Brawl Stars
Fast cartoon team battles on the phone, with a shop that never takes a break.
Matches take under three minutes, and that's exactly what makes the game hard to put down: there's always time for one more. But because every match is equally short, an agreement on a number of matches actually holds here. Ten matches is half an hour, and the ending is known before you start.
The limits by age, and the moves that make them stick: Screen time for kids and teens, a complete guide.
The most important things to know
Brawl Stars is fast three-on-three battles in cartoon style from Supercell, the company behind Clash of Clans. It lives almost entirely on the phone, and in the Norwegian Media Authority's survey it's among the games most Norwegian children report playing, especially boys of primary school age. If you've never heard of it, that's because it never passes through the living room TV.
The age labels are low (9+ in the App Store, PEGI 7 on Google Play) because the violence is bloodless cartoon stuff. What the labels don't capture is the tempo of the shop: multiple currencies, daily offers on countdown timers and a season pass with a deadline.
Chat is limited to team chat and emojis, and ugly talk happens there, as it does everywhere. The most important setting is switching text chat off for the youngest, and it sits inside the game itself.
What's positive about Brawl Stars for your child?
Matches are short, skill counts for more than purchases once the match starts, and the team feeling is real: kids play in clubs with their classmates, and it looks more like collaborative play than war. As mobile games go, this is one of the better ones.
How can Brawl Stars affect your child negatively?
The shop is the engine of the game: offers that “expire” on a countdown, currencies that obscure what things cost and a Brawl Pass that rewards logging in every day. All of it legal, all of it standard, all of it designed to be hard to resist.
The progression is built for daily use, and for a child “I want to play” slides easily into “I have to check in”. It's the streaks mechanic wearing game currency.
Settings you set together
- A purchase block on the phone (require approval for every purchase), on iOS and Android alike.
- Switch off text chat in the game's settings for the youngest. Supercell's parent guide shows how.
- Agree a number of matches per session, and let your child propose the number first.
Sources
The whole mindset behind the guide, with the research and the open-door principle: Kids and social media, a parent's guide
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