It’s easier than you think, and it matters more than you know
I built floatingbridge.xyz because of my parents. That’s the real story. My mum and dad played Bridge and Big Two with their friends for decades — at the void deck, at the kopitiam, during house visits. Then COVID happened. Everyone stayed home. The void deck tables were taped off. And my parents, both in their 60s, suddenly had no way to play.
I looked for online Bridge games they could use. Everything was terrible. Tiny buttons. Complicated sign-ups. Apps that required an email and password and Facebook login and a verification code and — my mum closed the app halfway through setup. “Never mind lah.”
So I built something simpler. And in the process, I learned a lot about what it actually takes to get your parents playing a card game on a phone or computer.
Here’s what works.
Don’t start with the game you want to play. Start with the game they already know.
If your parents played Bridge in the 1980s, Floating Bridge will feel familiar. If they played Big Two with colleagues at lunch, start with Big Two. The key is removing the “I don’t know how to play” barrier completely. They should already know the rules. The only new thing is the interface.
If they genuinely don’t know any card games (rare in Singapore, but possible), start with Big Two. The rules are simpler than Bridge, the rounds are short, and there’s less to remember. You want them to feel confident, not overwhelmed.
One game at a time. Once they’re comfortable, then introduce something new. My dad played Big Two online for three weeks before he was ready to try Floating Bridge. It took my mum about ten days. Let them set the pace.
The most effective way I found to teach my parents: video call with screen sharing.
Here’s the exact process that worked:
Two sessions like this and my parents were creating rooms and inviting their friends on their own. The screen sharing removes the guesswork entirely. They can see exactly what to press, and you can spot when they’re confused before frustration sets in.
One tip: do this at a time when you’re not rushed. If you have half an eye on something else, your impatience will show. Set aside 30 minutes, make yourself a drink, and treat it like spending time with them. Because that’s exactly what it is.
I’m going to be honest. Teaching your parents technology requires patience you didn’t know you needed.
My mum asked me “what is a room code?” four separate times. My dad kept pressing the back button on his Samsung by accident and leaving the game. My mum once closed the browser entirely because she thought the ad at the bottom was an error message.
None of this is stupid. It’s unfamiliar. Your parents navigated a world without smartphones for most of their lives. The mental model of “tap this invisible button to do a thing” is not intuitive to everyone. Be patient. Explain the same thing multiple times without sounding annoyed. If you catch yourself saying “I already showed you this,” stop. Replace it with “okay, let me show you again.”
Here are things that tripped my parents up most often:
Most card game apps are built by developers in their 20s for users in their 20s. Small text. Swipe gestures. Hamburger menus that hide everything important behind three horizontal lines that don’t look clickable.
When I built this site, I kept asking one question: “Would my mum find this confusing?” If yes, redesign. That led to specific choices:
These aren’t accessibility features bolted on as an afterthought. They’re core design decisions. When your target user is a 65-year-old auntie on a mid-range Samsung, you design differently than when your target is a 22-year-old on an iPhone Pro.
Getting your parents to play once is easy. Getting them to come back requires a bit more thought.
The real payoff isn’t the game. It’s that you’re doing something together — genuinely interacting, not just sitting in the same room staring at different screens. My Sunday games with my parents are now the highlight of their week. My mum told her friend that. I didn’t expect that to hit me the way it did.