Senior Gaming – Connecting Families Through MMOs
When you think of your grandmother, what’s the first image that comes to your mind? Knitting? Home baked cookies? What about her logging on to the computer with a headset, gearing up for an intense match of PvP! Since online gaming has many benefits for the senior community, playing alongside your grandparents might be a lot more realistic than you think.
Bob Stephen of AARP recently did a blog series about the benefits of gaming for the senior community. This is something we have always felt very strongly about here at KingsIsle – gaming can and should be something everyone can enjoy regardless of age! We’ve always believed that developing deep content woven with layered humor that played on many levels was a key way to attract a broad audience. We also maintain that creating challenging game play that scales with game progress really brings along many casual (and non) gamers. By pulling all this together our goal was to create virtual worlds for gamers of all ages to connect with their loved ones no matter how far away they live in the real world. Well, that and have a great time and a lot of fun while playing!
In his blogging series, Bob Stephen touches on this cross generational gaming in relation to the senior community:
The virtual world aspect of Wizard101 and similar games provide participants with an opportunity to interact and get to know others — all from the comfort of home. There are certainly similarities to social media where friends can be made based on shared interest — but the game environment adds a twist in that you can do things together while making friends or staying connected.
Besides being able to connect with family from across the country, online games like Wizard101 and Pirate101 offer seniors a chance to be just as “hip” and knowledgeable as younger gamers. Think about it – when you’re in a tough duel with a boss and a nice player helps you beat the bad guy, you don’t care how old they may be or where they’re from… you’re just glad they helped you win! Everyone is on a level playing field in the virtual world.
In Stephen’s article, Games for the 50+: A New Outlet for Mentoring, a senior KingsIsle player comments on being a gaming mentor:
In a world where many young people are abandoned to their own abilities I found a new world of young people willing to work with and learn from us old guys.
– jagarland61
So next time you talk to your Grandparents, see if they’d be interested in doing a little online gaming. You never know… Grandpa might just be the epic Life Wizard that you need to round out your PvP team! Do any of you game online with your grandparents? Or grandparents, do you game with your family? If so, tell us about it in the comment area below!
Lauren Mauldin
Marketing Website Producer
KingsIsle Blog 
I myself don’t have my grandparents play any Kingsisle games because they say that they look too cartoony. I always tell them how fun I think they are, and that that they should try it, but to no avail.
Oh well, thank you, Kingsisle, for the amazing team you have for both games! (Though I’m more of a Pirate101 fan)
See you in the skyways!
i am too pirate rules
I am in my fifties and the grandmother of 6 beautiful grandkids. I play Wizard 101 daily (or try to anyway) with my grandkids, we love to do the quest together! We have a blast! I have wizards in the 80’s lvl and below, to play with each grandchild. My 18 year old grandson tells his friends that his “nana” is a gamer too!! I started out a couple of years ago on Wiz 101 with a standard laptop and headset, now I have upgraded to a Gaming laptop, mouse, and headset, just like the kids have. This game also relieves a lot of daily stress, it is relaxing and it sure is a lot of fun. It is also very addicting. But most of all, it brings us all closer together online daily instead of having to wait to see each other on weekends or holidays. The many miles between us now seems to be hardly any distance at all.
In total agreement! Almost every person I have stayed “friends” with on KI games have a nephew, niece, grandchild they play with. What I see is that it brings them together on a regular basis. Without game it would be only holidays they get to touch base with the kiddos. Oh and parents playing with their kids! I did! lol How fun was that! 😀
Thank you for making a games we are able to share KI!
My brother and I have a very weak bond. With autism, he is still trying to catch up in the game of life. Back before, we would play Toontown, slight conversation here and there, but never true connections. I accidently rolled my mouse over one of Wizard101’s adds, and that’s that changed my brother and I’s bond forever. I started playing, excited with every new spell. I got him to try it, and he didn’t like it at first. He took one more shot, and what do you think happened? Now he has every spell/location/NPC memorized! Once a week, we play wizard101 ALL DAY. Literally. Talking and communicating as if best friends. And due to Wizard101, we are best friends.
Nicholas Wintercloud, Level 87 Storm
Thank you
that is such I good story I am crying 🙂
Andrew fire friend lvl 83 fire
My grandma starting playing barely a few months ago and she is already level 70.
I gamed with my two sons and daughter and I am also a grandmother. I enjoy the time that I spend with them gaming and we all have a wonderful time helping each other out in battles.
I started playing Wizard101 with my grandson more than two years ago. I’ve made some very nice “friends” here — children and adults — and continue to enjoy playing with my grandson, who lives on the other side of the country. I have also hooked up with a nephew.
i am heart broken kingisle. why would you let a entire world die!
why? and making malistair won’t die, i have never seeen you hake a sad ending to w101 like that
Sadly, my (grand)parents do not like MMO games, and i feel sorry for it, sense i play W101 for 2 years, but i at least made all of my friends from the building play it =)
Cody GhostEyes, Eurovision Biggest Fan (not my nickname, don’t hope xD)
I just had an idea for two mount’s in wizard101 …. first a white or black wolf for any cost of your choice and last a red or brown bull same any cost you like. So BYE 🙂
From: Madeline Dawn Smith ❤
I am 53 and have at least 15 to 20 adult in game friends, and know of at least 15 others not on my any one wizard friend list. The best thing about this game is how it encourages us all to work together , to be kind to one another, share with each other learn from one another. If only we could learn to behave so in the real world Andrew Firefriend
LOL my mom is kinda old ish and we play together! Does that count?
When I feel too lazy to go downstairs we play together and can talk on it
I am a 50ish player but do not have any real-life friends that play (that I am aware of). I got my 70 year old mother started in some social gaming through facebook. She spent hours and hours playing her games when mobility became difficult. We’d haul both of our laptops along during her stays in hospital and she’d find new FB friends through the staff. If she’d had more time, I would have started her on W101 as well. Sadly, she became too ill to play during her last few weeks. I miss having that special someone to play with 😦 I have met and play with others in my age group and we have a grand time working together to complete the difficult quests. Thank you W101 for such a fun and exciting game, nothing else really compares!
i would try to get my grand parents on here but they hate any form of video game! 😦
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My husband and I started playing wizard101 2 days after it came out. We tried getting our kids into it but it wasn’t for either one of them. I have 11 grandkids and as soon as they are old enough I want to get them to play. I have 1 nephew who is hooked on it like us. I enjoy knowing that older people enjoy this game as much as I do