What is the age rating for this?

[Kickz]

My 9 year old likes to play games occasionally and so far she played only Plants vs Zombies on Steam.

This game looks like something that she might enjoy and it looks like an interesting story too.

Was just wondering what the official age rating for this game was. Could not find it on the ESRB search page.

I'm not to strict with these things but just thought I check first before adding it to her Steam account. I wouldn't want her to play something that all of a sudden turns into murder and mayhem :).

[Michal]

Hi,

We did not submit the game for ESRB rating yet. But there is no drastic content (there is a fight but not more violent than those in Plants vs Zombies :) ). No obscurities, no things that are inappropriate for children. The issue is that the game is quite hard and challenging with it's puzzles. It's possible that your daughter would need your assistance or would need to watch a walkthrough from time to time.

[Kickz]

Originally posted by ForeverEntertainment:

Hi,

We did not submit the game for ESRB rating yet. But there is no drastic content (there is a fight but not more violent than those in Plants vs Zombies :) ). No obscurities, no things that are inappropriate for children. The issue is that the game is quite hard and challenging with it's puzzles. It's possible that your daughter would need your assistance or would need to watch a walkthrough from time to time.

Brilliant. Thank you for the reply.
Puzzle games are great for kids and I'm sure she will enjoy this one, even with a little assistance :)

[GMPunk75]

My 10 year old has this game on her acount, and we are both having a blast with it

[Αη Ιnτellecτual Tsiραr]

The ESRB? Omg, people like you killed the video game industry. Companies have to pay to get their games death to the esrb + you can research games online, i know you did it here but you can udnderstand me correct :3

[Wiesseritter]

Originally posted by vv:

The ESRB? Omg, people like you killed the video game industry. Companies have to pay to get their games death to the esrb + you can research games online, i know you did it here but you can udnderstand me correct :3

Er, not really. I'm confused on how you've managed to turn a concerned parent into a video game killing villian. Also, I don't think the ESRB works how you think it works.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/esrb.htm

[Kickz]

Originally posted by vv:

The ESRB? Omg, people like you killed the video game industry. Companies have to pay to get their games death to the esrb + you can research games online, i know you did it here but you can udnderstand me correct :3

I use ESRB as a rough guideline the same as PG ratings on a movie.
I'm not really strict about what she is exposed to as reality will always be a step ahead of you anyway.

I merely wanted to make sure there is no darker hidden, less obvious things happening in the story that could subconsciously effect a child negatively.

When we watch romantic comedies for example but they are PG15/18 because the guy drops the f-bomb in it or says sh*t to much we don't mind if she watches it because she understands not to speak like that. As soon as we leave the house people in public swear occasionally as well so it's not something I can protect her from but it is easy to teach her not to speak like that.

What is hard though to teach is the more gray area issues which is not as clear cut as someone swearing.

Take American Dad for example, I watch that sometimes and made the mistake in the past letting her watch an episode but that bit me in the butt.

The episode in specifically was around people fighting each other because of racial difference and in the end Stan said, "I learned something today, we should not fight each other because of our racial difference it doesn't matter what the color of our skin is or where we are from, as long as we are all the same religion"

While this is something we adults understand and can see how the cartoon simply reflected the hypocrisy of people a child can not. I thought explaining to her that you cannot ever treat someone different because of where they are from or what they believe in would be enough.

However, she did repeat that sentence in school not realizing the teachers would think the worst off course and then called us asking about it. So we ensured the teachers our child is not racially profiling people but just repeated something she thought was funny but not really understanding what she said.

Naturally I did not let her watch this or anything like it again :)

So in a very long way I'm saying that ESRB and PG ratings are useful guidelines that are early warning signs that you might come across not only swearing but also things which are not that easy to explain to a child and easily can cause problems.

If you follow them strictly or not is up to each person, I don't follow them strictly as I already said but anything 15 and up I make sure I watch/play with her together just in case.

Sorry for the long post :)

[Dverning]

Silver Surfer, I just want to say "Thank you for asking the question I was wondering about." My daughter's 8 and I came to the forums for exactly the same reason. Also, your long and well reasoned reply was perfect.
ForeverEnterinment, your reply just got you another sale. I look forward to playing this with my daughter.

[Kickz]

Originally posted by dweomer:

Silver Surfer, I just want to say "Thank you for asking the question I was wondering about." My daughter's 8 and I came to the forums for exactly the same reason. Also, your long and well reasoned reply was perfect.
ForeverEnterinment, your reply just got you another sale. I look forward to playing this with my daughter.

Thanks for the feedback.

My daughter likes the game so far.

Just as ForeverEntertainment said the bigger issue is the difficulty, specially when not having played this type of game before.

She is getting used to the way the puzzles are done though and is slowly getting the hang of it.

I hope you guys enjoy it too.

[Grumpicus]

Here's yet another post to thank Silver Surfer to asking the question as well as the follow-ups. Grabbing a copy for my kids as well.

[brinnsabode]

I think children under 12 will find it too hard and will either walk away or become irritable.
There is a lot of abstract/ lateral thinking needed to solve the puzzles. Children can still be what is called *concrete* thinkers at 9-10 where everything has to be black and white and clear cut.

[Kickz]

Originally posted by brinnsabode:

I think children under 12 will find it too hard and will either walk away or become irritable.
There is a lot of abstract/ lateral thinking needed to solve the puzzles. Children can still be what is called *concrete* thinkers at 9-10 where everything has to be black and white and clear cut.

She did need help at the start with the fly and the bottle as there is very little "help" at the start. Most games have an intro level in which they basically hand you the solution to introduce you to the way the game is going to go but this game doesn't really have that.

She is getting the hang of it now and realized the bubbles are hints and she is looking out for patterns etc... She did make it past the door with the bugs though where you had to play hide and seek with the bugs before the big one gave you the keys. (I didn't know how to do it and excused myself to go do more important things...watch TV.. lol)

The one thing we both can't figure out yet is what are the 3 different type of bubbles for we keep finding :)

[zombie_slag]

Here it is almost a full year later and I too value this information. As Violett just went on sale and made it into the featured area (otherwise I'd never have seen it) I thought it would be perfect for my 9 year old daughter and I to play together.

The ESRB is a useful tool, both for parents to use, and for game devs and publishers (indie and major) to point at whenever the newest Tipper Gore (Leland Yee now...) campaign of "Vidyagames is tha devils!" pops up.

So thanks again for this question and answer, and discussion, as I've now added Violett to my library to surprise my daughter with when she gets home.