mounting for him and even point him towards a menu if you wish. There are a few sub games I've seen so far, and all of them seem to be good. And all these games are free and they'll run on anything. PM me if you want any help setting up DOSBox.

Dos games websites:

http://www.abandonia.com/

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games/v2

http://www.dosgames.com/

and DOSBox: http://www.dosbox.com/

I've just provided some general, leaning towards casual games. If you're looking for something in a WWII realm, you might not get much because most of them are FPS's and I gather that FPS's aren't suitable for him. This may help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_video_games. And since he's interested in Flightsims, Why not pick up a copy of FS2004? FSX might not run on his hardware and any computer built within the past 5 years will run it a treat. You can pick up a joystick for under 50 bucks too.

And no, I didn't just look these up. I don't like twitchy, fast-paced games too much and most of the games I play are what you've specified.

- - - Updated - - -

I wouldn't say he's asking for medical advice; Medical advice for this situation would be like "How do I improve his memory?" When all he's asking for are games that would suit his memory deficit and maybe make it better.

Thanks, interesting post. For the record his memory isn't chronic, it has just been highlighted in tests. I'll google those games but I think they may be a little too abstract for a non-gamer? I suggested sims to him because you have to continually remember how to do things. I'm not sure if this is a short-term memory exercise though, I suspect it becomes long-term after you've done something a couple of times. I wondered about rogue-likes, as although each play-through is usually different, remembering things does seem to be key in some.

You (or him) should seriously not be asking for medical advice on internet.

Why not have a neurologist suggest something?

I'm not asking for medical advice. I'm asking for ideas on what games might stretch the short-term memory, given that he's not a gamer and his computer is rubbish!

Edit: Oh, I remember Sokoban. I think he needs something more realistic - tycoon games possibly are a better angle. I'm not sure if dosbox games will have an interface too difficult - I'll have to see if his laptop could handle something like Silent Hunter III, maybe - mine did ten years ago, but I'm not sure about his graphics hardware.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Matt77

[Flymetothemun]

Thanks, interesting post. For the record his memory isn't chronic, it has just been highlighted in tests. I'll google those games but I think they may be a little too abstract for a non-gamer? I suggested sims to him because you have to continually remember how to do things. I'm not sure if this is a short-term memory exercise though, I suspect it becomes long-term after you've done something a couple of times. I wondered about rogue-likes, as although each play-through is usually different, remembering things does seem to be key in some.

Edit: Oh, I remember Sokoban. I think he needs something more realistic - tycoon games possibly are a better angle. I'm not sure if dosbox games will have an interface too difficult - I'll have to see if his laptop could handle something like Silent Hunter III, maybe - mine did ten years ago, but I'm not sure about his graphics hardware.

I wouldn't say they're abstract; LYNE and WFE are simple,

a bit complex, but they all have tutorials. All the games I mentioned also build up from simple and forgiving to a bit more challenging; RCT2's menu in particular has skill level categories for all the scenarios.

But, since you said that the tycoon angle might be more productive, You might wanna try Industry Giant 2. It's a game where you manage a company and manufacture and sell product from raw materials to supply chain to factory to store. It'll probably take a bit of work to get it running if he's using Win7 and up. The Tropico series might also be a good game for him; It's essentially a game where you manage your own banana republic, and no, I'm not talking about the store. I'd recommend Tropico 3-5 for the better graphics and interface but if they don't run then 2 and 1 probably will. The Civilization series would also be great, you've probably heard about it, and at this point it needs no introduction. Civ V might be a bit too taxing on his computer, I'd go with III or IV. There's also an Open Source version available for free. All of these, except for the OS Civ which I'm not sure of, have tutorials that he can play to learn the ropes.

And as for the DOS game interfaces, I've found that it depends on who made it and on the topic of the game. If it's something by Lucasarts or Sierra, the interface will be fantastic. If it's by Joe Schmoe who's programming from his apartment in Nowhere, Alabama, it'll be horrible.

Edited September 29, 2015 by Flymetothemun

[Matt77]

Thank you very much for your advice - I'll get back to you asap.

On further thought I'll show him this thread and show him screenies, see what he says. I usually get a free bacon sandwich when I go to see him so I'll update in a few days ;-)

[Robotengineer]

Dwarf Fortress. you have to remember your dwarves, who they are, what they like, what you built, what you have queued, etc. It is the most mentally taxing game I have played. And the one song sound track is good.

(I must be starting to sound like a Dwarf Fortress evangelist, every time someone asks for a game recommendation on this forum, I recommend DF, why? 1) It is the only other game I play regularly other than KSP, and 2) it really is a good game.)

[RainDreamer]

Give him some puzzle / puzzle platformer games. Those require players to learn skills and repeat them in various situation. I recommend Portal and Portal 2. They are great at working your brain, and remembering how you solve previous puzzles to solves later ones.

[Robotengineer]

On iOS Monument Valley is good. Though mobile games maybe a bit too casual for your friend.