Games for Deaf People

Deaf people like playing games as much as anyone else. However, it can be hard for deaf people to participate in many popular games due to the need to hear what's going on during the game. There are a lot of games that don't require you to hear anything in order to play, and these are great games for deaf people.

Both checkers and chess are great games to play with deaf people. Checkers and chess don't require much talking and interacting other than what takes place on the board, so as long as both players know the rules of the games.

Scrabble is another board game where all the action takes place on the board. As long as all the players can see the tiles then there isn't much need of verbal communication.

Foosball is an exciting and fast-paced game that doesn't require speaking. The players are focused on the game at hand and don't need to pay attention to anything else going on.

Pool is a social game with simple rules and a mellow, quiet atmosphere. Playing pool requires only eyesight and coordination, so deaf people will not be at all inhibited.

Although jigsaw puzzles aren't exactly a game—there's no winner or loser—they resemble a game in that people get together to share in an experience. Once again, to do a puzzle you just need patience and concentration; hearing has nothing to do with it.

Stratego is a two-player strategy game resembling capture the flag. Stratego requires high levels of concentration, and a quiet environment is preferable.

There are a number of games that incorporate sign language and were designed to help deaf people learn and practice sign language. See the resources section of this article for more information on these games.