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How to Choose Age-Appropriate Video Games for Children

Use the age rating as a starting point: read the descriptors, check online and purchase features, and match the game and its controls to your child and family rules.
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Start with the game’s age rating, but don’t stop there. Read the content descriptors and rating summary, check online play, communication, and purchases, then decide whether those features fit your child’s maturity and your family’s rules. Parental controls can help enforce the decision, but they work best alongside a conversation with your child.

What a video game rating tells you—and what it doesn’t

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating system has three parts: a rating category, content descriptors, and interactive elements. The category is an age-appropriateness recommendation. Descriptors identify content that may have contributed to the rating, while interactive-element notices flag features such as user interactions, in-game purchases, location sharing, or unrestricted internet access. ESRB’s ratings guide explains these components.

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For physical games rated by ESRB, a Rating Summary can provide more detail about the content. A category is a useful first screen, not a complete description of everything a family may want to consider.

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ESRB describes its rating system as voluntary overall, although console manufacturers and some retailers and digital storefronts require ratings for products they offer. Ratings may appear on game packaging and digital storefronts, including through IARC processes on participating storefronts. Check the specific version and platform your child will use; don’t assume a similar game or another entry in a franchise has the same rating or features. See ESRB’s parent tools for ways to look up a title.

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A practical process for deciding whether a game fits

  1. Consider the child, not just the age printed on the rating. Think about maturity, sensitivities, prior experience, and the rules you use at home. Children of the same age may respond differently to the same game.
  2. Look up the exact title and read beyond its category. Check the descriptors and, where available, the Rating Summary. Note the kinds of content identified and decide whether they fit your child and your family’s boundaries.
  3. Check how the game connects with other people and services. Find out whether it includes online multiplayer, player communication, in-game purchases, location sharing, or unrestricted internet access. Decide who your child may play with, what they may share, and whether purchases are allowed.
  4. Compare candidate games using the same questions. For each title, consider the rating and descriptors, the details in its summary, online and communication features, purchases and other interactive elements, your child’s interests and maturity, and the controls available on the platform. A higher or lower category alone does not settle every family-specific concern.
  5. Set the rules and configure controls before play. Create an individual child account, use the correct birthdate, and secure parent settings with a PIN or password. Depending on the device or service, controls may manage access by rating, play time, spending, and communication.
  6. Talk about the decision and revisit it. Explain the reasons for your choice, ask what interests your child about the game, and adjust permissions as their maturity and gaming habits change.

Use age guidance as a prompt, not a universal rule

ESRB’s Family Gaming Guide offers broad age-based prompts. They are guidance from the rating organization, not medical advice, developmental rules for every child, or a legal standard.

Age range ESRB’s general prompt What a parent can consider
Under 5 Games designed for this age are described as mostly education-based; the guide recommends a screen-time limit. Choose content that suits the child and set a household limit that works for your family.
5–9 Use individual accounts and controls for age ratings, time, communication, and spending. Set up the child’s own account and decide which online and purchase features, if any, are permitted.
10–12 Check ratings, manage online communication, and control purchases as gaming becomes more social. Discuss who the child plays with and how they should handle messages and purchase requests.
13–16 Discuss choices and gradually adjust rules as maturity develops. Review permissions together and change them based on demonstrated judgment and your family’s boundaries.
17 The guide says a child is empowered to make their own decisions about content and online interactions. Treat this as ESRB’s framing, not a legal rule or a prescription that applies to every household.

Set up controls on the device or service your child uses

Parental controls can help translate household rules into limits on ratings, time, spending, or online communication. The available options vary by platform and service, and menu names can change, so follow the current instructions for the account and device in use.

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ESRB’s current control guides cover Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox consoles, Windows PC, and Meta Quest, as well as services including Battle.net, EA, Fortnite, Google Play, Minecraft, Roblox, and Ubisoft accounts. The ESRB parental-controls guide links to platform-specific instructions. If several children share a device, individual accounts can help keep one child from accessing settings or content chosen for an older sibling.

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What the available survey figures do—and don’t—show

ESRB reports that Hart Research Associates found 83% of parents with children who play video games were aware of ESRB ratings, and 77% regularly checked them before buying a game in 2025. These figures describe reported awareness and checking, not whether a particular game is suitable for a particular child. The figures are reported by ESRB in its article about parents monitoring video games.

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ESRB also says that 65% of ratings it assigned to physical and console downloadable games in 2024 were E or E10+. That is the distribution of ratings assigned, not evidence that those games suit every child. Likewise, a survey summarized by ESRB reports that 45% of parents used platform-provided parental-control apps, compared with 31% in 2019; the page does not establish a publication year for the newer comparison in its visible text. These statistics are context, not a substitute for checking a title’s rating and features.

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