# A parent's guide to Roblox: the social network that looks like a game I thought Roblox was “just a game”, right up until I sat down and played it with my daughter. What I found was neither as frightening as the headlines nor as innocent as I'd assumed. This guide is what I wish someone had told me before I said yes to the app: what Roblox actually is, why the Norwegian Media Authority mentions it in the same breath as TikTok, and what you can do about it in practice. By Øyvind Østmo · Published 25 Oct 2026 · https://www.balansebarn.no/en/articles/parents-guide-to-roblox ## The evening I learned Roblox is not “just a game” For a long time I took [Roblox](https://www.balansebarn.no/en/app-guide/roblox) for a game, roughly Minecraft with a different logo. Then one evening I sat down and played it with my daughter, and that idea didn't survive long. We started in a hair salon. Then we fled a tsunami. Then we stood in a shop where a box of virtual pets cost 400 Robux, while in the corner a chat blinked away and someone I'll never be able to identify said unpleasant things. It felt like a shopping centre packed with small games, with strangers in every corridor and its own currency at the till. ## What Roblox actually is Roblox has been around since 2006, and it isn't a game. It's a platform holding millions of small games, made by the users themselves. Roblox calls them “experiences”, but let's call them Roblox games, and a good many of them are built by children and teenagers. Knowing that your child “plays Roblox” tells you about as much as knowing that your child “is on the internet”. In February 2026 [Medietilsynet, the Norwegian Media Authority, published its report on how children use social media](https://www.medietilsynet.no/fakta/rapporter/barn-og-medier/2026/fanget-i-feeden-1/), and it made a point most headlines skipped. Roblox is formally a gaming platform, but it has the features of a social network: chat, a friends list, a front page that recommends more, purchases inside the content, and rewards that come back every day. My advice is to meet Roblox with the same questions, the same settings and the same conversations you would bring to a social network. > Eight in ten Norwegian 9 and 10-year-olds are on Roblox, up from seven in ten two years ago. In the same age group, social media use is falling. The youngest kids aren't moving away from chat, feeds and pressure to spend. They've moved to where the label says “game”. Across the whole 9 to 12 group the figure is the same, eight in ten, and there Roblox is used more than YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok (the Norwegian Media Authority, October 2026). ## What the Media Authority found inside the games In October 2026 the Media Authority followed up with a report on the platform itself. [“Roblox under radaren?”](https://www.medietilsynet.no/nyheter/aktuelt/ny-rapport-fra-medietilsynet-betydelig-risiko-pa-spillplattformen-roblox/), roughly “Roblox under the radar?”, was presented on 22 October and produced together with the research agency Respons Analyse. And since Roblox is one app holding millions of user-made games, the Authority picked four of the most popular and went through them: Adopt Me, Brookhaven RP, 99 Nights in the Forest and Clip It. ### The shop is rarely far away The games are designed to keep children playing and to get them spending, and some of them are hard to leave. Mari Velsand, the Authority's director, calls it “cynical design choices to keep young people logged in and active for as long as possible”, and describes the pressure to spend as “massive”. Perks come with a countdown, the kids themselves describe games where whoever pays wins, and in some games you pay to bring your character back when it dies. ### Boxes with unknown contents Several of the games have loot boxes: you pay for a box without knowing what's in it, the same mechanism as a slot machine. NRK, Norway's public broadcaster, compares them to gambling, and Barnevakten, a Norwegian organisation that advises parents on media, points out that loot boxes alone earn a 16 rating in the PEGI system. ### Strangers and the chat Anyone can make a Roblox game, and anyone can chat. Children see other people's chat even when their own is switched off, the people who make the games can offer chats of their own, and “Quick chat” is available whatever the child's age. ### Where the Media Authority stands The Authority's conclusion is clear about where the responsibility lies. “Video games are the biggest shared leisure arena of our time for children and young people,” it writes, and on responsibility: “That responsibility cannot rest on parents alone. The main responsibility has to sit with the games industry.” It advises against Roblox's own face scanning and the uploading of ID documents, on privacy grounds. The Norwegian government has said its planned age limit of 16 should cover gaming platforms like Roblox too, but for now that's only a plan. ### The most popular games: my verdict Here's where I would land after reading the report: - **Brookhaven RP: yes.** Role play in a neighbourhood with houses, cars, shops and a hospital. Social above all. It's the game the kids say they can leave at any time without losing anything. The one thing I'd keep an eye on is the signs the avatars hold up: players write whatever they like on them, and the moderation is automatic. - **Adopt Me: yes, with a Robux agreement and the purchase lock in place.** A trading game about pets, eggs and houses, with its own currency called “Bucks”, bought with Robux, which are bought with real money. Sales windows pop up from the very start and have to be closed, often with a countdown, and the pets get hungry and sad quickly, so the shop is never far away. Santa on the marketplace sells gifts with unknown contents, from common to ultra-rare, which is the slot machine mechanic again. - **99 Nights in the Forest: no for children between 9 and 12.** A team survival game, in real time and with no pause button. If you die you lose everything, and you can pay Robux to revive yourself or a friend. A “sketchy salesman” tops up the campfire for a fee with an unknown result, and on Saturdays at 19:00 there are often events with free currency and rare items. - **Clip It: no.** A feed of videos, like TikTok inside Roblox. Comments from strangers come through even when chat is switched off for the account. - **Dress to Impress: yes, with conditions.** My daughters play this one, so I'm including it even though the Media Authority didn't look at it. Each round has a theme, six minutes to put an outfit together and a catwalk where everyone rates everyone from one to five stars, and the stars earn ranks that unlock new clothes. The game is creative, but very focused on beauty, fashion and looks. My advice is three conditions: Freeplay mode, which has no timer, theme or voting, or friends only with chat switched off. No VIP, which costs 799 Robux as a one-off or 299 a month and is sold as a competitive edge. And a talk about the stars being strangers' opinions, and the avatars being drawings that look like nobody does in real life. [Researchers in England](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0659-7) had 80 girls aged 8 and 9 play an appearance-focused dress-up game for ten minutes, and afterwards they chose thinner ideal figures than the girls who had played a neutral game. The effect was small to medium, it was one game and ten minutes, and nobody has studied Dress to Impress itself. And whichever games you land on, new ones are shown to a grown-up before they're tried. The Media Authority puts the main responsibility on the industry, and I agree that the solution lies in the design. Deleting the app for eight in ten of an entire year group is hardly a plan. But as parents we can't just wait for shared solutions. We have to ask, learn, understand, and make the moves at home that help our kids get as much good as possible out of the apps they use. > The games industry is responsible for fixing the problem in apps like Roblox, and it's a design problem. At the same time, the work has to start at home, because home is where we have the control today. ## What's actually good in there For many children, Roblox is where play with classmates carries on after school, and the youngest girls gather here more than anywhere else. Kids who tire of playing other people's Roblox games can build their own in Roblox Studio, and then they've found a way into creating with technology instead of only consuming it. The best Roblox games deliver mastery and belonging for real, and they're worth looking for together with your child rather than judging the whole platform as one. ## Setting it up From a linked parent account you can see what your child plays and who is on the friends list, block individual Roblox games and approve the ones you think are fine, right up until your child turns 16. - **A real birth date on the account.** It controls the content levels, the chat limits and the account type. An account claiming the child is 18 switches off the entire safety net. - **A linked parent account.** Follow [Roblox's own walkthrough](https://about.roblox.com/safety), and set the content level, chat limits and purchase lock together with your child. - **Set a daily time limit.** Set up screen time on the device your child plays on. A limit in the system cuts down the discussions and rows about playing time, and your child has to learn to manage their own time. Agree on money straight away. A standing agreement about what Robux might be bought for and when, and a purchase lock with a PIN in the settings. Explain to your child why the rules on spending in games are strict: “The games are built to nag you into buying, because that's how they make money. We only say yes to spending when we think it gives you real value in your life, not for something that's cool for a day.” The Media Authority reminds us that the controls don't cover everything, and that they can give a false sense of security. In our house I've kept it simple: we're happy to spend money on good games, but we don't spend money on pretend value inside free games. That rule applies to me as much as to the kids. If a free game doesn't deliver a full experience on its own, there are good alternatives. More on what good and bad gaming look like in [the parents' guide to gaming](/en/articles/guide-to-kids-and-gaming). > Roblox with and without parental controls are two different apps. A real birth date and a linked parent account are the whole foundation. ## The content: a yes per Roblox game One Roblox game is calm building. The next is horror, simulated gambling or something an adult has built to meet children. That's why the one yes, the yes to the app, isn't an informed yes. I recommend judging each Roblox game on its own, together with your child. You agree which Roblox games are fine for now, and new ones go via a grown-up before they're tried. > A yes to Roblox is not one yes. It's millions of games you know nothing about. Judge them one at a time, together with your child. ## The dialogue with the kids I'd recommend giving the kids proper guidance and clear limits for Roblox, something like this: “In Roblox, anyone can make a game and anyone can chat. Nearly all of them are kids like you. But if someone asks you for pictures, wants you to keep a secret, or wants to move the chat to another app, that's your stop signal. Then you come to me straight away, whatever it is. You're never in trouble for what someone else does. And if someone says something nasty to you, even if you say something nasty back, you can show me without me getting angry. I'm only there to help as best I can, so that you have a good time playing.” And about new games: “When you find a new game in there, show me before you try it, and we'll look at it together and work out whether it's a good fit for you.” We always explain why: [“Because I say so” only lasts until you leave the room](/en/articles/because-i-say-so). ## Roblox isn't “yes” or “no”, it's “it depends” Roblox is hundreds of small questions, and most of them are pleasant ones: which game shall we try today, who do you play with in there, what did you buy with your Robux. The most important tip I can give is that the kids play where you can see and hear them, ideally with friends, not alone in their room behind a closed door. I'd also recommend keeping gaming off the phone. If gaming belongs to the tablet, the TV and the PC, your child isn't carrying a temptation in their pocket all day. More on handling gaming in [the parents' guide to gaming](/en/articles/guide-to-kids-and-gaming). Five moves for handling Roblox at home. - **Five games, five answers** Brookhaven RP: yes, role play that's easy to leave. Adopt Me: yes, with a Robux agreement and the purchase lock on. 99 Nights in the Forest: no for 9 to 12-year-olds. Clip It: no, it's a TikTok inside Roblox. Dress to Impress: yes, in Freeplay or with friends, chat off and no VIP. - **Join in for an evening** Sit down and let your child show you their three favourite Roblox games. You're not there to correct anything, just to watch how the chat, the shop and the recommendations behave while you play. Ask to see Clip It too, so you've seen the feed for yourself. - **Link the parent account** Start with the birth date: ask your child which date is on the account, check it together in the settings, and correct it if it's wrong. Then link your own parent account, and set the content level and chat limits together with your child, following [Roblox's own walkthrough](https://about.roblox.com/safety). - **An agreement on spending** Agree what Robux might be bought for and when, and switch on the purchase lock with a PIN. Bring the loot boxes into the conversation: a box you pay for without knowing what you get is built on the same mechanic as gambling. - **Make the list together** Write down which Roblox games are fine for now, and agree that new ones are shown to a grown-up before they're tried. Look over the list together now and then, because things in there change fast. **Read also:** [Guide to kids and gaming](https://www.balansebarn.no/en/articles/guide-to-kids-and-gaming) — Roblox is one door into gaming. The guide takes the whole picture: what the research actually finds, good and bad, about gaming, and the three questions that matter more than counting hours. ## Common questions ### What is the age limit for Roblox? No Norwegian law sets one yet. The government wants its planned age limit of 16 to cover gaming platforms like Roblox, but that's only a plan. The birth date on the account controls content levels, chat limits and account type, so check it's real. ### Is Roblox safe for kids? It depends on the setup and the games your child plays. With a real birth date, a linked parent account and content levels in place, there's plenty of good play. Keep play where you can see and hear, and judge one game at a time. ### Is Roblox social media? Formally it's a gaming platform, but it has a social network's features: chat, a friends list, recommendations, in-game purchases and daily rewards. The Norwegian Media Authority puts it in the same category as social media, and I'd meet it with the same settings and conversations. ### Does Roblox pressure kids to spend money? Yes, according to the Norwegian Media Authority's 2026 report. Perks come with a countdown, kids describe games where whoever pays wins, and some charge Robux to revive your character. Several games have loot boxes, and the Authority puts the main responsibility on the games industry. ### Which Roblox games are safe for kids? Brookhaven RP: yes, easy to leave. Adopt Me: yes, with a Robux agreement and purchase lock. Dress to Impress: yes, Freeplay or friends only, chat off, no VIP. 99 Nights in the Forest: no for 9 to 12-year-olds. Clip It: no, a TikTok inside Roblox. ### Can strangers chat with my child on Roblox? Yes, anyone can, and kids see other people's chat even with their own switched off. Set chat limits from the parent account, and agree a stop signal: anyone asking for pictures or secrets, or wanting to move to another app, means your child tells you. ### What are Robux? The currency inside Roblox, bought with real money. Some games add a currency of their own, like “Bucks” in Adopt Me, which are bought with Robux. Agree what Robux might be bought for and when, and switch on the purchase lock with a PIN. ### What are loot boxes in Roblox? Boxes you pay for without knowing what's inside, the same mechanism as a slot machine. The Norwegian Media Authority found them in several popular games, Adopt Me included, and loot boxes alone earn a PEGI 16 rating. Worth raising when you agree on spending. ### How do I set up parental controls on Roblox? Start with the birth date: it controls content levels and chat limits. Then link a parent account and set content level, chat limits and purchase lock together with your child. You can then see what they play and block or approve games until they're 16. ## Sources - [Medietilsynet (2026): «Fanget i feeden», barn og ungdommers bruksmønstre i sosiale medier](https://www.medietilsynet.no/fakta/rapporter/barn-og-medier/2026/fanget-i-feeden-1/) — The February 2026 report draws on answers from 1,753 children between 9 and 18, supplemented by usage data donated from young people's own accounts. It points out that Roblox and YouTube share many of the features of social media, and that among 9 and 10-year-olds Roblox use has climbed from 70 to 80 per cent in two years. - [Medietilsynet (22. oktober 2026): «Ny rapport fra Medietilsynet: Betydelig risiko på spillplattformen Roblox», pressemelding](https://www.medietilsynet.no/nyheter/aktuelt/ny-rapport-fra-medietilsynet-betydelig-risiko-pa-spillplattformen-roblox/) — The Media Authority interviewed twelve families with children between 9 and 12 and analysed four popular Roblox games (Adopt Me, Brookhaven RP, 99 Nights in the Forest and Clip It), alongside figures from Barn og medier 2026. The report finds that the games are designed to keep kids playing and spending, that several contain loot boxes, and that the parental controls don't cover everything. - [Medietilsynet (2026): «Roblox under radaren?», rapport i serien Barn og medier 2026, laget med Respons Analyse](https://www.medietilsynet.no/fakta/rapporter/barn-og-medier/2026/roblox-under-radaren/) - [NRK (22. oktober 2026): «Rapport: Roblox utsetter barn for massivt kjøpepress»](https://www.nrk.no/artikkel/rapport-roblox-utsetter-barn-for-massivt-kjopepress-1530639) - [Barnevakten (22. oktober 2026): «Massivt kommersielt press på Roblox, ifølge Medietilsynet»](https://www.barnevakten.no/roblox-under-radaren/) - [Tek.no (februar 2026): «Medietilsynet: Roblox er like problematisk som sosiale medier for barn»](https://www.tek.no/nyheter/nyhet/i/43oOJo/medietilsynet-roblox-er-like-problematisk-som-sosiale-medier-for-barn) - [Slater, Halliwell, Jarman & Gaskin (2017): «More than just child’s play? An experimental investigation of the impact of an appearance-focused internet game on body image and career aspirations of young girls», Journal of Youth and Adolescence](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0659-7) — The researchers had 80 girls aged 8 and 9 in England play either an appearance-focused dress-up game or a neutral game for ten minutes. The girls who had dressed up chose thinner ideal figures afterwards, a small to medium effect, and the authors stress that it was one game and ten minutes. - [Kinzoo (3. juni 2026): «Is Dress to Impress safe for kids?»](https://www.kinzoo.com/blog/is-dress-to-impress-safe-for-kids) - [Roblox Newsroom (2026): Introducing Roblox Kids and Select accounts](https://about.roblox.com/newsroom/2026/04/introducing-roblox-kids-and-select-accounts) - [Roblox: Facial Age Estimation for Safer Chat](https://about.roblox.com/age-estimation) - [Roblox Safety Center: foreldrekontroller og innholdsnivåer](https://about.roblox.com/safety)