Which Video Games are Appropriate for My Kids?

I’m going to be giving a talk to my son’s school Parents’ Association about this very topic. I was set to speak to them at the October meeting, but wires got crossed and I was bumped to the November meeting. I’m actually relieved this happened, because I completely forgot to work on a presentation for this until two days before the meeting because I’m awesome like that. Now I can take my notes and perhaps make a real presentation with power point and…stuff. However, since I talked about it on Facebook, a few friends asked if I would please write up my talk on my blog so they could use it and share it. Now I have two chances to write up my talk and get it somewhat understandable.

So here is what I had planned on saying…

For those who don’t know me, my name is Keri Honea (and I was going to say what grade my son is in, blah blah blah blah) and I review video games for a living. Because I’m so inundated in video games all the time, it’s easy for me to forget that not everyone is as in tune as I am about what is out there and what their kids could be playing. I approached the PA about speaking because one day over the summer, Gabriel asked if he could have the game Five Nights at Freddy’s on his iPad and I nearly got into a car accident from shock. That’s a horror game that scares my own adult friends, so there was no way I had even thought about that game for my 7-year-old. I demanded to know where he heard it, and he said some of his friends had it, but he refused to tell me who. Just weeks later, another parent asked me if Call of Duty was appropriate for her first grader. The answer is Hell no, it’s not.

I am going to start off and say that you know your kid best, so you know better than anyone what is appropriate for your child and what your child can handle. I am not here to preach to you or parent for you, but to inform you about what video games are releasing this holiday season, and let you know about them so you can determine what is appropriate for your child.

The big key is to get familiar with the ESRB ratings that appear on every video game box. They are on the front in the lower left corner, and they can be used similarly to the ratings for movies. The ESRB ratings are as follows:

• E – E is for Everyone, and it means this is appropriate for everyone under the sun.
• E10 – Everyone 10 and up, which means it may be complicated for young children.
• T – T is for Teen, and take this similarly to a PG-13 movie. There may be some fantasy violence, some bad words (but no f-bombs), and perhaps suggestive dialogue.
• M – M is for Mature, similar to an R rated movie. There could be violence a/k/a bloody violence, bad language including the mother of all words, dark storylines, nudity, sexual situations, sex scenes…anything you could find in an R movie.
• AO – AO is for Adults Only, and this is a super rarity. I have never played one of these games, and it’s safe to say that they’re somewhere between NC-17 and X movies.

The ESRB ratings are the best way to determine what is appropriate for your kid. I personally don’t let Gabriel play any M-rated games or even watch me play them. One night when I was reviewing the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, he came in to watch me and I said it could be scary because I was shooting a lot of scary-looking monsters. He said he could handle it, and I said okay. In the next thirty seconds, four f-bombs were dropped and I told him to get out. I still waffle with him on T-rated games. It depends on the level of violence and the language, which is something that is, of course, between you and your child.

So what’s releasing this holiday season that is okay or not okay for young kids? Here are my suggestions for this year:

• Almost anything you can find on a Wii U will be fine for kids, especially anything made directly by Nintendo.
• LEGO games are perfect for anyone, but watch out for LEGO Dimensions, because that one will be pricey as your kid tries to collect all of the toys.
• Skylanders and Disney Infinity games are also 100% safe.
• Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live will be okay, but you will need to monitor your child for not only what music they play, but how they interact online.
• Avoid every M-rated game releasing this Fall and Christmas, and sad to say, there are tons of them:
  • Assassin’s Creed games (all)
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider
  • Just Cause 3
  • Rainbow Six Siege
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
  • Fallout 4
• Avoid or HEAVILY MONITOR any game that includes online multiplayer. The online portions are often worse than the rest of the game, simply because you get to deal with the lovely people of the world. This was how I learned 10-year-olds know more f-bomb creations than I do, and that’s saying a lot. The following games have heavy online multiplayer components, and hey, I already recommended avoiding most of these because of the M-rating:
  • Star Wars Battlefront
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
  • Need for Speed
  • Guitar Hero Live
  • Rock Band 4
  • Halo 5: Guardians (this one isn’t even safe for single-player…it’s very very dark)
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider
  • Rainbow Six Siege

The ESRB ratings are your friends. And you can always email me if you have a question about a particular game. I’d rather be flooded with emails asking about every game release under the sun than have anyone inadvertently buy an inappropriate video game for their kid.