Make your golden years your red, green, and blue years.

Puyo Puyo is a beloved puzzle game that can be casually enjoyed by people of all ages, as well as in highly competitive eSports. In it, players must arrange falling rows of slimes and match their colors to earn points and keep the screen clear. 

▼ If you feel that sounds like a bit of a Tetris rip-off, know that the two have settled their differences.

Puyo Puyo is especially popular in Japan and is now setting its sights on helping the aging population with a special edition tailored just for elderly people in assisted care facilities. Puyo Puyo Trainer will do away with its more high-pressure and complex elements and instead focus more on the nice little dopamine hits that come with seeing the little slimes pop and go “bloop!”

There will be difficulty levels of Easy, Medium, and Hard, but unlike regular Puyo Puyo games, those will be aimed at the different levels of cognitive and physical ability people in assisted care may possess. The menus have also been streamlined for people not familiar with video game setups, so new players don’t feel daunted right off the bat.

There will also be competitive play in the form of a Two-Player Versus mode, but here the goal is more to encourage social interaction than intense showdowns. Care was taken in development to make Puyo Puyo Trainer a tool for cognitive training and players’ data can be tracked by facility staff so they can monitor residents’ mental performance and motor skills.

Readers of the news online had mixed reactions. Some felt it was a great way to combat the feelings of loneliness and isolation that come with living in such facilities. Many people suggested other games that might work with varying levels of seriousness, while some questioned whether video games were really effective at maintaining a person’s cognitive ability.

“Take my pension!”
“They should make a version of Valkyria Chronicles for nursing homes.”
“Makes sense that Puyo Puyo would celebrate its 30th anniversary by entering nursing homes.”
“I used to work at an assisted care facility, and I like this idea. I hope it makes the people there a little happier.”
“I hope they play on the Switch servers, because the PlayStation ones are deserted.”
“Older people should all play games. They keep you entertained and kill time.”
“Maybe they should have games that feel like going outdoors, like racing games or golf simulators.”
“Puyo Puyo can get a little boring after a while, though. They need something with a story, like Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”
“Phantasy Star Online would be great. It’s empty and sparse, so they can run around and just do whatever.”
“They say Nobuyo Yamashita [the original voice of Doraemon] was a huge fan of Arkanoid but she still ended up with Alzheimer’s.”
“People usually act civilized on Rainbow Six Siege. That would be a good choice too.”

I personally would think Suika Game is good for nursing homes since it involves fruits, which are more relatable than magical slime monsters. But Puyo Puyo certainly does have a lot of experience on its side, and if anyone can pull off this kind of revolutionary game design, it’d probably be the people behind it.

Source: PR Times, Hachima Kiko
Images: PR Times
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