Exuberant cheers are coming from my basement. I hear the teenage verbal equivalent of high-fives (“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 “squad” to me two years ago, I would have thought you were talking about a playground and maybe the cops. But look at me now, the mother of a teenager who has come into possession of an Xbox. (I once called it “the” Xbox and was met with a host of snickers).
Playing video games is surely a teenage rite of passage. Back in the ‘90s, when my sister and I were playing Mario Bros., there wasn’t an online forum or a way to play with other people unless you were, you know, in the same room with other people. The majority of online games your child is likely to play today will be multiplayer games. But what are they? And what do parents need to know about these online gaming spaces?
Multiplayer games are exactly what they sound like: Multiple players can interact in the game, whether competitively or cooperatively. Some games allow kids to connect with friends online and play together as a team. Chat functions are often part of these games — though they are most typically text chat. While some games also have voice chat functions, voice chat often requires the use of outside apps like Discord.
Though there are hundreds of thousands of games in the world, here are the most popular online games your kids are likely to beg you to let them download and what you need to know about them. And once you finish getting to know about the online gaming spaces your tweens and teens are spending time in, make sure you follow up with our feature on how to keep your gamer safe.
Fortnite Battle Royale
When your kids ask to play Fortnite (or Fort), they’re most likely playing Fortnite Battle Royale. It’s a fast-paced, multiplayer sandbox game with two main modes: Battle Royale, which is the popular multiplayer version, and the solo version, Save the World. Kids can also choose to play in Playground mode, where they can get used to characters, building, and different game features.
In Battle Royale, up to 100 players join a match. Players can play on their own in this match or join a party of two, three, or four players. Essentially, you’re playing to be the last one standing (or last team). Players collect weapons, build structures (though you can also play a no-build version), and shoot other players, all while battling to stay inside a storm window. Players can also help revive teammates with health packs.
What to Be Mindful Of
Fortnite has a very cartoon-like world, and when players are shot, there is no blood splatter, but parents should still be aware that it’s a third-person shooter game, which means the goal is to shoot everyone else before they shoot you. In the Save the World version, players are survivors of an apocalyptic storm and must fight husks, zombie-like creatures. This mode can be scary, especially for younger players.
If you’re concerned about the shooting aspect of Fortnite, there is also Lego Fortnite, introduced in 2023. Lego Fortnite is a different game mode that allows players to be in a sandbox world where they can create and build without battles. This is a little like creative mode in Minecraft, but there is also a survival mode that has a multiplayer function. However, this is invite-only, so it is easier to ensure that children are playing with friends only.
Fortnite has both online text and voice chat features. Text chat can expose kids to explicit language. Voice chat allows players to talk with players within their party. Parents can restrict features such as chat, content ratings, in-game spending, and friend requests. Any user under 13 has certain restrictions in place, and anyone under 18 has automatic privacy settings. However, children may log into an account using another profile (especially if there’s an adult gamer in the house), and the account age is based on what is entered when it’s set up. So, be sure you know whose account they’re using and take an active role in the setup.
Minecraft
Another sandbox game with infinite building possibilities, players can play in Creative, Adventure, or Survival mode. These modes can be played solo or with friends. In Creative mode, kids can build (and build, and 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. Survival and Adventure modes both challenge players to avoid certain obstacles, such as mobs or zombies, all while maintaining their health. However, each of these three modes also offers difficulty levels of Peaceful, Easy, Normal, and Hard.
What to Be Mindful Of
Single-player Minecraft, particularly Peaceful Creative mode, has few risks other than your kids not wanting to get off the screen. But when you get to multiplayer modes, parents need to know that there is a chat function. Like any video game chat, there is the possibility of kids being exposed to explicit language, slurs, and bullying. And for those playing in Adventure mode, be aware that these can be created by anyone — not just kids. That means that there’s potential for sexual or mature content. The safest option for multiplayer games in Minecraft is to have your child 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 possibilities for play. Players can choose from categories that span a wide range of interests. But Roblox also doesn’t specify a minimum age for play, making this game popular for younger children. Like any online game where kids are playing and chatting, this can attract predators, and Roblox has come under fire more than once for not being safe for kids.
What to Be Mindful Of
There are two main concerns with Roblox: the chat feature, which despite claims that they are being moderated, can still be a forum for an explicit chat as well as hate speech, with some parents complaining that it is virtually unregulated. In addition, kids have been lured into giving away information about their locations or groomed in other ways by predatory adults. The other concern is that the “user-generated content” aspect of Roblox means that creepers can build gross scenarios that kids might stumble into, including sexually explicit ones.
Roblox does have controls on accounts that allow parents to restrict how their child plays, but because the game has no minimum age, any kid can create an unrestricted account on Roblox. Parents can set up a PIN on accounts for kids under 13, but without this, a kid can have free rein — including in-app spending.
Among Us
A whodunnit game, Among Us is an online multiplayer game where players try to determine who among their crew is an Imposter. Taking place on a spaceship, players are randomly given roles at the beginning of the game of either a Crewmate (good guy) or an Imposter. Imposters know they are imposters and must outsmart the other players and kill the Crewmates without being found out. Crewmates win by fixing the ship or discovering all the Imposters and voting them off before the Imposters kill off the crew. Each game takes about 15 minutes, and chatting happens during emergency meetings after a crewmate has been killed.
What to Be Mindful Of
Obviously, this game bandies about terms like murder and kill, so there is a violent element to the game itself. The characters are simple cartoon-space guy shapes that don’t look particularly human, but the killing animations can be somewhat extreme, including stabbings, broken necks, and gun violence. They only last a few seconds and aren’t a huge part of the game but can still be disturbing. These kill scenes are visible to Crewmates, not imposters, but you have no control over what type of character you’ll be.
Games consist of four to 10 players, and though children can invite their friends to play, there is also the option to play a public game online. This means they will be playing with strangers. Among Us has no voice chat function, but 30-second emergency meetings take place after a Crewmate has been killed. During this time, players can chat with one another. Though this only lasts half a minute, there is still the possibility that kids will be exposed to bullying, hate speech, and explicit language during this time.
Rocket League
Rocket League is essentially soccer with cars. Players can customize their vehicles and play in an arena, trying to score goals. Cars can do all kinds of tricks, and there are multiple arena settings and matches, which can last as long as five minutes. New players can play in tutorial mode for as long as they’d like, but eventually, kids will want to play multiplayer. You can do this with friends or be assigned to a random team.
What to Be Mindful Of
Rocket League has a text chat function 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 instantly criticize them, which can be a lot for some kids. However, it’s possible to play without the chat function. You can restrict chat to friends only or disable it entirely by setting it to “allow with nobody,” which means kids can play multiplayer without the chat function. It does not affect gameplay.
Halo Series
The Halo series of games, like Halo Infinite, are first-person shooter games that are heavy on guns, explosives, and other violent confrontations. The games are either rated Mature (18+) or Teen.
What to Be Mindful Of
Games dubbed Mature are not appropriate for teens or younger, primarily because of the violence. The dialogue within the game can also contain some explicit language, and some characters have been criticized for being overtly sexual.
Halo has both text and voice chat, and this chat is largely unmonitored, leaving kids vulnerable to explicit language, racist and homophobic statements, and bullying. If you plan to let your kids play this game, you may want to play with them and be sure to check the game rating before downloading.
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is an entire franchise of video games, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. They are first-person shooter games in a graphic, military setting. Players become soldiers who are tasked with fighting a global threat such as terrorism.
What to Be Mindful Of
Players aim to take out the “bad guys,” but it’s almost impossible not to kill innocent bystanders in the process. Like Fortnite, players aim to be the last one standing. Deaths are bloody and graphic, and some characters smoke, drink, and use drugs. Most of the Call of Duty games are rated Mature, 18 and up. Some are rated 15 and up. The games have a chat function, including voice chat. There are some parental controls in Call of Duty, which include limiting graphic content and disabling voice chat.
Apex Legends
Another shooter game similar to Fortnite in which players fight to be the last one left. Players choose from one of several characters and can form teams of up to 3 players. They are then dropped onto an island along with 19 other teams. Players must find everything they need to survive: weapons and supplies. They must also fight other players, but they can bring teammates back from death or near death. Apex Legends is rated Teen, primarily for the level of violence.
What to Be Mindful Of
Players cannot play alone or in teams of two — all players must be on a squad of three people. That means if your child isn’t playing with two other friends, they’ll be placed in a squad with strangers. Apex Legends has text and voice chat, so you can chat with others in the squad. Parents can disable voice communication to prevent children from talking to other players, but if this setting is in place to chat with friends, it will need to be disabled every single time.
