My 9yo daughter has a tablet with family link, so I can monitor what apps she wants to install. As the garbage games are mostly at the top free, she keeps asking for games that I reject, in most cases because it’s riddled with ads.
The Play Store has a section for kids, which seems to have better quality apps and games.
Also thinking to subscribe to Play Pass so she can try out paid games.
Any other tips? Especially how to find good free / paid games. I don’t mind paying for good games.
Also I’m aware I can block ads using eg Pi Hole (already doing that) or sometimes putting it on airplane mode, but that’s not my point. I want to find and support quality games.
Yeah was thinking about a switch, but I’m a bit reluctant due to high cost of games.
They mainly use the tablet to game while traveling, at home they play with their toys or on the xbox.
Also I don’t know anything about adblockers but I was lucky enough to have a device supported by www.divestos.org and I think the OS defaults to a DNS that ignores ads somehow. But I’m not sure! I just know I get WAY less spammy ads than friends do :P
One thing you might need to pay attention to is your daughter would want to play the same game as their friends do.
You may want to reject games base on your criteria, but if your daughter feels isolated because she can’t play with her friends, that could be a bigger problem.
I’m not too worried about that tbh. It’s the same thing that when she gets a mobile phone it will be very limited, only call, text and messaging. No social media until she’s 18.
Thanks though for checking.
Good luck. We tried that rule too, it has led to so much stress and fighting. I’m certainly not suggesting to not try and hold the line. I’m just wishing you luck with it.
After watching The Social Dilemma and seeing that people who worked high up at eg Facebook also didn’t want their kids on there, I’m going to try to do the same.
That… seems a bit too extreme, I honestly don’t think you can achieve that… unless you get her a dumb phone and assuming she never gets her own by her own means.
Working with your kids to have a decent social media experience? That I can see!
Yes it may sound extreme but based on The Social Dilemma and presentations at our school from people who did a lot of research into this topic, I’m going to go with their recommendation to keep them off social media until 18. Probably won’t be easy indeed.
They’re a little janky but they get the job done, they’re basically just a tiny weak laptop with emulators built in that you can only play the games on
That looks cool! I think though it will be a hard sell for them as it will be a step back. However I will be looking into emulators as I think those games are better for them.
My 9yo daughter has a tablet with family link, so I can monitor what apps she wants to install. As the garbage games are mostly at the top free, she keeps asking for games that I reject, in most cases because it’s riddled with ads.
Did you ever consider using this as opportunity to educate your daughter about ads in general, how some games try to push adds to get you to do something, and also how some games have game mechanics trying to push you to do specific things, and then just let her figure out if those games are worth playing, or not?
She’s definitely old enough - I had that discussion with my daughter when she was 5, we have an agreement that we limit the number of games installed on her phone - and the kind of shitty game you’re talking about typically gets uninstalled again pretty quickly.
In a few years she’ll be able to install stuff by herself - if you never explained to her what and why games/apps are doing she’ll not be ready to deal with that, and it’ll be out of your control.
I am on the exact same boat as you. 9yo daughter keeps asking to download a bunch of crap with in app purchases or ads. The problem is that there’s so much crap for mobile. I almost never play anything on my phone, but her at her age and the current times of short attention span being bored for longer than a second seems.like a taboo, she needs to have stuff on her phone, even though we have a Switch at home with loads of good quality games.
I agree there’s a lot of crap, and it takes some time and conversation.
Lots of tips in this topic as well. Eg Play Pass looks pretty cool so far, and I’m going to look at F Droid and installing an emulator.
I’m also explaining to her why I reject some apps. She seems to understand it better and better.
I’m also going to look at using Tasker to set it to airplane mode on all apps except Play Store and Chrome.
My kid has this problem too. So many games interrupt him mid level to force ads, its ridiculous.
But we’ve found a few games that arent total popup nightmares (that he enjoys):
-Two Dots, a beautiful puzzle game, very kid friendly
-Bad Piggies - a spin off of angry birds, Physics based building/puzzle game, very cartoony and fun gameplay. My kid loves this game, probably his favourite (its older so the ads arent too obnoxious. You can pay to disable them, also)
-Stumble Guys - massive multiplayer platformer like fallguys, loves this one (there are ads but you can pay to disable for 4.99)
We have the ios equivalent to play pass and it helped a lot, too.
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I’m doing some scraping on the playstore, there is few stuff that has no ads nor in app purchases
I posted a few here on https://lemmy.fbmac.net/c/free_android_games
Love it! Subscribed
I’ve made it a link that works from all instances : /c/free_android_games@fbmac.net thanks!
Emulation full stop Anything else is a waste of time or a risk to get your kids addicted
Play pass is really good for games but my kids still constantly want shitty ad filled ones tbh.
Setting up adguard DNS worked really well but it can break games if they’re dependent on ads. Which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion.
Yeah agreed, my kids have accepted that stuff doesn’t work if they rely on ads, and they are fine with it (after some initial batyles).
Ahh… I remember simpler times when we had proper handheld devices… and not having to deal with ads bullshit (shovelware was a thing though).
Perhaps the Nintendo Switch might be a good option down the road?
If not I agree about Chinese handhelds, there are so many out there and they keep improving over time.
Yeah was thinking about a switch, but I’m a bit reluctant due to high cost of games. They mainly use the tablet to game while traveling, at home they play with their toys or on the xbox.
Maybe steam deck could be an alternative? Hardware itself is more expensive, but there’s so much good cheap or even free games.
Fdroid –> unciv
Civilisation clone. Really fantastic if she enjoys that sort of thing.
https://f-droid.org/categories/games/
Also I don’t know anything about adblockers but I was lucky enough to have a device supported by www.divestos.org and I think the OS defaults to a DNS that ignores ads somehow. But I’m not sure! I just know I get WAY less spammy ads than friends do :P
#divestOS #Fdroid
Thanks for civ tip!
I’ve got pi hole as DNS ad blocker. Works great.
Sweet!
If you like tech and if she might too, there are coding games for the desktop https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-programming-games/
And for the mobile device https://blockly.games/
Have fun!
One thing you might need to pay attention to is your daughter would want to play the same game as their friends do.
You may want to reject games base on your criteria, but if your daughter feels isolated because she can’t play with her friends, that could be a bigger problem.
I’m not too worried about that tbh. It’s the same thing that when she gets a mobile phone it will be very limited, only call, text and messaging. No social media until she’s 18. Thanks though for checking.
Good luck. We tried that rule too, it has led to so much stress and fighting. I’m certainly not suggesting to not try and hold the line. I’m just wishing you luck with it.
I don’t even see how it’s possible to stop someone from using social media until they’re 18 unless they truly don’t want to.
After watching The Social Dilemma and seeing that people who worked high up at eg Facebook also didn’t want their kids on there, I’m going to try to do the same.
That… seems a bit too extreme, I honestly don’t think you can achieve that… unless you get her a dumb phone and assuming she never gets her own by her own means.
Working with your kids to have a decent social media experience? That I can see!
With Family Link everything can be locked down.
Yes it may sound extreme but based on The Social Dilemma and presentations at our school from people who did a lot of research into this topic, I’m going to go with their recommendation to keep them off social media until 18. Probably won’t be easy indeed.
get them an offline console
Yeah, perhaps a better idea. Will do that once the tablet reaches end of life.
There are these little handheld console things you can get online for like $20-50 if you think she’d like older games like classic Nintendo, one of the cheap ones is called data frog SF2000 and it looks like an old SNES controller or this one for something higher quality that can run more consoles https://powkiddy.com/products/powkiddy-q90-3-inch-ips-screen-handheld-console-dual-open-system-game-console-16-simulators-retro-ps1-kids-gift-3d-new-games
They’re a little janky but they get the job done, they’re basically just a tiny weak laptop with emulators built in that you can only play the games on
That looks cool! I think though it will be a hard sell for them as it will be a step back. However I will be looking into emulators as I think those games are better for them.
This guy (Nimble Thor) developed an app called Mini Review, I’ve used it frequently.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=minireview.best.android.games.reviews
Check him out on YT as well.
That’s cool. Downloaded! Thanks.
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Spelltower is a classic. Still might have ads but they’re less intrusive, and it’s educational but it probably won’t be boring
Did you ever consider using this as opportunity to educate your daughter about ads in general, how some games try to push adds to get you to do something, and also how some games have game mechanics trying to push you to do specific things, and then just let her figure out if those games are worth playing, or not?
She’s definitely old enough - I had that discussion with my daughter when she was 5, we have an agreement that we limit the number of games installed on her phone - and the kind of shitty game you’re talking about typically gets uninstalled again pretty quickly.
In a few years she’ll be able to install stuff by herself - if you never explained to her what and why games/apps are doing she’ll not be ready to deal with that, and it’ll be out of your control.
Thanks for the insights. Totally agree with you. Yep, I’m having those conversations and she understands it more and more.
Emulation, geometry dash, Minecraft.
I am on the exact same boat as you. 9yo daughter keeps asking to download a bunch of crap with in app purchases or ads. The problem is that there’s so much crap for mobile. I almost never play anything on my phone, but her at her age and the current times of short attention span being bored for longer than a second seems.like a taboo, she needs to have stuff on her phone, even though we have a Switch at home with loads of good quality games.
It’s just the way it is.
I agree there’s a lot of crap, and it takes some time and conversation. Lots of tips in this topic as well. Eg Play Pass looks pretty cool so far, and I’m going to look at F Droid and installing an emulator.
I’m also explaining to her why I reject some apps. She seems to understand it better and better.
I’m also going to look at using Tasker to set it to airplane mode on all apps except Play Store and Chrome.
In case nobody’s said it already, it’s awesome you’re taking an active role in teaching your daughter media literacy. 🙂
Thank you!
Tbh I gave up on mobile gaming about 8 years ago. Got so tired of sifting through the crud looking for gems.
My kid has this problem too. So many games interrupt him mid level to force ads, its ridiculous.
But we’ve found a few games that arent total popup nightmares (that he enjoys):
-Two Dots, a beautiful puzzle game, very kid friendly
-Bad Piggies - a spin off of angry birds, Physics based building/puzzle game, very cartoony and fun gameplay. My kid loves this game, probably his favourite (its older so the ads arent too obnoxious. You can pay to disable them, also)
-Stumble Guys - massive multiplayer platformer like fallguys, loves this one (there are ads but you can pay to disable for 4.99)
We have the ios equivalent to play pass and it helped a lot, too.
Thanks! Going to look into those games.