Growing old wasted by my games. So I changed the way I play

You know what I discovered at some point in the last 10 years? Gaming anxiety is one thing.

I would spend hours scrolling through my Steam library, with sweaty palms and racing heart, looking for something I could simply launch and I never find it. I just wanted to have fun – and the fruitless searches increased the anxiety. I’m completely uncompetitive and don’t care if I even get through a tutorial, so it wasn’t performance anxiety.

I finally broke through, completely accidentally, by changing the types of games I played. I stopped looking for the genres I played only on the PCwith a keyboard and mouse, and open to games I could play with a controller.

My longest sessions now take place on my handheld consoles, phones, and tablets, because as I get older, sitting at my desk for long periods of time becomes uncomfortable. A controller doesn’t tether me to a PC or require a flat surface, so I can sit anywhere, usually somewhere soft and comfortable.

Aging changes almost every aspect of our physiology and psychology: vision, hearing, motor control, muscle weakness, cognition, memory and endurance. Problems that were minor can become real obstacles to your movements, reaction times and physical abilities.

I haven’t completely given up on PC gaming, but I enjoy it a lot less now that I have a nervous index finger and shaky hands, leading to accidental double-clicks, the inability to place the cursor exactly where I need it, and having to press a key more than once. Add to that worsening vision, constant tinnitus and muscle weakness, as well as anxiety. As you get older, you may develop new phobias and anxieties, which can be a problem for gaming.

“There are changes in mobility, dexterity, vision and hearing,” says Niall White, senior game design and innovation engineer at equipment maker Logitech G (and 52-year-old Civilization 7 player), when telling me about gamers aging. “It’s also a constant change, so the solution has to change as you go. Even though accessibility in games has improved a lot, I would say that aging is not often a major factor.”

I saw it firsthand: my father built his own PCs for 25 years, but in his mid-80s, he couldn’t remember how to turn one on.

Aging doesn’t affect everyone the same way. Game streamer GrndPaGaming is 70 years old and has multiple health issues, but millions of followers, and damn if he’s not still a formidable sniper. And the sniping is hard: This requires steady hands, good vision and mental acuity.

According to a 2025 report (PDF) from the Entertainment Software Association, aging populations still play a big role. More than half of Gen Add to that AARP research (PDF) showing that about 66 percent of gamers reported experiencing at least one symptom of age-related decline in mobility, vision, or cognition, and that’s a significant number of people experiencing these issues.

I’ve tested a ton of different gaming devices and now play games that I think are best suited for each: puzzles like Pangram on my phone; point-and-click adventures and other touch games that require a larger screen like The Room or Balatro on my compressed; easy roguelites (games with randomly generated gameplay and permadeath) and other controller-optimized games like Hades 2 and Have a Nice Death on my portable console Or Xbox; and games with detailed graphics and mouse-optimized movements like the Doom and Clair Obscur series on PC.

I have enough variety to match my mood and abilities at any given time, which means more play. More fun.

The material is important. No game is fun if you have to suffer from twitchy controls, overly complicated design, lag, and poor performance. A screen that is too small or too dark can make it difficult to read text or even impossible to see important objects or landmarks. Short battery life on a handheld can tie you to a location unless the length of your sessions is set to “until my battery dies or I have to pee, whichever comes first.”

Right on the border between Boomer and Gen X’er, I’ve been confronted with all of this. I also have over three decades of hardware and software testing to back up what I think works and doesn’t work.

Are you ready to adapt your gameplay?

My tendency to overthink, coupled with access to many different materials, has made me aware of how I adapt to changes in my vision and motor control. It started in my mid-50s, although not all of this is exclusive to aging. Some people face these problems throughout their lives. My tinnitus is actually a side effect of a medication I take, which is not related to my age.

There is a lot of research and product development for serious problems, but less for gradual declines due to aging and how we respond to these changes. As players get older, they need to start adapting, but they may not know how.

Kaitlyn Jones, head of gaming accessibility at Microsoft Xbox, tells me that the main difference between younger gamers with disabilities and those experiencing the effects of aging is that the former have been navigating “systems that weren’t designed for them” for much longer. There are formal communities and events for them, like AbleGamers and Logitech’s Adaptive Esports tournaments, while older gamers tend to come together in more informal networks on sites like Reddit, Facebook, and Discord.

According to Jones, people with major accessibility issues have learned to find, experiment with, and customize solutions for specific games or situations.

“When these changes occur gradually with age, the situation may be different,” says Jones. “Assumptions like ‘Maybe I’m not as good at this anymore’ are made instead of ‘There’s probably a setting that could help.'”

Most studies on gaming and aging, however, are limited. There is a lot of information out there about how certain types of games – usually word and number games – help maximize cognitive resilience as you age. But the main reason we play games is to have fun, and we tailor our games to keep that fun going.

AARP senior research advisor Brittne Kakulla confirmed this in recent research.

“The main reason for gaming for older people is for fun,” Kakulla tells me. “But for older adults, there are some motivations that are unique to them that you don’t find in younger players. One is gaming to relax. About two-thirds do that. And then also gaming to stay mentally sharp. That’s about 60 percent.”

In some ways, however, these conclusions may end up reflecting the practical considerations of research: crosswords and sudoku puzzles are easy to use for studies and work well on phones, whereas a combination puzzle and roguelite like Blue Prince are not and do not. There’s no data yet on whether strategy games like Civilization or StarCraft II might be even better brain exercises. And if that’s what you like to play, it’s definitely a lot more fun.

I also haven’t seen anyone claim that games requiring a little agility could help improve control and dexterity.

“Really interesting that gaming is a fun way to retrain muscles that may have been lost to stroke, temporary paralysis, or something else,” says Rosie Frost, head of design for accessibility at Logitech. “Observably, we also found that console games can help develop hand muscles, which can improve young children’s handwriting.”

You don’t necessarily have to give up the games you love if you’re having problems with muscle control or endurance. You may just have to accept that your abilities have changed and then adapt, just like athletes do once they get past their 20s and slow down physically.

The experiences that shape our gaming habits later in life – what we will want to continue playing, what we play on, and who we want to play with – can begin and end in very different places, another difficult element to capture for research.

“I’ve been playing video games since I was 2, back when I stood on milk crates to play games at the gas station,” CNET contributor Oscar Gonzalez, 48, tells me. He grew up with consoles, surrounded by the NES, Sega Genesis, SNES, N64 and more.

He adds, almost as an afterthought, “Well, my mom hung out at arcades when she was pregnant with me, so it’s all her fault. She played Call of Duty online when she was 55.”

I’m the same age as his mother, and I didn’t even know computer games existed until midway through college, when I played my first text adventure on a mainframe. When my dad got into PC gaming in the 80s, I didn’t discover it until years later. It was never something we shared.

Which games suit you best?

Some of the difficulties that AARP 2024 survey respondents attribute to game design may result at least in part from their hardware choices, which determine the games they play.

“Games or devices that seem complex or intimidating – even if that perception isn’t entirely accurate – can alienate gamers, especially those with disabilities. Familiarity, on the other hand, plays a big role in what feels accessible and attracts gamers to certain platforms or games,” says Jones. “Ultimately, it really comes down to the individual and what feels easiest and most enjoyable to them.”

Many aging gamers prefer mobile games because they already use their phones daily. But phones have small screens and can be difficult to hold in place. For me, they are more frustrating to use each year as I work my way toward maturity.

The data on preferred devices is conflicting. The AARP study shows that mobile devices are the most common gaming platforms, but PCs aren’t far behind. On the other hand, ESA’s 2025 Global Survey shows that mobile is well ahead of PC for gamers over 55. Those who have used a PC throughout their adult lives may prefer these for gaming.

Both platforms limit the types of games you can choose from. Poor vision and small screens push many people toward playing word and number games on mobile. But if you’re playing on a phone and can’t read the small text, try blaming the small screen rather than the game.

According to the AARP study, the most popular platform for “active” games remains the Nintendo Wii, around 2006, thanks to its motion controls. But the Wii was discontinued 13 years ago, and the Wii Mini five years ago, so it won’t remain a viable option for very long, despite continued interest (even among young players like CNET Gen Z writer Meara Isenberg).

If you experience intermittent vision or shaking, some days you may feel like a competent sniper and other days, less so; aiming can be sensitive to vision, hand stability (which can destroy even the best muscle memory), and, in some cases, hearing. You can also use the accessibility settings built into some gaming hardware. It’s all about finding what works for you.

Game design matters too, and sometimes there is a low-tech solution.

“I really need to wear my glasses. I’m not blind without them, but my eyes must be very tired to read certain texts,” says Go. Nzalez, who acknowledges that his need for glasses might come from playing games on a screen for so many years. “Glasses are just a quicker way to go, as messing with text can alter the gameplay experience. Developers usually take into account how text looks by default in a game, so making it larger can just mess things up.”

Having a variety of game types to choose from can be helpful. On certain days, or at specific times of the day, my brain fog clears and I get my dose of dopamine from solving complex puzzle games. At night, when I’m groggy from the meds, I’m surprisingly better at roguelites because my hands go on autopilot without my brain constantly trying to take control.

Frustration is the enemy. I know, because my headstone will say, “Here lies Lori. She quit in rage.”

Which gaming device is right for you?

Just as there is no such thing as an average player, there is no such thing as a monolithic “aging player.” Quantic Foundry’s Gamer Motivation Model (PDF) is based on a massive data set that breaks down gamers into six types, and it applies to both over-50s and under-50s. The simplest conclusion is that we – aging people – should play on devices that offer the greatest variety of games and ways to play them, with the greatest number of accessories and functional, accessible designs.

While there are many choices, they all have characteristics that are, at the very least, frustrating and annoying for older players.

Phones have the advantage of being ubiquitous and being able to take them anywhere (even in a bathroom, unlike a pocket computer, which is a little less stealthy). They have a decent selection of games, but other than the puzzles and words, I feel like they’re mostly aimed at kids over 20 on iPhones or buried in the app and advertising clutter of the Google Play Store. There are also active AR games, like Pokemon Go and Pikmin Bloom, that not only get you moving, but also get you outside.

However, many phone and tablet games only support swiping, tapping, and other gestures. I think some game developers have cleverly adapted to this constraint, but it can get frustrating if you have a big finger. Although you can sometimes connect keyboards, mice, headsets, monitors and controllers, like Spinal columns And Razer Kishis – for alternate input and larger screens, this can be annoying, unreliable, and not necessarily supported by all games. Plus, accessories tether you to a desk or table, and even large screens are small.

Tablets have larger screens, which improves touch input. But they too suffer like phones, especially for game selection and accessorization.

Consoles like the PlayStation And Xbox offer more game variety, and if you’ve been playing console games for a while, you probably have a decent library. Additionally, there is a wide selection of games as well as subscription services that, although expensive, you can use for a month to try before you buy. There are also plenty of choices for controllers and headsets.

On the other hand, consoles are designed to be placed next to a TV or a monitor, which means big screens but limits where you can play. They don’t have as much of a “too much to do before you can play” problem as desktops and laptops (like OS updates, freeing up memory, game updates and more), but you can deal with it.

Windows PC And laptops are popular and offer the widest range of games, accessories and screen sizes, even if you are once again stuck in a specific location or need a flat surface. Even the most comfortable chairs aren’t always comfortable for long sessions. At least with a console you can lie down on a sofa.

If you have cognitive or memory issues, a lack of patience, or aren’t comfortable solving problems, Windows can torpedo your enjoyment. I found MacOS less frustrating, but that’s because it offers a smaller selection of games and fewer settings choices for accessories.

VR could eventually become the active gaming platform of choice. Its immersive video is ideal for simulations, flyovers, and sports. Diopter controls on the lenses allow you to adjust the focus to suit your vision, as long as it’s not too extreme. Controllers can be a more comfortable way to play and navigate, and may be less susceptible to hand shake than mice or joysticks.

But I don’t think VR is there yet for many older adults or others with endurance, weakness, or balance issues — and balance is an important issue as we age. Just the thought of wearing headphones and focusing on screens close to my eyes for more than 30 minutes gives me a headache.

While there are ways for game designers to mitigate the potential pitfalls of motion sickness, stamina, and balance in gaming, there simply aren’t enough VR games for standalone headsets like Meta’s Quest models, particularly those that address these types of health-related blockages. VR headsets that work with a PC or PlayStation offer more choices, but if you have motor issues, ranging from balance to simple clumsiness, you should opt for a wireless headset. Cables pose a significant trip and fall hazard – think of someone who suffered a fracture from a trip and fall from a USB cable.

Cloud gaming on services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce now, Amazon Moon and much more, you can increase your game selection on the hardware you choose. But subscriptions can be expensive and the quality depends on your connection.

My pick for the best gaming device

This brings me to my ultimate conclusion: handhelds are the best gaming solution for able-bodied gamers who become less and less capable over time.

You can play them anywhere, they have medium-sized screens, and because the controllers are tethered, there’s little to no wake-up time to play. You can roll over in bed, pick it up and start playing before getting up or going to bed.

Gonzalez owns an Xbox, PS5, Switch, and PC, but primarily plays PC games on handheld consoles.

“I choose based on what game I want to play. I can play pretty much any console or PC game on handheld, so they can all be played in bed,” he says.

If the screen is too small for a particular game, you can dock or connect it directly to a larger screen. Handhelds also support a nice selection of accessories, including controllers. Their handles make them much easier to hold than a phone. And portable consoles dedicated to games – the Nintendo Switch and the Steam bridge – don’t require a lot of technical knowledge or troubleshooting.

AARP’s 2024 Survey (PDF) and sales report that the Nintendo Switch is the most popular of them all, not just among older gamers, but overall. And given its popularity across all age groups, this trend will likely continue as today’s adults age.

Switch games include franchises that have been around forever – Super Mario Bros. turned 40 this year – and the nostalgia and fun factor looms large. Its successor, the Switch 2, is too new to have been considered in surveys yet, and its larger 7.9-inch screen makes a big difference.

Screen technology can also be very important, and handhelds run the gamut. We begin to lose sensitivity to contrast (perception of light versus dark) starting at 40, which can make it difficult to differentiate elements from each other or from the background. OLED displays have the highest contrast because they can render perfect blacks. But they are not always good at rendering shades of gray in darker areas, while IPS screens do it better.

I also find HDR useful beyond aesthetics. Even if your game doesn’t support it, consoles and Windows can automatically map the tonal range to the wider range of the screen, making things easier to see.

What’s striking is that Valve’s veteran Steam Decks didn’t even register in this AARP survey. This is a strange disconnect: the Deck is essentially the gaming handheld for people who want to play PC games but don’t want to have to bother with Windows. It plays all the games you buy from Steam’s online store, and there’s an app for GeForce Now to play cloud games in additional stores.

Another class of handheld computers is not as popular and was not included in the survey. Devices like the Logitech G-Cloud and Ayn’s Thor and Odin lines run Android games and cloud games. They use the same side-grip screen design as most other handhelds, but the Thor has a flip-up clamshell screen with the controller underneath that seems a little too easy to handle for me. They do indeed look more premium than many competitors, including one with an OLED screen, but the screens aren’t very large.

So, about Windows handhelds

I’m a big fan of the Deck, the Lenovo Legion Go S, and other potential Deck-alikes that also run SteamOS for games I play with a controller.

But I have a weakness for Windows handhelds. You have several choices, so you can find one with a layout and ambiance that suits you best. There are a variety of screen sizes, including the largest and best available: The Legion Go 2’s 8.8-inch OLED display offers high contrast with HDR support, making gaming elements in dark areas more visible. THE ROG Xbox Ally models have huge handles with responsive controls.

Since Windows is a complete operating system, you are not limited to a single store launcher and can purchase games from a multitude of game stores, like Epic Games Store, Steam, Microsoft and more.

One of the biggest benefits is the multitude of accessory options, including controllers designed with accessibility in mind. The operating system has a variety of accessibility features, such as a screen reader that works beyond the game’s menus, and it can run third-party apps, so you can use your favorite assistive software.

The right accessories can make a big difference in areas you might not have thought of. Headphones that allow you to adjust equalization settings can attenuate the frequencies of unimportant sounds and increase the volume of frequencies you need to hear.

Accessories marketed for people with disabilities may also be suitable for you. THE Proteus game controllermade in partnership with Xbox, allows you to arrange the modules so that you can comfortably use them with one hand, but the modules are standard controls like ABXY buttons and joysticks. Modular controllers like those from Turtle Beach Victrix Pro BFG feature a two-handed design, but you can reverse the orientation and swap the sticks. Many controllers allow you to change the joystick tops for different textures. My skin has become drier over the years and my grip is often slippery. Adding a rubberized texture helps.

Pay attention to keypad switch types (linear, tactile, click, membrane, magnetic) and actuation force specifications. I find linear switches, which have no perceptible actuation point (the point at which the key press is registered), a little harder to control than tactile or clicky ones, and I like the audible feedback of the latter.

Certain circumstances may cause you to stop playing a particular type of game. When I started working with him, Gonzalez was passionate about fighting games. He ended up leaving them for two common reasons: free time and reaction time.

“I pretty much had to give them up for the reason I mentioned earlier, which was working those hours just to get a little better, and I can say my reaction time slowed down,” Gonzalez said. “When it comes to fighting games, people age competitively. It’s very rare to find a competitive fighting game player over 35.”

If you’re feeling burned out, you have three reasonable choices: overcome the frustration (and potentially lose the fun of the game); have several game genres to choose from as alternatives; or use accessories with settings you can adjust to compensate. The first seems undesirable to me, while the latter two vary greatly depending on the platform you’re playing on.

Low input lag is essential for competitive gamers, and when your reflexes aren’t great, it’s hard to compensate, and you miss a lot of shots or have to press the control multiple times. Small frustrations add up quickly.

Remapping keys, creating macros, and rebinding controller buttons can seem confusing, especially as you become less able to understand, but if you can change even one tricky input, it can motivate you to try more.

“Even standard Xbox Wireless Controllers support simple remapping, so players can move buttons as needed without any additional purchases,” says Jones. “We also support mapping controller inputs to mouse and keyboard – for gamers who find controller form factors more accessible but want to navigate Windows and their gaming experiences without a mouse or keyboard in the mix.”

For PCs, Jones highlights Windows accessibility settings that include mouse and input customization, cursor speed adjustments, and full voice access so you don’t need to use a mouse at all.

Microsoft AI tools could possibly help too.

“AI can work in the background to do things like interpret natural language commands and translate them into in-game actions like ‘pick up the item,'” Jones says.

There are no perfect races

Windows handhelds may be my favorite, but they’re far from perfect. There are no good choices when you’re not in great shape, only compromises.

My pet peeve of the day: a lot of gaming gear has moved to black-on-black labeling for buttons and ports. Do you know how difficult it is to figure out which of the four menu buttons is the one you need, especially when you can never remember which is which and even after searching for an angle that makes the shiny part a little reflective, you still can’t read the labels? I’m looking at you, Legion Go 2.

These devices can play games running Windows, but a handheld may not run them as well, and games requiring a discrete graphics processor won’t find one on these devices.

Steam and Windows games are intended to run on a wide range of hardware, so you’re not guaranteed a great experience. Both have badge programs to indicate how well a game will run on their respective devices, but I’ve found that my idea of ​​”good” doesn’t always match theirs.

Take the Legion Go 2. It has a great screen, but it’s also crammed with controls because it’s overdesigned, intended to accommodate too many play styles. If you’re experiencing tech anxiety, all those buttons can get intimidating, you might not find a comfortable place to hold them, or it might become difficult to remember what the bindings are. The Legion Go S has simpler handles, but its screen isn’t as big or as good, and it uses a lesser processor, so many graphics-intensive games don’t run as well.

On the other hand, Switch games are designed to run on the Switch and take its limitations into account.

Windows handhelds tend to be well-built with responsive controls, but they’re not designed just for gaming. This means that they can serve as a regular computer, albeit a very small one, but you also have a gaming device with all the baggage of Windows and a gaming veneer.

Windows requires a minimum of 16 GB of RAM to run, making it more expensive than it would otherwise be. The installer treats it like a laptop, so it tries to sell you Microsoft 365. You can roll over in bed and pick it up, but rather than jumping into a game, you’re likely to launch into a sometimes lengthy system update.

This doesn’t seem likely to change. Microsoft’s strategy for the next Xbox, codenamed Propeller Projectis to run Windows games. In theory, it’s a great idea, and it’s more profitable for Microsoft to continue moving toward a single operating system. But we saw how it was performed on handhelds.

Pricing Considerations

Unfortunately, this is a terrible time to buy almost any platform. Current increases in component supply and pricing, powered by AI and, to a lesser extent, driven by pricing, add a layer of complication to switching gaming platforms.

Lenovo is having supply chain issues with the Legion Go 2, and it has been out of stock almost continually since pre-orders began in September. On Amazon, the price of the high-end ROG Xbox Ally

It’s not just about rising prices. Memory for phones, laptops And desktop computers is rare thanks to manufacturers committing their already limited supplies to construction of data centers dedicated to AIand computer prices are not expected to drop for years.

Since Windows handhelds are essentially cheap laptops, they are susceptible to similar pressures. AMD and Nvidia supply most of the chips in handheld computers. Earlier this year, Intel announced a potential gaming handheld powered by its chips, probably running Windows, but it’s not there yet.

The Steam Deck is in dire need of an upgrade. Valve announced its new machine steamactually a console for playing Steam games and the Steam Frame VR headset, but both have been delayedand prices will be subject to the same market forces as everything else.

Stick to your guns

Thanks to dealing with my anxiety and perpetual anhedonia, I was somehow prepared for the tremors, the degrading vision, and everything else. I’ve learned to accept that having fun takes work, but it’s worth it.

But just because you’re suffering from age-related deterioration doesn’t mean you should run into Wordle’s arms. A particular change won’t necessarily affect your gameplay. For example, if your hearing starts to diminish, it won’t affect gameplay if there is only background music and no audio.

For the rest, promising solutions are on the horizon.

“Haptics is an emerging technology for us, so this year we’re going to explore how it might help users with visual impairments, hearing loss and neurodiversity, as well as tremors and hand mobility,” says Logitech’s Frost. She adds that Logitech is exploring ways to use 3D-printable add-ons with its SIM steering wheel, the same way they work with its Pebble mouse, for single-handed use or to support different hand angles. And there’s more to come.

Your tastes may change as you get older, encouraging you to try new genres of games that you might never have considered before. But don’t let fear or frustration force you to give up something you love. It may be a process of adaptation and discovery, but in the end, it’s always about fun.

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