Previous research has indicated that people living with dementia are able to use touchscreen technology, which presents an opportunity to deliver meaningful and engaging activities for people to pass the time independently. The challenge is to identify suitable applications from the thousands that are currently available, and familiarity, where an app is a digital version of an existing real world game, may be one solution. To evaluate the concept of familiarity in gameplay with people living with dementia by comparing a known game with a novel game and measuring whether users are able to play these games independently and whether they enjoy doing so. Regardless of which game was played or whether the checkpoint was reached, 88% of all participants reported enjoyment of the gaming sessions. People living with dementia can play touchscreen games independently, but familiarity does not ensure successful gameplay. Enjoyment appears to be independent of progression through a game. The potential of novel and unfamiliar games as meaningful activities that people with dementia can engage with independently should be further explored.
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