I banned my kid from Roblox.... what next?

WetBeardHairs@lemmy.ml to Gaming@lemmy.ml – 238 points –

As we all know, Roblox is garbage tier gameplay structured around psychological cues to get children to fill an endless pit with fake money bought with real money.

So I banned my kid from it. He used it a little bit socially with a few friends of his. What online or local multiplayer games should I help him to replace it with? (He's 10, so please don't recommend Diablo 4 or anything else that has quite that much gore)

He and his friends have an Xbox Series X|S at home.

Edit: keep your judgemental shit out of here. His whole social group (5 kids he knows from school) got banned on the same day. Me and the other parents are trying to be nice and replace it with better quality games so it isn't just a punishment.

Edit2: Thanks guys. I got him Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge

300

For everyone saying OP should let their kid play Roblox and just ban spending money... just no.

Roblox exploits child labor for profit and they have terrible scummy business practices. If you have even marginal ethical qualms about child labor and/or capitalistic exploitation of vulnerable people, you should be keeping yourself and your family away from Roblox. In your mind they should be in the same category as multilevel marketing, crypto scams and door-to-door religion peddlers.

Roblox really is the lowest of the low.

I actually think it's fair to call them child predators. They're exploiting kids for money instead of sexual gratification, but it's the same power dynamic. Child exploitation is their business model.

A lot of sexual child exploitation goes down there too, so you don't even need a roundabout definition of child abuse.

My son just turned 6 and I was thinking of looking at the game (he really likes actual Lego, and his buddies are into Minecraft and Roblox), but another parent at a bday party a few weeks back asked if we played, and then warned my that I needed to keep a close eye on it, because the suggested games algo was pushing really sketch things to his daughter.

So I started looking and decided the shopping aspect was something I didn’t want to expose him to yet. But these revelations are making me glad we haven’t yet used it and never will.

Do you have written sources for these? I’d like to educate myself but I can’t stand YouTube videos.

This guy's video could just as well be about foss development. Nearly every point has a direct parallel.

Nobody dangles a carrot of earning money in front of potential FOSS developers. Nobody goes into FOSS thinking they're going to get a big payout.

FOSS is not pay-to-play. There's no equivalent to Robux for FOSS developers.

FOSS developers are consenting adults who volunteer their time for freely distributed software projects, not kids creating content for a video game company that charges them for access and then makes a profit from their work.

This guy's argument would literally be that Mario maker is encouraging child labor because it doesn't pay kids who make levels in it.

Roblox sells the idea that you can actually make money with it, it has its own economy with job hunting and salaries. Mario Maker is just a community game.

That's an entirely different thing, because Mario Maker doesn't lure anyone with the bait of financial gain.

That's horrible. These 10 year olds are learning programming and game design skills for nothing. Good thing THAT was nipped in the bud.

This is addressed directly in the linked videos. Development for Roblox doesn't translate outside of Roblox.

Nearly everyone knows a bunch of skills "for nothing" or, worse, for fun! Gasp! Shocking, isn't it?

Also, did you know that modding is a thing at least since the 90s? You know, people that made modifications to games without expecting any financial return or job opportunities? People must be crazy if they're putting so much effort just to have fun and share it, amirite?

I couldn't stop myself from being sarcastic there, sorry. The utter cynicism struck me so hard I didn't know where to begin explaining how wrongheaded I think people are being about that. I would for sure prefer Roblox not encourage mtx so much but sheesh man. I don't think Timmy is trying to make the next Genshin Impact.

Intent makes a big difference. The value of Roblox as a platform and as a business is based on the work done by children to develop for it, and it was set up that way on purpose. They created an incentive model to encourage it.

Nintendo's value as a company is not based on kids creating Mario Maker levels, nor does Nintendo push kids to do so with the promise of earning money.

it would be if the word literally meant figuratively or mario maker psychologically tortured children into spending cash for the privilege

Considering the newest Mario game got a shitload of ideas from Mario maker levels, anyone who was good at mario making enough to be creative with the formula had their labor stolen as RnD for Wonder

Terraria, for something crafty-buildy with combat and very cartoony/2d blood and gore. 1-8 players.

Don't Starve Together, survival crafting in a hand-drawn Tim Burton-esque style. 2-6 players.

Awesomenauts, 3v3 fast paced competitive game in the style of Saturday morning cartoons. 3-6 players.

Deep Rock Galactic, coop shooter where you play space dwarves and shoot bugs while doing missions together. Gore may be a bit strong for your liking, but it's very stylized and only against bugs and robots. 1-4 players.

Risk of Rain 2, shooter where you try and escape a planet together with lots of different ways to play. 1-4 players.

Age of Empires 2, old school fast-paced medieval strategy game modernized with new graphics and such. 1-8 players.

Valheim, viking survival crafty buildy game in which you explore and conquer a dangerous world together. 1-10 players.

Cassette Beasts, technically not multi-player yet but they're adding it as a free update January. It's a Pokémon-esque game where you'll all be trainers in the same overworld together capturing beasts and taking down challenges together. 1-8 players when it comes out.

All of these games are rated T for teen, but it sounds more like you're opposed to M rated violence and language than T levels. They're all also insular in that this friend group doesn't need to involve other people to play together and can either play with or against each other or the computer.

Some really solid recommendations here. Thanks a ton. I've heard of Deep Rock Galactic but it didn't pop into mind. And Risk of Rain 2 looks great.

DRG does have a touch of profanity if you're concerned about that, btw.

I just want to avoid the porn games on steam, and any super-gory shit like dead space. I thought Diablo would be fun for him but it is a bit too much right now. It was different when super pixelated back in the D2 days.

Overcooked can make for some fun chaos, though it tops at 4 players. Team Fortress 2 could work, but it does have graphic violence and I dunno if it's available for the newer xboxes. On PC, it has loads of mods and custom maps that offer similar experiences to what you can find in Roblox

Deep Rock Galactic has mtx packs but they're cosmetic, and there's a large selection of cosmetics that you can unlock within the game itself.

Risk of Rain 2 has one proper expansion, with another on its way, and no mtx.

I think there is a mod to allow more than 4 players in a session for Risk of Rain 2

The OP said that the friend group has Xboxes, and I assume that you can't mod the games. I may be wrong though, I haven't used an Xbox since the 360 and mostly game with the pc myself.

You're right, I missed that part. I highly doubt it would be moddable though

Self hosted Minecraft server for socializing. Mod the shit out of it

Factorio if you want your kid to have a severe addiction.

Red Alert 2 because I want the world to play it.

Ace Combat because it's hype and plays well with a controller.

Bloons tower defense

I'm putting up a minecraft server for my kid and her friends, but I don't really play myself other than than. Few creative builds so I'm curious if you could please expand for me what exactly you mean when you say to mod the shit out of it. Is it enough to create rules or am I going to have to actively moderate their play?

Mod as in install mods that modify the game. My favorite is the map and waypoint mod that adds basically Google maps to Minecraft.

Or the Create mod.

I'd also install the automatic world backup mod so if someone ever griefs the server you can just roll it back

Factorio teaches programming?

I’m a professional programmer and factorio scratches the same itch as designing systems.

It teaches you about constraints, modular design, pub sub architectures, input output flow, etc.

Not really. It will feel like programming if you already know how to program, but I don't think it will teach you programming anymore than any other problem solving activity.

You can learn to create logic circuits in order to aid automation

Minecraft / Terraria, 100%. Both games have available co-op, so they can play with their friends, and allow quite a bit of creative expression. Terraria is made by some of the best indie devs ever, if it helps, having been getting free updates for years, even though the devs said they had finished the game years ago.

For a more socially open experience, I could also recommend Sea of Thieves. It's a game about manning a pirateship and collecting loot, where you can sometimes run into real people on their own adventures (or get your ship sunk by them, after all, they're also pirates). There is co-op, too. A cash shop is available, but all items are strictly cosmetic, with many items available through gameplay alone.

Yeah I love Terraria. I'll see if I can get his friends interested in it too. Heck I'll buy them all copies for xmas.

Terraria for the win, way more fun than Minecraft with more motivation for exploration and of course the combat.

I wonder if they still do that "friends pack" deal where you get 4 licenses for not much more than 1?

You could try Dungeons and dragons. It could be fun for his friend group.

I wish someone had taught my friends and me how to play D&D when I was 10, but my parents were part of the "satanic panic" generation, and had zero interest in anything to do with fantasy or improv. Once you get out of highschool, finding a night that everyone can meet up for D&D gets exponentially harder, let alone finding someone who wants to put in the time to DM.

This!

My friend group would have thrived from something like that.

But our parents were always afraid of what we’d get up to in this very non-conceptual way, so instead we stayed close to home. And drank.

Let's be real, D&D is a gateway drug to alcohol. And lots of doritos 🤭.

DnD is fantastic. I was planning to buy some campaign materials for xmas. Might as well get that started!

Oh yeah, DnD is a great idea, and if they aren't into dragons (but who isn't) there's all kinds of variations of rpg games. Mutant Year Zero, Vaesen, Alien, Pathfinder, Starfinder, etc. The list goes on and on. And since you have mentioned you have a pc, you can use a virtual tabletop like Fantasy Grounds, for them to play where you don't have to get them all together in the same room. I play a few different games each week with people I have only met in game. You could buy the FG Ultimate license for one pc, whomever is going to be the DM, and all the other kids could connect with the free beta license, and only the DM needs to own the books. Everyone else can just get on and read the manuals, or play the game with no expense.

Personally I have played dnd with those virtual tabletops and... they're pretty bad. You spend about 3x as much time fiddling with it than you do playing. Plus you then get distracted by electronics when you should be getting into your character.

Well I guess it all depends on the dm and the material. I play a couple of games each week, and one is a 4 hour session and it's pretty immersive. We have a few hiccups now and again, but it's not anything that bad in my opinion. There is some work on the dm side, but since we are all spread about the planet, it allows us to get together and run a campaign. Even my local board game peeps use FG to play. We talk about playing local, but when we get together it's usually to break out some board games we have and want to play, and one person playing our dnd game is a couple of states away. We joke about putting him on an ipad and facetiming him with his head sitting on the table. LOL.

Dnd (and tabletop gaming in general) is really fun, but I can foresee problems when you try to replace the electronic gambling skinner box of Roblox with a game where the core features are math and imagination.

I'd say the main hangup with any tabletop game is availability. My family is already planning to do dnd sessions at home.

If you plan to DM:

For immersiveness, I recommend miniatures to use on a grid (can be just paper with 1”x1” squares drawn with a pencil). One thing I can say for doing it cheap and quick is to buy a bunch of those small game piece holders (1”x1”) and find monster art online to print, cut, and put in the holders as your minis.

[For example](LLMSIX 24 Pieces Game Card Stand Clear Card Holders Plastic Place Card Display Stand Photo Card Holder DIY Board Games Stand for Business Cards Price Tags Labels Menus Party Favor)

You can get basic rules online for free and you could probably pick up books used.

Yeah I'm 100% not giving WOTC money. Fuck them. I wonder how easy it is to pick up Pathfinder

I banned my kid from Roblox.... what next?

I would just talk to your kid and listen to his feelings and wants. What does he enjoy about Roblox? Can he find that enjoyment with some other games? Does he understand that its not a punishment, e.g. it's not anything that he did and that you aren't blaming him? Sure, you can suggest a few alternatives and they might take and be fun, but you'll need to be attuned to his feelings around what he might see as a punishment for something that he did so that he doesn't internalize it and hurt the relationship you have with him.

yeah this should be the immediate next step. The kid shouldn't feel punished. It shouldn't be a "you're not allowed because I said so." Kids can be smart and might be able to understand why Roblox is exploitative.

At least this is a better reason to take a way a kid's video game. My parents banned me from certain games/movies because they had positive depictions of black people.

My parents banned me from certain games/movies because they had positive depictions of black people.

Holy crap, that's nuts. Are they KKK or something?

no, just very idiosyncratic white American racists. I don't even know where they got it from. My grandparents weren't racists and my parents never listened to Rush Limbaugh or anything.

Maybe they got it from fox news?

Nah, they don't watch that either. They're very detached and only watch football or movies with Humphrey Bogart. My best guess is they felt some kind of resentment their whole lives because they were always the poorest ones out of their siblings. All my aunts and uncles formed businesses or got moderately wealthy, whereas I grew up on the lower middle side of that spectrum. And that turned into standard American racism.

This is amazing advice! Saving it for when I have a kid.

Minecraft?

That's a good one! I'm kind of hoping to give him a copy of something as a gift - but he's already got minecraft. I want him to have options.

A Minecraft realm is also a good idea, it comes with minigames maps

Minecraft seems like the obvious choice for kids who liked Roblox. Terraria is another. If they can only play on a server that one of them hosts, then no need to worry about outside users.

Good on you and the other parents for getting that shit out of there, kids don't need addiction machines trying to pressure them into spending money.

yeah java minecraft (NOT BEDROCK) is great, you can mod the shit out of it too on a pc.

You can get them both with the one license now, so you don't have to pick. I like having the 2 options available and I don't let my kids buy anything on the bedrock one where they have the Minecoin BS to buy stuff. They only have real money (paper) and no digital-compatible methods to pay for anything.

But the mods on Java edition are excellent, and the fact that it runs on any computer OS is a big plus. I can't recommend anything more than Minecraft for a kids' game.

I never understood the "Minecraft Bedrock was made so it could run everywhere" argument. Like, wasn't Java's moto "Write once, run everywhere"? Why settle for a garbage version of the original, when the original can run on every computational device made within the last decade?

When Java was made, nobody guessed that a phone or console would ever be as powerful as a PC. "Everywhere" really meant "Everywhere powerful enough (just PCs)."

Could MC Java be ported to a phone? Yes, but C++ is just so much more efficient for a small device.

Well, considering most android apps are written in Java (mostly Kotlin, but it uses the JVM still), I guess it could.

However, Bedrock is vastly inferior in terms of quality, and performance is not an excuse for it.

How does this work? I have a Minecraft Bedrock license for my Playstation, can I somehow get a Minecraft Java license from this too?

You should be able to see the license in your Microsoft account. I think everyone got both licenses sometime earlier this year.

Minecraft Java. Minecraft bedrock is full of microtransactions, and we both dislike those.

Minecraft Java isn't available on Xbox, is it?

Idk, on Android you can run Pojav Launcher, but I don't really know much about x boxes. Probably a mistake to buy such a closed ecosystem in the first place, from the little I have heard.

They are ten. They're not going to use third party launchers

Why would being ten have any relation to using Pojav Launcher?

At ten I was coding basic stuff and figuring out lan networks to play multiplayer games in the early 90's. An average 10 year old is very capable of figuring out tech stuff.

I'm sure they are. But they are not going to in order to play Minecraft with their friends.

Eh... Like I said, I was doing a bit more just to play with friends. I guess these days it would depend. If you did the install and introduced it as the method for launching the game I don't think they'd even question it.

No but pc is now available on tv. The more people use it, the faster these monetization machines called this decades consoles can wither and die.

Given that you've got some great answers already, there seems to be very few guides on how to deal with this sort of shit as a parent.

Gaming today is very different to what we grew up with, particularly microtransactions, and I think a lot of people would be surprised at how many kids spend insane amounts of money on things like FUT packs, VBucks, etc. Much of this is down to peer pressure, so saying shit like "my kid will never pay money on microtransactions" is wishful thinking.

Kids also have different attitudes on what constitutes value to them. So while parents see robux as total ripoff, kids don’t have the experience of playing a game and receiving the whole thing and not being expected to pay real money to skip the hard parts.

Kids aren’t the only ones who waste their money on frivolous gaming transactions though. Millions of adults by battlepasses for games or we wouldn’t have that crap in games either.

Yeah that's why I let my kid do specific chores to earn money for mtx. So he has his dripfeed to support whatever costumes or other mtx he sees - but not enough to get truly addicted. Plus I have been very forward with him that the money he spends on mtx is literally worthless the moment he buys it - so I give him normal allowance at a higher rate than his small mtx earnings. My goal is to balance it out so he can have non-standard skins and not feel made fun of for it, but also not grow psychologically dependent on them like some kids.

Minecraft is pretty good for this kind of stuff, especially Java Edition (has mods, and loooooads of servers, some of which also use mods to drastically alter the gameplay. You can also host your own, free of charge).

Yeah I prefer the java version, myself. But my kid doesn't have a pc just yet - he's limited to consoles and ipad for now.

If you want to get them something low level cheap, AMD small form factor pcs with integrated Radeon can be had for cheap (easily under $200 if you are patient). One of my kid plays on one of these and with a few performance mods on minecraft does 30fps just fine.

Even raspberry pi 4/5 are amazingly capable of playing minecraft 1080p. I wonder how much better linux gaming support there is on those now since the steamdeck has been a success....

Grounded is the game I wish I had when I was 10. Basically "Honey I shrunk the kids" as a multiplayer survival-builder.

This one. Completely forgot about it in my other post. Only 4 player though but TONS of fun. My gaggle of girls had tons of fun with this one.

My oldest kid (6yo) is currently having fun with Goat Simulator ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and yes, I bought the expansions.

He doesn't play online yet, but I have Minecraft on the PS4 so that may be an option later on.

Other options I can think of that would be appropriate and multiplayer

  • Rocket League
  • Fall Guys
  • Party Animals
  • Portal 2
  • Astroneer
  • Human Fall Flat

Try Minetest - https://www.minetest.net/

It's a FOSS voxel engine, so they can play multiplayer with their friends for free. MineClone2 is a Minecraft clone on Minetest, so even if their friends don't have Minecraft, they can still play with friends.

For paid games, consider indie games, as they're less likely to be micro-transaction bullshit. Raft, Stardew Valley, Two Point Hospital are good options. Not so much multiplayer, but Stardew supports it. Multiplayer wise, maybe Among Us if the parents are comfortable with that.

I haven't seen Splatoon being recommended here, it's a ton of fun and has no microtransactions. You can but your kid a Switch for cheap nowadays.

Categorically disagree. I am a grown arse adult. Splatoon 3 tilts me like no other game, due to some very deliberate FOMO game design decisions and a very poor matchmaking algorithm. Whilst there's no real money store in the game, it has a lot of other problems that make it just as bad as Roblox imo

Can you elaborate a bit? I played Splatoon 2 until Nintendo started charging for the online but, as far as I know, Splatoon 3 only has a free battlepass.

Am I missing anything?

Honestly it's a combination of the battlepass system and the stage design causing constant, very fast-paced combat. The stages are too small, so players are funnelled into the middle of the stage. This also causes spawncamping if the matchmaking is even slightly unbalanced (which it is most of the time), as one wipe will allow a team to push all the way into spawn.

Previous Splatoon games were very good about this - most stages were abstract shapes, with a lot of terrain, meaning combat was rare, and the game encouraged painting over fighting as painting would net the most points on a per-match basis. Splatoon 3's new maps are all thin, straight lines, which forces players into that central killzone.

The battlepass, along with some very poor decision making around the results screen, which shows the winning team celebrating, means that losses feel bad. The matchmaking similarly punishes winstreaks by forcing losestreaks, usually matching you against people above your skill level, but on a team with players below your skill level. Whilst this is very addictive, it makes losing feel genuinely awful, and a losing streak causes tilting due to the FOMO of the battlepass.

Hope this writeup makes sense. I view Splatoon 3 as a genuinely bad game because of these factors, and greatly prefer Splatoon 2.

I think I understand what you mean, I only played Splatoon 2 so I don't have much to add, I don't think there is much of a population left sadly.

Seconding splatoon. Very kid and adult friendly, and basically no micro transactions (unless you count amiibo). No other game has kept my attention like it has for the last year

Some games you could consider -

  1. Krunker
  2. Minecraft java edition
  3. Stardew valley
  4. Terraria
  5. Starbound
  6. Dorfromantik
  7. Cities skyline
  8. Goat simulator

Couple of issues with this list:

  • OP said their son in his friends use Xbox Series X/S, so that effectively removes Krunker and Minecraft Java Edition. That said, I believe Minecraft Bedrock Edition is available for XSX.
  • Stardew Valley is great, but the son's social group has 5 people. Stardew Valley only supports up to 4.
  • Cities Skylines does not have multiplayer.

Can't speak for Dorfromantik, because I haven't played it, but the rest seem like great choices.

Easy solution for Stardew Valley. Unfriend one.

Joke aside, Factorio multiplayer would be nice to teach some logical thinking, but it's only on PC

Besides the obvious Minecraft recommendation, maybe Terraria, Satisfactory, and if you're willing to allow it, something like Smite would be another good option for him to play with his friends.

Buy him a cheap PC and introduce Factorio.

It would teach them logical thinking and teamwork. Could be a nice platform for programming also.

Factorio is a great idea if you’re ok with school going to sh*t. I called factorio the „time machine“ since it could zap 12 hrs in one second. Cant remember any other game that I played till dawn in the last 20 yrs.

Cheap PC it is! Send him to Distrowatch.com and let him pick a distro to install.

No no the kid has school to finish. Ive already given up on sleep to work in the factorio.

fill an endless pit with fake money bought with real money.

Honest question, if the money is the issue, then why not let him play the free stuff and not spend money on it?

I'm crumudgeony enough to remember when buying a game was buying a game. I disliked it when mobile games slowly changed into monitization via microtransactions. Heck, I remember buying games for full price and then they got changed to ftp overnight with mtx. That kind of stuff drove me nuts and I am firmly anti-mtx. That said, I let my kid earn money he can use on mtx for cosmetics and stuff on Fortnite. But it is a dedicated pool of money for mtx, his actual money kept separate so he can buy ice cream or save for bigger purchases without worry. Roblox on the other hand, is a company that exploits children for their labor to create the games and it hires psychologists to ensure kids dump as much money into it as possible all while having no moderation. Roblox is awful. Microtransactions in children's games are harmful and exploitive. I'm letting my kid get a drip feed so he can get the little benefit from having non-stock costumes in fortnite while also having the learning experience that in games with mtx, you can never have enough - without him becoming a whale.

I've recently banned my kid from playing it too. I had only just unlocked it for the first time. I had previously blocked it because it was, IMHO, terrible. As a professional gamedev I find it offensively bad. But I relented, because lots of his friends were playing it. However, and this may be the experiences he was playing, it seems to be almost exclusively training kids up for gambling. Pretty much everything is dopamine based rewards. It's like a casino. It's worst than I ever imagined. I'm this close to banning online play in Minecraft because he is similarly gravitating to the same sort of experiences. In our case it's not about money, he hasn't spent a cent on these things. But the content is very problematic, I have concerns that it is encouraging developing minds that gambling is the norm.

I'm not a gamedev, but I do software development and you really echo my distaste for roblox very succinctly.

It's also just an extremely dangerous platform. They have a stock market, game mode development with children employing children (clearly neither one understands employment laws), and unsurprisingly a ton of pedophiles

why let your child play shit games

why not teach your child what good gaming can be

why just not care what your child spends his time doing

good grief

Maybe it would be cool to ask which games they used to play on Roblox and we could suggest alternatives to those too!

If they are into farming games I'd recommend Stardew Valley, in addition to other games already recommended.

Edit: Many games I wanted to recommend are PC only. 🥲

Edit2: I just saw someone else's post about the social circle being of 5 which makes Stardew Valley more difficult, oof

Oh, I'm sure we're all great parents here. I applaud you for admitting a mistake and having the humility to ask for advice, both excellent parenting skills in my opinion.

I believe the answer is always culture. Once better videogames are discovered it's likely that they will hardly go back to the bad ones (so that the problem of prohibitionism - which is only a temporary solution - can be solved).

One pick that I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned yet is Overcooked 2. No profanity or anything. The only disadvantage is that the game is rather short.

Fall Guys, Among Us, Totally Reliable Delivery Service. These games are full of shenanigans 10 year olds love.

Totally Reliable Delivery Service

Thanks for that one. I hadn't seen it yet. I bet they'd have fun with it.

Please don’t make people play fall guys anymore. Epic has run that thing into the ground by laying off most of their creative team and basically deleting levels and over-monetizing cosmetics

Gary's mod, Minecraft

gmod is great. Another game with several other games inside.

Videos I look at seem rather violent with a lot of guns. Are these included by default or addons? My son's 6 and just getting into minecraft but I don't want to turn it into an FPS for him.

Garry's Mod includes various games/game modes but the most popular one is Trouble In Terrorist Town, where you have to shoot each other. I wouldn't recommend it for a 6 year old, in a few years it will fit better.

He could play minecraft with his friends on a personal server. I think making servers is easy on Minecraft Bedrock (The minecraft version available on Xbox)

Minecraft is definitely fun. I have a whole lab setup for my kids and neighbors to play minecraft and they are using Java version with curse forge so they can make endless modpacks. I think you mentioned xbox, so bedrock is definitely an option as well, but it won't have the free flexibility that Java has.

I personally don't think that a little gore is the end of the world, especially if you play with them. My daughter picked up D3 when she was probably 9, but I played with her and the gore just wasn't a focus. Every kid is different though and bunch of boys probably not gonna gloss over that.

One you might consider is Fallout 76. It got a bad rap at launch, but it's a great game and surprisingly has one of the most wholesome gaming communities ever (probably because most of the trolls gave up early on the game when pvp was mostly removed). There are options to turn down blood as well if that's a concern.

If shooters, beer visuals, and light swearing (think damn, shit, the voicelines are pretty rare and can be disabled with mods) are alright for your kid, check out deep rock galactic. its on steam as well as xbox, and is a 1-4 player coop mining and shooting game where you collect minerals and shoot the ant looking bugs trying to eat you. its incredibly fun and ive sunk over 2500 hours into it without feeling for even a second that any of it was predatory.

Yeah that's 100% going to be gifted to him and his social group for xmas due to the recommendations in this thread

Moreover, the community is absolutely fantastic. Literally just a bunch of half-drunk space dwarves having a good time.

Microtransactions aside, if you're trying to protect your kids from creeps online you're gonna have to ban every platform that supports interactions with strangers. This includes several other games you've mentioned in the comments including Minecraft.

Personally, instead of banning it I just play it with my kids on a regular basis. There's plenty of actually decent games on Roblox and it enables game ideas that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day. My favourite is the Ikea survival game.

The problem with Roblox is that they themselves are the creeps exploiting kids

I play Fortnite with my kid and some friends. We've configured comms so he can only chat with approved friends from RL.

Fortnite has a reputation for getting kids to buy cosmetics, but it isn't justified. We've been playing for a year or so and my guy hasn't asked to buy anything.

It's very approachable, so your kid may be able to convince his friends to play too.

Pokemon? Despite many of its flaws, it encourages honest trading amongst friends, it is a classic JRPG, and has no microtransaction. You can play it on emulator if you don't have a switch

OP has an Xbox, configuring emulators on that isn't very fun.

Space engineers. Great game for cooperation amd if they work well enough they can get a working spaceship going together and explore the universe.

Sea of thieves is great, but only plays 4 at any given time. It also has alcohol and some T rated violence, but it depends on what your boundaries are for the kids.

Hello, fellow pirate! I would argue nobody could actually take the violence on Sea of Thieves as being T-rated - it's a bunch of goofy, heavily deformed people fighting with swords that don't draw blood.

This is a good suggestion. I like this game as well. There's a lot of customization that can be done without paying extra for it, but I am an old fart and don't care to have all that crap in my game. Give everyone the same pair of pants and lets go. Time to go change the onion on my belt.

It would be helpful to understand what types of games the kid was playing in the first place to suggest alternatives. I ripped this answer from quora on how to see which games within roblox your child was playing

  • Game History: Roblox used to have a "Game History" feature that allowed users to view a list of recently played games. This feature showed the last few games you played, but it was limited in terms of historical data. It's worth checking if this feature is still available in your account settings.
  • Roblox Account Activity: You can check your Roblox account's activity feed, which may show some information about recent game interactions and achievements. However, this feed typically doesn't display a comprehensive game history.
  • Roblox API: Some third-party websites and tools may offer services that attempt to retrieve and display more extensive game history data by accessing Roblox's API. Be cautious when using third-party services and make sure they are reputable and secure.

I went looking for any kind of account tracker and to no one's surprise they are mostly about account value from items, not so much about worlds/experiences they have been on.

Most of the responses I've seen on here are just suggesting games which may or may not be to your kids looking purely based on those games being generally accepted as good.

Was he interested in developing games in Roblox or just playing them? If he was interested in development, consider showing to him Godot. Do a simple tutorial together, maybe a multiplayer that he can send and show off to his friends.

Something like scratch is probably a much easier introduction.

My brother and I started playing Grounded together as a way to just chill and catch up throughout the week. We were shocked with how much content was actually in the game. It’s like Valheim mixed with Honey I Shrunk The Kids, 4 player online coop, base building, survival. It has a storyline so there’s always a sense of direction and it syncs the world with everyone regardless of who plays so it’s easy to just come and go. I could definitely see a group of 10 year olds getting sucked into this.

Oh that looks really good. Thanks for the recommendation.

No Man's Sky?

We actually tried it on gamepass and my son was only kind of interested. Thanks for the recommendation though

The answer is whatever his friends are playing.

Coincidentally they got banned from Roblox at the same time! One of them dumped $50 in an afternoon on the game then had the audacity to ask for more money. So his whole social circle got booted from that cesspit on the same day. Me and their parents are trying to find good substitutes.

This is some good context. I'm not too familiar with roblox but I understand it's more of a platform than a single game. How are they accessing microtransactions? If that can't be prevented than that's a bigger problem.

Roblox is a money-grubbing cesspit filled with manipulation. Even if you do close off the MTX route, it opens the door for someone to send a virus and say it'll get you free Robux (the Roblox in-game currency)

From my understanding, that kid was given an apple giftcard so it didnt actually hit his parent's credit cards. I monitor my kid's microtransactions and I give him opportunities to earn money he can use for microtransactions of his choosings.

Wait so you let them use the money how they wanted and now you’re mad at them for spending it how they wanted and how you told them…?

That’s a fucked up lesson and a half, you clearly didn’t learn your lesson and are now teaching the kid they will be punished for following instructions.

Well fucking done.

My kid didn't do the microtransaction fuckup. He just got addicted to a shitty game that me and his friends' parents also hated. One of his friends burnt a pile of cash which instigated all of us saying that it is time to end it. I mentioned this several times now in the thread.

Yeah you mentioned the kid spent their gift card how they wanted with permission from their parents, and you do the same thing, and is now being punished for it. Thats shitty parenting, you’re not banning them because they spent a little money.

This was just the excuse you needed, be a better parent and don’t make up shit.

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That kid is now known as the kid who got Roblox banned among their group of friends, not a nice thing to known for. This will be seen as a punishment by them regardless of how you frame it especially once the other kids at their school become aware of it.

Ouch. Good luck navigating this one as your kids get older.

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I'm not so sure about that. My kids had other kids in their class playing Fortnite - in second grade!

And if my kid were 10 and all his friends were playing Diablo IV or GTA my answer would be a steadfast no.

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What might be a good idea is to try Game Pass for a few months and see what they settle on. Then for Birthdays or Christmas, get them the games they played the most. Not sure how parental controls are like on it, but I hope they exists.

That being said, outside of Nintendo, there aren't many Online games which don't demand their users to pay for cosmetics with fake in game currency. See CTR Nitro Fuelled, Fortnight, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Minecraft skins.

With that said if changing your system isn't an option, Minecraft Bedrock Edition the only game I am familiar with. There is a skin store, but you can't earn in game currency from just playing (from my knowledge). So if they don't have access to the credit card, they won't be tempted, plus the base game has enough options that you can customize your character well enough.

If you can get a switch (and friends have one already), Splatoon 2/3, Mario Kart 8, and Animal Crossing are all friendly non-microtransaction laden games.

Has Nintendo made their online system any less crappy lately? Do they have voice chat or is it still "Use discord"? I say this as a lifetime player of Nintendo games. In the meantime, I've got like 3 years of Game Pass because I did the xbox live upgrade to get it for cheap.

Technically you can voice chat with friends over discord the Nintendo Switch online app.

But yeah I use anything that isn't their service for voice chat.

Seems like it would be hard to use a wired headset to listen to the game sounds/music and voicechat at the same time.

I recommend Astroneer - a solo / multiplayer survival game about collecting resources, refining stuff and building up bases on several planets. It's hecking fun in multiplayer and it doesn't have combat. There's a ton of things to do and if the kids are good at communicating with each other they can quickly conquer the game. The only microtransactiony stuff it has is cosmetics (but it's not being pushed upon you in any way), but you can unlock some of these through progression as well.

I dunno if you want him playing a true mmo at that age, but old school RuneScape is currently as popular as ever. Specifically old school though, RS3 has the same sort of problems with micro transactions etc.

Games my kids and I enjoy on Steam:

(Not Xbox sorry)

  • Alba (such a cute story)
  • FPS Chess
  • Dinkum
  • Webbd
  • Tinykin
  • Spiritfarer
  • Wobbly Life
  • LEGO adaptations of series
  • Among Us (canned chat only)

Games my kids enjoy without paying one cent...

All the games they play

We spend zero dollars on video games and yet our kids seem to play a lot of them, my wife and I don't really play. They even had a friend give them an Xbox and there are computers and tablets and phones in our house. Games don't have to be a money pit.

Just let them play minecraft instead. Minecraft dungeons could be good but it's only 4 people at the same time tho.

Roblox is full of different kinds of games, right? Why don't you find out the kinds of games he likes there and find recommendations based on that? It's a start at least. I would imagine most of the Roblox games are clones of better games anyway.

He and his entire friends group on roblox got banned from it in a single day. We're trying to not be jerks by providing a better game to replace it with. But from what I saw - he was playing some game where he stands there and pokes at a robot that gets bigger while things around it die. Not very stimulating.

Factorio provided you want a group of kids that you never see again that can all program their own PLC devices

I'm still confused as to why you guys don't just ban the spending of money on micro transactions and not the game itself? Every game is jam PACKED with mtx these days, from CoD to Fortnite to Forza.

peer pressure. I fell for it in my TF2 days in high school. A buck there a few bucks there, all for a hat with particle effects that I never got. All because one of my friends I was playing with had one, and I wanted one too.

I learned a valuable lesson, but I was also 15/16 and had the ability of self reflection (and wanting to get Skyrim for $5 instead of a key). Can't expect this level of self control from most teenagers, let alone a 10 year old.

Personally, I want my kid to be able to buy a few things every now and then. Roblox got the axe for multiple reasons - mtx was only one aspect. He gets a vbuck or two with his allowance if he wants to earn them. It helps him get a healthy view of how little mtx are really worth, but a cosmetic here or there is kind of fun.

Oh duh. Also, I forgot you said it was because you didn't feel the gameplay/game itself was quality enough, which is fair enough, but I'm not too familiar with Roblox as I've never played it.

Every *multiplayer game

I play about a hundred games a year, and haven't opened a game with microtransactions in about half a decade.

My squad has been addicted to Phasmophobia since Halloween, no microtransactions in sight!

Lol I think survival horror might be a few years too early for him and his cohorts

It builds character! Lol but, yeah phasmo is too intense for many of my adult friends, even.

Out of curiosity, do you generally know what he was doing on Roblox? I’ve heard of several horror games being remade within Roblox, such as Iron Lung. I’ve wondered what the limitations are. I definitely remember stumbling into some intense things when I was around that age, but the landscape is so different now

He was wasting time playing shitty games because his other friends played those same shitty games. I was taken aback at how mind numbingly shitty those games were. We were in the same room as an Xbox with gamepass and a Nintendo Switch and he chose to play some seriously bad games instead because his friend was addicted to it. Then he became addicted to it. Luckily, that whole friends group will now have much, much better games to play.

Roblox is well-known for predatory practices aimed at children, and predatory behavior from other users who may or may not be looking for children to abuse.

Banning Roblox entirely seems like a very reasonable thing to do IMO.

RunEscape has a pretty expansive free to play game. Cartoonish gore.

God runescape is still a thing? I played that in middleschool....

I remember playing it a bit back in 2001.

And yes, it's still around.

There are even two versions that Jagex maintains, the main branch, and Old School Runescape, which is based around how the game was back in 2007-2009. (but with new stuff still added all the time)

Whoa that is a rabbithole I really should not let him know about. Talk about a time sink - people have been playing that for decades now.

I think it's more popular in poorer countries because you don't need a high end PC to play it.

Definitely have to get him Valheim, and they have an Xbox version now. Also, not multiplayer, but Kerbal Space Program is pretty fun. I have only played the PC version though, so can't speak to the console version.

Oh I forgot valheim was multiplayer. Thanks. He even played it for a little while so I'll have to get that one going again

At that age, maybe Among Us or Minecraft?

Those are already commonly played by him and his friends, so you were right to suggest them.

For a second I confused Among Us with The Last of Us. I thought that was a pretty messed up suggestion for a little kid lol

Maybe introduce him to Beyond All Reason? It's an RTS in the vein of Total Annihilation. Free and open source and very good looking.

Beyond All Reason

That game looks awesome. I need to check it out.

Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed Collection

I haven't seen the latest Roblox but when I was a kid 15 years ago it was great! Played lots of gamemodes with people. Has it really become that bad?

The method to it's madness is fairly underhanded to adults, much more so for its' intended audience.

I wish I could find the video that did a basic deep dive on all (negative) aspects of the roblox community, from the robux, to the game makers potential for being exploited, and the oddly nft/stock market of cosmetics which are a massive fomo money sink. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't aimed at children, but because it is, that only makes the handful of bad/fringe cases even more unsettling.

It's no big secret that kids are dumb enough to try and get robux for free from almost any link saying they can online. But the incentive is there for them to try.

Removing roblox from a kids library is a good thing for peace of mind. Plus there are plenty of other games out there to play with friends and depending on how they spent their time on roblox, it likely wouldn't be terribly hard to match to another game within whatever genre they were playing.

Sniper Elite Five is fun. It only has gore when you are shooting Nazis and it is always morally good to shoot Nazis.

Shooting nazis is acceptable. I'll get him Wolfenstein one of these days when he's a little older.

StarCraft 2. No friends, only ladder. Get him practicing now and he'll be winning RTS tournaments before he's 20 like Clem.

Just rediscovered Battlefield Heroes through the fanmade Rising Hub.
Pretty sure it's the perfect kinda game for a group of 10 year olds to play and socialize on.

Does he like off road trucks? Spin Tires. My 5 year old loves it.

Reminds me I should see if monster jam is coming around again. He had fun there last year.

Minecraft has been suggested here but there's also Minete St, free/open source version. The experience isn't exactly the same but the basics are there. Works with PC and Android. You can also run one of the computers as a host and you can do multiplayer. Absolutely no microtransactions.

your edit shouldnt be so aggressive, no one knew that and as we didnt know it wasnt judgemental to be mad

Dark Souls

Do you want OP's kid to grow up to become a masochist? Because that would do it.

Don’t do Minecraft when Minetest is open source. It’s not meant to be installed as vanilla per se tho as mods are for building gameplay and vanilla is just a sandbox/canvas to build Minecraft-like or addjacent games. Especially if you can get him on PC, I could be a hopskip away from creating his own open mods (as opposed to the content farm of underpaid “devs” for Roblox which have wild stories if you look it up).

Veloran is also a good alternative for free software with an adventure MMO aspect that might appeal to the guy.

Being projects without a profit motive & a strong community where the players are the developers is a safer route where you would never expect loot boxes, microtransacitions, dark/addictive patterns because those aren’t fun & money isn’t an incentive. With the source available your son is more than welcome to read it to figure out how games work, contribute ideas/code, & learn to make mods which are all great, real-life skills learned while accidentally gaming & trying to make the game better for yourself & friends—and if he’s not a future coder, there are assets & stories to build, or just playtesting a friend’s mod.

Minetest simply doesn't have the content catalog of Minecraft, for a game that the appeal is the fact you can pretty much never get bored of it, that's a massive drawback.

Sound idea. Additionally, it’s now possible to stream games to the tv quite easily. So pc is really the better alternative to get away from psychological abuse through console and game manufacturers.

Also, Minecraft on console is no better than roblox imo. It is a microtransaction pile of sh*t. You could argue that minecraft java works but I get the strong feeling that it wont stay like this forever since bedrock makes more money and allows for stronger manipulation through nonexistent mod support and everything is monetized there.

If it’s set up correctly. The biggest selling point of a console is that it boots you to “play game” mode as the default & games have better expectations since the hardware is standardized. That said, in the case of Steam, there’s nothing to say you can’t install Linux & have it boot directly into Big Picture mode (but you’ll still need to remember to get software updates for the OS as they aren’t integrated like a console).

Two things I see differently:

  • the hardware of a pc is standardized as well and the performance of a console is not better afaik
  • there is something called unattended upgrades for linux which takes that away as well. You also don’t ever need the newest version of linux

I mean the IBM PC was standardized but you are welcome to install whatever video card or as much or little RAM as you want which means developers can’t specifically target your setup (with fewer testing Linux), but a lot of things not requiring the bleeding edge run just fine. Unattended upgrades is a good idea, but that is if the distro supports it—and that’s still a better experience than Microsoft Windows updates.

We're already firmly invested in minecraft. I have the java edition on my computers - and he has bedrock on the xbox. It sucks that they arent compatible, but he's too young for a pc.

Too young for a PC? My daughter got my old components with 8 years. Now with 10 years, playing Veloren, Minetest, Terraria and LotRO with me at her side on it...

If you/the kids are playing vanilla look into Geyser as it allows Bedrock and Java players to play on the same server.

I had no idea that was possible. I'm looking into it now. Is it any good?

I haven't used it since the 1.16.5 days but it worked perfectly fine for vanilla back then and I'm sure it probably does now too.

If you have more questions after you read a bit more about it feel free to drop them here.

Bible Adventures for NES

Funny, but not a constructive answer. Props for not suggesting Custer's Revenge at least.

Is this what we're doing instead of actually parenting? Roblox sucks, but you know what sucks even more? Being left out of the friend group because your parent is digging their heels in on some issue they can't understand. Plus, where is the brightline for this? Would you ban your kid from playing Fortnite because of the skins? Counter strike when he's older? Clash of clans?

You could play Roblox with him and explain what's wrong with the games. You could help build his taste to not like the games that want to charge him out the ass and let him move past Roblox on his own. You can help him learn to make games and help him learn enough to want to move to something else. Otherwise, you're just going to seem like an asshole. Because from reading this, you clearly just watched some video essay on Roblox and dug your heels in based on that.

Would you kindly fuck off? I am allowed to parent my children how I see fit. I provide him plenty of high quality games and multiple gaming systems and I want to make sure that his limited video game time is at least stimulating.

You made the correct choice getting rid of Roblox and you don't deserve to get flak for it, but

I am allowed to parent my children how I see fit

This is a shitty way to view the question. As someone with unique authority over the child, you are obliged to do your best at doing right be them.

"But I am!" you say

Then say that instead of this children-as-property shit

That's what I'm more upset about. The logic behind these decisions that has been expressed simply isn't sound parenting. This kid just got his favorite toy taken away, and while it isn't meant as punishment, it will feel like punishment. The logic expressed in the post is regurgitated out of a video essay, and makes it sound like Dad doesn't even know why he's taking it away. My situation was a little bit different, adopting someone else's kid who had an entirely different life before me, but I feel like the shock therapy of just banning it with video essay logic is weak even if they are fully your children. As someone who was on it as a kid, I don't like Roblox overall. However, I've found just teaching him why I don't like Roblox has been more effective than just pulling it away and giving a poorly thought out explanation why. Now he's come to the conclusion of the emptiness of Roblox himself, I didn't have to force it.

Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Giving them the information on their level and giving them choice usually pays off with kids. They can usually understand way more than we expect them to as long as we can break it down for them. It's one thing to be the weird kid who can't play Roblox because your parents don't want you to, it's another thing to be the kid who just doesn't want to play Roblox. I'm saying that this is a situation where you can have your cake and eat it too, and that's by educating your kids to make good decisions and give them ample opportunity to practice that skill.

The marketplace of ideas tends to be a much weaker force than "what are my friends playing?" I'm all for treating kids as people, but that also means understanding that people mostly choose what lets them get on with their peers the most easily.

Why do you think I am not trying to be the best parent? Do you know my child? No? Then you don't know what is best for them. In this case, it is the best. Roblox is garbage tier games on a platform made by exploitation of children for the exploitation of children. Just because I am man enough to call that out and make the tough decisions doesn't mean people need to personally attack me for it. Dangers to our society evolve - it's like slapping a crack pipe out of the hand of a family member... just digitally.

This is a reading comprehension issue. Look at what I said more carefully, I am implicitly supporting the idea you are trying to help your kid and telling you to argue from a standpoint of human benefit rather than sovereignty. With the rise of Christian nationalism, we're only going to see an uptick in "children are the property of the parent" style reasoning, and we should all be fighting it.

You were asking for advice, and she gave you some solid suggestions. IDK why you're getting so bent out of shape.

Edit: Adding this article to maybe give you some more detail. Play the game with your kid and see what about it they enjoy. If you want to introduce them to better games, you'll need to have an idea about what they like.

Is this what we’re doing instead of actually parenting?

No, that wasn't advice. That was judgemental and without cause. I am asking for game suggestions because this isn't meant as a punishment - it is meant to let the kids have an upgrade. But I guess I didn't tiptoe around everyone's overly sensitive feelings over here.

You gave absolutely no context about what kinds of things your child enjoys in video games. Go figure that out first. If you don't know that, and you're taking the game he enjoys away he's 100% going to see it as a punishment.

Thanks for presuming I don't know what my kid enjoys. Why do you have to be such a dick with the personal attacks? I am asking for advice on multiplayer games. You're being a dick. I bet you make a lot of friends that way.

Pay no attention to the people who don't have kids. You're doing just fine. The fact that you're asking honestly makes you a better parent than many.

Kids, as you well know, are gonna figure out unimaginable ways to get themselves in trouble. I've had to tell more than one of my kids, "I'm gonna let you make all the mistakes you want, and I'm gonna be there to pick you up, but I am not going to let you make permanent mistakes." When it comes to advertising, microtransactions, OnlyFans (yes, OnlyFans), the lesson is "these things exist for one purpose, and that is to separate you from your money as much as possible." If you are paying for something, stop and consider whether you can get a substantially similar thing for free, or at least for a lot cheaper.

From reading your other comments, it sounds like you and the other parents all agreed together to drop the hammer on all the kids at once. That is a good idea, and it's great that you have lines of communication open to your kid's friends' parents. That's going to be important when they're older and driving cars, and having access to intoxicants and mall ninja shit.

To your actual question - I saw someone mention Minecraft, that is a fantastic choice. There are "skins" and shit that can be bought, but the game itself it absolutely fully playable and enjoyable without anything beyond the initial game purchase. Running a private server is pretty easy, and I would recommend it, so that the friend group always has a place they can go where the annoyances of the internet-at-large are excluded. Besides that, a kid who is motivated to modify his own Minecraft server is going to be driven to figure out how to do it, and that kind of skill will be super useful for oh so many things throughout life.

If they like arena combat games, Crossout is pretty fun. World of Tanks is okay, but the grind curve is steep. War Thunder is fun for planes and ships, but I am not a fan of their tank play mechanics. All of those are free to play, yes you can buy stuff, but you absolutely do not have to.

There's a single player game that I have to mention: The Long Dark. Winter survival, and there's also a storyline mode. The storyline is really good, and the map is absolutely vast. While it's not one they would be able to play together, it's a great exploration and survival game, and I would be remiss if I didn't point it out.

You know what's more stimulating than any individual game you'll have him play? Making his own choices on what to play. And like I said, brightline, what is and isn't stimulating to you? Are shitty flash games banned for being too simple minded?

Parenting is your kid learning from you. They're not learning why you're banning Roblox, and if you explain it to them they don't really understand. My kid is starting to not fuck with Roblox anymore because of how pay to win some of the games are. He had to do a lot of chores for those Robux and instantly wished he had the money for better things a couple days later when he wanted a plushie at the store. When I told him he could have gotten that plushie if he hadn't gotten Robux, he stopped wanting Robux. He learned the value of money, and learned to prioritize the things he wants, and coincidentally doesn't want to play Roblox like he used to. I didn't have to be the bad guy because most kids have things they want more than Robux. All I had to do was make him choose.

Seriously, download and play Roblox with him. There are a million different games on there, you can even filter games on the site. Some of the games are actually really fucking good. Meet him where he's at, set rules so he has to play Roblox with you. You can actually monitor what he's playing and doing, while getting in some bonding time. Because your Dad playing tag or whatever dumbass things we were into as kids was way usually way cooler than playing Dad's game. You're going to be

I don't think you quite understand how bad Roblox is.

Think of the most predatory games you can imagine.

Roblox is far fucking worse.

Not only is it a money grubbing game like the worst of mobile free-to-play games, it encourages content creators to exhibit the same behaviours and does nothing about blatant fraud on the platform. Something it's money obsessed nature actually encourages and rewards.

If the shit that goes on in Roblox went on in Facebook to nearly the same degree, Meta would be raked over the coals for it; even Meta haven't stooped so low.

Diablo II, III, IV. It'll teach him how to build character with the skill points.

If you're that kind of person, throw away the Xbox too, pure garbage. Everyone deserves the open environment of a PC where one can tinker and learn about the system, maybe even make some mods for games.

Lolol parents banning video games they don't like. Name a better duo.

Roblox is an abusive platform that pressures kids into wasting real money - and that's before mentioning how there have been MULTIPLE pedo scandals related to it.

Not constructive dude. Roblox is a bit of a cesspool, so completely understandable he wouldn't want his kids to play. I remeber one of my kids watching what is normally a wholesome youtube streamer playing roblox and someone else came on and was like "I'm gonna show you my penis". Roblox streams banned then an there. And you know what, my kids were slightly upset but since they were equally shocked as well after our convo they understood why. We had a talk about why roblox is different than minecraft in that respect and that was it. I still allow my kids to play "violent and bloody" games if they like because they are able to focus past that aspect. If they couldn't, it might be a different conversation. And it would be just thst, a conversation not an ultimatum.

The next step is becoming a better parent. That's a shit move and you can't stop your kid from playing it behind your back. You simply taught them to find and learn new ways to gaslight and evade you in order to keep playing with their friends.

I guarantee your parents did the same shit to you, and you perpetuate that toxicity.

You sound like exactly the kind of kid who needed his Xbox taken away.

Says the person with no kids.

How many kids do you have?

Gaslighting, toxicity, oh come on. I'm supposed to expect my kid to lie to me?

Just giving my kids into the embrace of peer pressure isn't love, it's evading confrontation. Give them a place of trust and understanding, with clear rules they can understand and follow. If my kids are getting their way bending and evading the rules we set, then it's way too late.

We often say yes, but sometimes we have to say no, and our kids are fine with that.

You're a shit parent if you let your kid play Roblox.

A point could be made about a video game that isn't actively preying on kids, but Roblox ain't it.