In the age where Cut the Rope and Plants vs Zombies are popular games, there are some people who still swear by classic games such as solitaire, crossword and sudoku to pass time. It is also opportune that these games are now being developed into mobile apps which are well-loved for multiple reasons.
For 69-year old Chaganti Aruna, these apps are a way to stay active mentally. “At this age, our memory and our energy reduces. We need to keep playing such games to pass time and keep ourselves active. It is nice that games like Sudoku come on mobiles now, making it easier to play. We don’t have to depend on another person to get us Sudoku books anymore,” she says.
Her son, Sharat Kumar, a civil engineer and a chess aficionado agrees. “I want to download chess on my phone so that I can play it without having to search for a partner. I can play it whenever I want and take all the time I need.”
It is not only the older generation that enjoys these classic games.
They also hold many memories for any typical 90’s kid. “I’ve always enjoyed doing the sudoku or word searches. Since everyone in my family does them too, we had to fight to be the first one to do it. Apps make it much easier for me”, says 19-year old Jemima Vaz.
The apps are also a way of passing down the games. With children these days being introduced to technology very early in life, many have not even heard of the games that were an important part of childhood in years past. “We’ve witnessed the transition period where all our childhood games were replaced initially by Gameboys and eventually by video games. This attempt to turn our most played games in school into cell phone apps is definitely a much appreciated step towards making sure they aren’t completely lost to kids nowadays,” says 19-year old Anusha Nagesh.
It is a win-win situation for app developers too. “These are classic games that everyone loves to play, a guaranteed success,” says a representative of Pink Pointer – a company which has developed many games like Sudoku, Word Search, Hangman and Tic Tac Toe into Android apps. With many developers capitalising on this, there are numerous options for us to choose from.
