I don't know your mother, but I am not a lot younger than she is and would not like at all a birthday party where my daughter attempted to have my friends play games.
Just have a party....companionship should be enough....and food of course!
Linda C

Instead of games, how about arranging to display old photos - projected up on a wall would probably be best. The photos could be the inspiration for discussions. You could have pictures of her in school, getting married, with her children, with her friends, enjoying her hobbies, etc. If it is a very small group, the timing the 'next' photo could be prompted by the talk. If it is a large group, be sure to have the photos cycle through very slowly.

When my mother turned 70, we gave her a surprise party and wrote and performed a little musical of her life. She definitely loved that! But our family is into stuff like that. Yours may be more into art, writing, etc.

For my 50th birthday, my husband contacted everyone he could think of and asked them to contribute a little anecdote for an album. He put photos in the back. I adore it.

I recently did a "this is your life" slide show for a party honoring someone. Her family gave me photos. But in addition to the real photos from her life, we put in lots of downloaded photos with her face photoshopped in (always the same photo of her face, and always just a little too large). For example, when the narration was about her meeting and marrying her husband, there were a few of the two of them together, and then her with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Homer Simpson, King Kong ... etc. It was really funny to think of things; she is a VERY refined and elegant lady, and we had her getting a tattoo, pole dancing, in a motorcycle gang, on a Tabloid cover, in the Sopranos -- like that. What made it funny was that we kept the narration perfectly straight and played very formal music behind it. It was very well received, and the guest of honor loved it.

Do you think your mom might like something like one of these ideas? I, too, think I would prefer something like that to making the guests play games. I think it is so nice of you to make a party for your mother. You don't need to "program" every minute with games, though -- your mom's friends will enjoy socializing with each other.

My Mom is a very sweet and fun loving woman. She and her friends get together and play games often. Her friends threw her a bridal shower 3 yrs. ago and they even did the toilet paper bride game!! LOL It was a hoot to see them get so competitive.

Thanks so much for the suggestions gellchom. I'll have to take that up with my sisters. It would be fun to do a musical of her life. I also found a website that suggested

Playing name that tune with music from the seniors' teenage eras.

Having each person bring a baby picture or a picture of themselves as a teenager and then have everyone try to guess which picture belongs to which senior.

Playing a trivia game Jeopardy style. Have the questions relate to specific time periods, movies, actors and other categories that the seniors will be familiar with.