There were loud cheers from my basement. I hear the verbal high-fives of teenagers (“Let’s go!”) and know that my 13-year-old son and his best friend just won the battle royale. If you had said things like “sandbox” and “squads” to me two years ago, I would have thought you were talking about an arcade and maybe the police. But now look at me, the mother of a teenager with an Xbox. (I once called it “Xbox” and got a lot of snickers).
Playing video games is undoubtedly a rite of passage for teenagers. Back in the 90s, when my sister and I were playing Mario Bros., there were no online forums or ways to play with other people unless you were in the same room as other people. Most of the online games your children are likely to play today are multiplayer games. But what are they? What information do parents need to know about these online gaming spaces?
Multiplayer games are exactly what they sound like: multiple players can interact in a game, either competitively or cooperatively. Some games allow children to connect with friends online and play together as a team. Chat functionality is often part of these games – although they are most typically text chat. While some games also have voice chat capabilities, voice chat usually requires the use of an external application such as Discord.
While there are hundreds of thousands of games out there, here are the most popular online games your kids might beg you to let them download and what you need to know about them. Once you understand the online gaming space your teen spends their time in, be sure to pay attention to our feature on how to keep players safe.
“Fortress Heroes” Battle Royale
When your kids ask to play Stronghold Heroes (or Bastion), they’re probably playing Stronghold Heroes: Battle Royale. This is a fast-paced multiplayer sandbox game with two main modes: the popular multiplayer version “Battle Royale” and the “Save the World” single-player version. Children can also choose to play in playground mode, where they can get used to the characters, buildings and different game features.
In Battle Royale, a match can have up to 100 players. Players can play this match alone or join a team of two, three or four players. Essentially, you want to be the last person standing (or the last team standing). Players collect weapons, build structures (although you can also play a no-build version), and shoot other players while trying to stay within the storm window. Players can also use health packs to help resurrect teammates.
What to pay attention to
Fortress Heroes has a very cartoony world and there’s no blood splatter when players are shot, but parents should still be aware that it’s a third-person shooter, which means the targets are there before they shoot you Before shooting other people. In the Save the World version, players are survivors of an apocalyptic storm and must fight zombie-like creatures. This mode can be scary, especially for younger players.
If you’re worried about the shooting aspect of Fortnite, there’s also LEGO Fortnite coming in 2023. and construction. It’s a bit like the creative mode in Minecraft, but there’s also a survival mode with multiplayer features. However, this is invite-only, so it’s easier to ensure kids only play with friends.
“Fortress Heroes” has both online text and voice chat functions. Text chats expose children to explicit language. Voice chat allows players to talk to players in their party. Parents can restrict features such as chat, content ratings, in-game spending, and friend requests. Any user under the age of 13 has certain restrictions, and any user under the age of 18 has automatic privacy settings. However, children can log into the account using other profiles (especially if there are adult gamers in the home), and the account age is determined by what is entered during setup. So make sure you know whose account they are using and take an active role in setting it up.
minecraft
Another sandbox game with unlimited building possibilities, players can play in creative, adventure or survival modes. These modes can be played alone or with friends. In creative mode, kids can build (build, build) and create an entire world of their own, which they can then invite friends to join. Adventure mode allows players to play in worlds created by other players. Both survival and adventure modes require players to avoid certain obstacles, such as mobs or zombies, while maintaining health. However, these three modes also offer peaceful, easy, normal, and hard difficulty levels.
What to pay attention to
The single-player version of Minecraft, especially the peaceful creative mode, has few risks except that your kids won’t want to leave the screen. But when you get into multiplayer mode, parents need to know that there’s a chat feature. As with any video game chat, there is the potential for children to be exposed to explicit language, slurs, and bullying. For those playing Adventure Mode, please note that these can be created by anyone, not just kids. This means there may be pornographic or adult content. The safest option for multiplayer in Minecraft is to let your children create a realm and invite their friends to join. Minecraft is free, but accounts that can create realms do require a paid upgrade.
Roblox
Roblox allows players to create games and play games created by others, which means there are endless gaming possibilities. Players can choose from categories covering a wide range of interests. But Roblox also doesn’t have a minimum age to play, which makes the game popular among younger kids. Like any online game where kids play and chat, this can attract predators, and Roblox has been criticized on more than one occasion for being unsafe for kids.
What to pay attention to
Roblox has two major problems: The chat feature, despite claiming to be under review, can still become a forum for explicit chat and hate speech, and some parents complain that the feature is effectively unmoderated. Additionally, children are being lured by predatory adults into revealing their location or otherwise being tricked. Another concern is that the “user-generated content” aspect of Roblox means crawlers can create vulgar scenarios that children might encounter, including sexually explicit scenes.
Roblox does have controls over accounts, allowing parents to limit how their children can play, but since the game has no minimum age, any child can create an unrestricted account on Roblox. Parents can set a PIN for accounts of children under 13, but without this, children are free to do whatever they want – including in-app spending.
among us
Among Us is a detective game, an online multiplayer game in which players try to determine who among their crew is the imposter. The story takes place on a spaceship, and players are randomly assigned roles at the beginning of the game, either as crew members (the good guys) or as impostors. The impostor knows he is an impostor and must outwit other players and kill the crew without being detected. The crew wins by either repairing the ship or discovering all the impostors and voting them out before the impostors kill the crew. Each game takes about 15 minutes, chatting in emergency meetings after a crew member is killed.
What to pay attention to
Obviously, the game involves terms like murder and killing, so there is an element of violence inherent in the game. The characters are simple cartoon spaceman shapes that don’t look much like humans, but the killing animations can be a little extreme, including stabbings, broken necks, and gun violence. They only last a few seconds and aren’t an important part of the game, but they can still be disturbing. These kill scenes are visible to the crew (rather than the impostor), but you have no control over what type of character you become.
Games are played with 4 to 10 players, and while kids can invite their friends to play, there’s also the option to play publicly online. This means they will be playing with strangers. Among Us doesn’t have voice chat, but it does have a 30-second emergency meeting after a crew member is killed. During this time, players can chat with each other. Even though this only lasts half a minute, children can still be exposed to bullying, hate speech and explicit language during this time.
rocket league
Rocket League is essentially a car soccer game. Players can customize their own vehicles and play in the arena, trying to score goals. Cars can do a variety of stunts, and there are multiple arena settings and races that can last up to five minutes. New players can play in tutorial mode for as long as they want, but eventually, kids will want to play multiplayer. You can do this with friends or be assigned to a random team.
What to pay attention to
Rocket League has a text chat feature that can expose kids to racial slurs, homophobic comments, bullying, and generally unkind comments. For example, if a player misses a goal, another player can immediately criticize them, which can be difficult for some children. However, it is possible to play without chat. You can limit chat to only friends, or disable it entirely by setting it to “No one allowed,” meaning kids can play multiplayer games without chat. It does not affect gameplay.
Halo Series
Halo games, such as Halo Infinite, are first-person shooters filled with guns, explosives, and other violent confrontations. These games are rated Adult (18+) or Teen.
What to pay attention to
Games described as “adult” are not suitable for teenagers or younger, primarily because of their violent content. Dialogue in the game may also contain some explicit language, and some characters have been criticized for being too sexual.
Halo has both text and voice chat, and the chat is largely unmonitored, leaving kids vulnerable to explicit language, racist and homophobic remarks, and bullying. If you plan on letting your children play this game, you may want to play with them and make sure to check the game rating before downloading.
call of Duty
Call of Duty is a complete video game series, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. They are first-person shooter games with a graphic military background. Players take on the role of soldiers tasked with fighting global threats such as terrorism.
What to pay attention to
The player’s goal is to eliminate the “bad guys,” but it’s nearly impossible not to kill innocent bystanders in the process. As in Fortress Heroes, the player’s goal is to be the last survivor. Deaths are bloody and graphic, and some characters smoke, drink, and take drugs. Most Call of Duty games are rated Mature, 18 and over. Some are rated 15 and above. The game has chat features, including voice chat. There are some parental controls in Call of Duty, including limiting graphic content and disabling voice chat.
apex legend
Another shooting game similar to Fortress Heroes, players compete to be the last survivor. Players can choose one of several characters and form a team of up to 3 players. They were then thrown onto an island along with 19 other teams. Players must find everything they need to survive: weapons and supplies. They also have to fight other players, but they can save teammates from death or dying situations. Apex Legends is rated Teen, mainly due to the level of violence.
What to pay attention to
Players cannot play alone or in teams of two – all players must form a team of three. This means that if your child doesn’t play with two other friends, they will be placed in a squad with strangers. Apex Legends offers text and voice chat so you can chat with others in your squad. Parents can disable voice communication to prevent their children from talking to other players, but if you set this setting to chat with friends, you will need to disable it every time.
