I have been targeted by ads for this game and I have relented, though I do not consider myself [necessarily] a “Senior”!
This is a variant on the ancient Chinese Mahjong game of which there are many. However, this seems to be new and it is designed to be played on Android (I take that to mean any SmartPhone including iPhone, but I could be wrong as the iPhone is [apparently] in a class of its own.
Anyway, the selling points is:
Vita Mahjong – Free Mahjong Solitaire & Brain Game for Seniors ! Relax, Train Your Brain, and Enjoy Classic Tile-Matching Fun!
But wait, I hear you say! You said you don’t have a SmartPhone and use a laptop, professing to be the last dinosaur.
'Tis true I say, I am the last dinosaur and I do indeed use a laptop and it is for that reason I can recommend this game because even though it has been designed for the Smart people, it can also be played on a laptop. All you need to do is download and install an Android emulator like BlueStacks. BlueStacks allows you to run Android apps, including Vita Mahjong, on your computer. Alternatively, you can use the Google Play Games beta for a native Windows experience.
Oh its on iphones too Manjib, Mahjong has been going for donkeys years. It comes included with MS Windows free games bundle along with Patients, Minesweep etc. It’s every where now with the different layouts. Sometimes its just a matter of knowing where to look on your device. But there’s plenty of free apps to be had. My mother-in-law got quite addicted to it
Are you running your computer in Linux?
It’s something I wanted to do but never got around to doing
I am thinking of getting a refurbished laptop and using it for things like this.
I would like to install Gimp and see what I can do with it - you mentioned it when we first met a few months or ago.
@EmeraldEyes - You are right and I think I may have played it on one of my older computers (or whisper it, on my work computer?).
The reason for Vita Mahjong is it claims to have been developed for “Seniors” and it is to help them from getting Alzheimers, Dementia etc.
I haven’t yet installed it and so I cannot comment on how good or otherwise it is, but it is being heavily plugged at least to me!!
I’ve had it installed for twenty or so years since the early days of Ubuntu.. On different machines of course. It can do all I need. It is very versatile.
Audacity for sound editing, Gimp for images, Flowblade for movie edits, Sigil for epub edits, Libre Office suite, plenty to go at producing professional results and easily accessible.
I’m writing this on an old laptop. I’ll be taking part in a Zoom meeting tomorrow and another online meeting on Friday built in audio/ video makes it easy. I manage my YouTube channel and blog from here too.
Toying with the idea of a small home server, but never seem to get the time to spend on it.
I toyed with Gimp and used Libre Office but that’s as far as I got with “boycotting” commercial software. I used Firefox as the browser etc. and it worked until recently when things started moving to Smartphones.
Enjoy your Zoom meeting tomorrow. I have some things on but one of these days I will pop by and say “Hello”.
Have a lovely evening - I know you’re only just starting your day
I have an old Mac Mini from 2008 which is my next project for installing Linux. In those days Mac Mini could be upgraded (RAM, CPU and SSD) so I plan on making a hybrid, super LinuxMint Mini Mac. Thinking of using it as a gaming PC via my Nintendo Switch, and use another old iMac I have as a display using Target Display Mode. I enjoy up cycling tech. I get obsessed by the problem solving aspect of it, and find the frustration and infuriation, oddly, satisfying. It helps with anxiety because my mind tends to become fixated on achieving a result and this distracts me from other more distressing problems that come my way. I know of Abalone but don’t think I have played it. I used to take my Mahjong set to theatre rehearsals and use it as a way to block out all the busy activity around me when I wasn’t needed. I’ve loved playing it ever since I was a young tween, it conjured up for me mysterious, robed figures, smoking pipes with long stems in dens with candle lanterns. Sometimes, I have a small flutter on the lottery online games and the only one I play is Mahjong.
Sorry, forgot to answer your question, aye, it is traditional Mahjong, you can build all the common stacks if you are playing Mahjong solitaire. I have never played it as a game with other people as no one has ever wanted to play it with me because they find the rules and tiles daunting. One day.
Thank you Manjib, I’ve just downloaded it and played 4 games already:grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: It’ll be another one handy to play between sets at the gym my mind never rests I did have it on the other phone I put through the wash…forgot to reload it on this one. I haven’t yet figured out what differences there are that might make stand out from any of the others out there, so think the Alzhimers/Dementia wording is just promotional hype. But it’s still good for the mind, keeps it exercised and that’s the important thing
Maybe we can get a championship going if others download/play the same version. Not sure if it is an option as I haven’t yet downloaded it and I’ll be doing it on the laptop anyway
I never realised how popular this game is - I thought I was the only one playing it (albeit many years ago).
my mind never rests 
I did have it on the other phone I put through the wash…forgot to reload it on this one. I haven’t yet figured out what differences there are that might make stand out from any of the others out there, so think the Alzhimers/Dementia wording is just promotional hype. But it’s still good for the mind, keeps it exercised and that’s the important thing 