Free Games Free iPad Games for Seniors: Nothing to Install
The iPad suits older hands and eyes: the screen is big, and tapping is easier than using a mouse. The App Store can be a headache, though, with accounts, passwords, updates, and games stuffed with adverts and in-app purchases.
You do not need to install anything. These games run in Safari, the browser that is already on the iPad. You open a web page and play. Nothing is downloaded and no storage is used up.
Why browser games suit the iPad
There is no App Store and no password, only a web address that you can bookmark once. There are no updates, because the page is always the newest version. No install means no permissions and no notifications pestering you later. The games are built for fingers, with big buttons, no dragging and no tiny targets.
A tip: open the game once, then tap the share button and choose Add to Home Screen. The game gets its own icon next to your other apps, so it is one tap to play and still nothing is installed.
My favourites on a tablet
- Solitaire: big cards, tap to move (no dragging), with Hint, Undo and Auto-finish. Also try TriPeaks, the easiest one-tap card game I have.
- Sudoku: extra-large numbers with a proper on-screen number pad. There is a fresh daily puzzle each morning.
- Word Search: tap the first and last letter of a word; no dragging your finger across the grid.
- Mahjong Solitaire: large tiles that are easy to tell apart.
- Jigsaw and Memory Match: picture-based and easy to tap.
- Mini Crossword: an on-screen letter keyboard, sized for fingertips.
Every one of them is free and has no sign-up or timer, and your text-size setting is remembered between visits.
Works the same on any tablet
Nothing here is Apple-only. The same games play identically in Chrome on an Android tablet, on a laptop, or on a desktop computer, because the pages adapt to the screen.
Ready? Start with all the free games, or hand the iPad over with today’s Daily Sudoku already open.