“Older people were however more likely to forget elements committed to memory while being distracted if they only played strategy games”
I like to play Hearts, Backgammon and Chess. Hearts requires a lot of short-term memorization. You have to memorized the three cards you passed, who you passed them to (left, right or across), the three cards passed to you, and who passed them to you. To be really good, you have to memorize all the cards played and know which cards are still outstanding. You can succeed to a lesser extent if you can remember how many cards of each suit have been played. I’m so bad I frequently can’t even remember the three cards I passed! A hand takes a couple minutes, so that is real short-term memory.
Backgammon is good because nothing is hidden from you and no memorization is needed. It’s a combination of chance and good strategy. Plus you can only get good if you know basic statistics.
Chess is pure strategy - no rolls of the dice or random cards. Nothing is hidden — it is all out in the open. It’s one of the few games with those characteristics (Go and Checkers come to mind).
My only problem is I’m not great at any of them — solidly in the bottom quartile, no matter how hard I play or how often I play.
I hope they are helping my brain.
Well, I hope you are enjoying yourself!
What more can one ask?
You have to memorized the three cards you passed ...
Well, I caught that!
... at 74, I’m feeling the old, but I don’t feel old, you know?