Your child asks, "Can I get this game?" The age rating on the box answers one question: what is in the game, such as violence or scary scenes. It says much less about what happens around the game: who can message your child, what the shop offers, and what keeps them coming back every day.
The good news is that most of those answers sit on the store page, and you can read them in about five minutes. This guide shows you what to look for, then lets you try it on a pretend game.
Ratings come in two parts. The age (PEGI 3, 7, 12, 16, 18 in Europe, or ESRB E, E10+, T, M in North America) is the headline. The small print is the useful part: content descriptors for things like violence or bad language, and notices for the online features.
Two notices matter most for parents. In-Game Purchases means the game lets you buy extra items without leaving it. Includes Random Items means you can pay without knowing what you get, which is how loot boxes, card packs and prize wheels work. ESRB also uses Users Interact, which it describes as possible exposure to unfiltered user-generated content.
One caution: ratings bodies generally do not rate what other players say or make online. A game can carry a low age rating and still let strangers talk to your child, so always check the online features yourself.
PEGI announced in March 2026 that it would look at four "interactive risk" areas when rating new games, from June 2026. Older games are not re-rated unless they change a lot, so many games your child asks for will not reflect this yet. The four areas are a handy checklist either way:
Spending. Time-limited or quantity-limited offers now get at least PEGI 12. Random paid items get at least PEGI 16 by default. Return rewards. Daily quests and login streaks get at least PEGI 7, and penalties for not coming back (losing progress or content) get at least PEGI 12. Communication. Games with entirely unrestricted chat, with no blocking or reporting, are rated PEGI 18.
Pretend you are reading a store page. Tick what the page says and watch the check-list build itself.
Do the settings on day one, not after something goes wrong. On a console or phone, use the family account tools to set a spending limit or require approval for purchases, restrict who can contact your child, and set play-time limits. Then open the game itself: many have their own chat, privacy and spending controls that sit on top of the system ones.
For a young child, play the first few sessions together. Ten minutes beside them tells you more than any label: how the game talks to your child, what it keeps asking them to do, and whether stopping is easy.
Settings fail when a child can simply ask someone else, so also agree a few simple rules. Nobody buys anything without asking. Strangers who ask to chat or move to another app are told to a parent. And a bad moment (something scary, a rude message) is never punished by taking the game away, or your child will stop telling you.
When a new game is requested, check four things: the age rating and its descriptors, the online features (chat, user-made content, location), the shop (random items and countdown offers), and the pull to return (streaks and daily rewards). If a game fails one, set a control. If it fails several, wait a year, or play it together first.