Huang is a mother, a retired government official and is 57 years of age. She's one of many seniors captivated by computer games who happily logs on to play games such as Happy Farm.
Happy Farm is a social game, letting users plant and harvest crops. This game has more than 10 versions in China, spread among different social network service (SNS) websites. Huang has registered five accounts on three SNS websites to play the games.
Games such as Happy Farm, which feature exquisite visuals and easy operations, are the rage in China and are attracting increasing numbers of non-typical players such as parents or even grandparents.
PopCap Games, the Seattle-based company that developed Bejeweled, Zuma and Plants vs Zombies, said that more than 15 percent of its regular users are over 50.
And QQ - one of China's most popular games site - has more than 1.5 million elderly people online daily, the company said.
Li Ping, CEO and vice-president of International Federation of Multimedia Associations, said that one trend of global game development is games for the elderly, even though most game companies target children or youngsters.
One survey on Internet development in China showed that almost 7 percent of regular users in the country are 50 and above.
But no game has yet been designed for the elderly, although Japan and the United States have carried out research on this. Nintendo, the Japanese company that developed Mario Bros., has a game aimed at helping seniors train their minds and has received favorable responses from the Japanese and British market.
PopCap has also been carrying out research with universities over the past five years around the stress relief and mental cognition benefits of playing Bejeweled.
Liu Chungang, secretary-general of the Beijing Animation and Game Industry Alliance, said the industry in China is dominated by massive multiplayer online role playing games, where the gross profit margin can be as high as 70 percent.
Five Chinese games, including Meng Huan Xi You and Perfect World, were on the Forbes list of the Top Moneymaking Online Games last year, with Meng Huan Xi You earning $400 million and Perfect World $300 million.
"The development of China's game is still aimed at youngsters who have better physical and mental conditions than seniors," said Deng Lili, professor of Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University.
"Besides, many seniors don't have the opportunity to contact computer and the Internet, not to mention computer games."
Yet the demand of senior games is growing. "I know a lot of retired people who need games that can help them kill time and train the mind," Deng said.
"Some well-educated elders hope to learn more things through interesting games.
"Besides, games may help alleviate the pains of rehabilitation and improve the quality of treatment."
Gaming is gradually being applied in healthcare, education and other fields. Chen Yawei, from China Rehabilitation Research Center at Beijing Bo'ai Hospital, told China Daily it has adopted some games to ensure the rehabilitation process tht is not boring. Computers are used for cognitive training and balancing exercises.
"There is a trend in foreign countries to use games as treatment, and we have been exploring this, such as 'musical therapy'," Chen said.
"We really want to use more effective ways to help the elderly."
But key players in China's gaming industry, such as Tencent, Ourgame, Shanda and PopCap don't have specific plans for senior-oriented games at present.
However, Tencent has made many versions of its games more accessible to elders, such as bigger cards, fonts and slower operations.
Liu Qiang, director of the Internet culture department of the Ministry of Culture, said the industry should not attempt to hasten the pace and hope for quick successes of senior-oriented games.
"When there are demands, there will be potential markets; when there are potential markets, we can expect more companies to provide products," Liu said.
"The growing demand of the elderly for the Internet would push them to contact more entertainment online, including games. The seniors game market is a kind of blank in China. There is space for companies to expand their business."
While Huang is quite satisfied with the games available, she still prefers more suitable games.
"More interesting games with educational function maybe I'm not too old to read and learn," Huang said. "I hope I can harvest something from the game, just like I do in Happy Farm."
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