Does familiarity affect the enjoyment of touchscreen games for people with dementia?

• People living with dementia are able to play touchscreen games independently.
• Familiarity alone is not enough of a reason to make touchscreen games suitable.
• Novelty in touchscreen game selection can be considered.
• Enjoyment is possible when playing touchscreen games independently.
• Success within the game is not necessarily required to achieve enjoyment.

IntroductionPrevious research has indicated that people living with dementia are able to use touchscreen technology, which presents an opportunity to deliver meaningful and engaging activities for people to pass the time independently. The challenge is to identify suitable applications from the thousands that are currently available, and familiarity, where an app is a digital version of an existing real world game, may be one solution.ObjectivesTo evaluate the concept of familiarity in gameplay with people living with dementia by comparing a known game with a novel game and measuring whether users are able to play these games independently and whether they enjoy doing so.MethodsThirty older adults living with dementia were recruited from local care services. Each participant was assigned to one of two groups. Group 1 played a familiar game (Solitaire) and Group 2 played a novel game (Bubble Xplode). Each participant played the same game on three separate occasions within one week. Number of gameplay attempts, whether a checkpoint was reached and how much time to reach the checkpoint were measured. A brief post-session interview was conducted to assess the participants’ enjoyment.ResultsNinety percent of participants attempted gameplay independently with 17% of participants in the familiar group reaching the checkpoint compared with 93% playing the novel game. Regardless of which game was played or whether the checkpoint was reached, 88% of all participants reported enjoyment of the gaming sessions.DiscussionPeople living with dementia can play touchscreen games independently, but familiarity does not ensure successful gameplay. Enjoyment appears to be independent of progression through a game. The potential of novel and unfamiliar games as meaningful activities that people with dementia can engage with independently should be further explored.