Purpose – Cognitive self-rehabilitation lacks updated means and tools. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of cognitively simulating mobile games on the cognitive skills and recreation of older people with memory impairment. Design/methodology/approach – Mobile games that require cognitive skills were developed. The games were tested by memory-impaired older adults, average age of 90. Gaming interventions took place for three months on a daily basis. Game outcomes were automatically recorded and user feedback was collected by interviews. The progress of the testees was also evaluated by means of Trial Making Test A. Findings – Improvement in game scores was found. Other significant effects of game play were enhanced recreation and self-managed activity level. Game play did not have any effect on the traditional Trail Making Test results but the results of the Trail Making game showed improvement. The Trail Making game also showed a large variance in daily scores, which implies that performing just a single Trail Making Test might lead to misreading a person's condition. Research limitations/implications – The results are an encouragement for conducting further testing (on a larger test group, over a longer time) and continuing with game development for cognitively impaired older adults. A similar game trial will also be arranged for a younger population with better overall health condition. Practical implications – New business opportunities are also possible in game development and gaming services. Social implications – Games have the potential for self-rehabilitation and to support extending independent living at home. Originality/value – The paper provides a synopsis of novel cognitive recreation tools, an analysis of their effect and user feedback from professional staff as well as potential new ideas for game developers.

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This paper presents the Design for Somebody (DfS) philosophy targeted to iterative, user‐oriented development of solutions for special user groups. In this article, the DfS is discussed using a game development context. The paper gives concrete examples how the DfS can be used in developing motivating serious games. The paper presents three games which can be adjusted according to the user's abilities. The aim is to generate personalized means to enable and motivate physical, cognitive and social skill development. The development process of the three games is described in order to clarify the DfS approach and the features which are of key importance in game development for special user groups. Authentic user experiences are also presented and discussed. The user experiences and the suitability of the games were investigated through interviews and observations in game test events. The main findings in general indicated the usefulness of the DfS principles and the great interest and positive experiences in special user groups. The findings encourage further research and development of serious games for these target groups.

Trials on Mobile Games are presenting a huge potential in cognitive, physical and mental rehabilitation. This paper is to discuss user viewpoints of trials with mobile games combining cognitive stimulation and physical exercise in rehabilitation: Game#1 controlled by tilting the mobile phone embedded in a balance board; Game#2 controlled by tilting the tablet pc; and Game#3 a modified game version of Trail Making A -memory test played by tapping figures on the tablet pc touch screen. The total amount of participants was 89 of which 74% were older adults (women=24; men=33; average age 85.9 years) and 26% people with learning disabilities (n=23; a 38.9 years). The gameplay setting was similar for all target groups, although the game graphics (Game#1) were slightly modified based on each user group. Mobile devices were used as the game platform to create easily approachable games of low costs and suitable for the majority of people.