Before they press start, you can.
Calm, checked guides to the games your children love: what they cost, who they can chat to, and the exact settings to change tonight. No jargon, no scare stories.
- 12 game guides
- 8 device set-ups
- Checked 3 November 2026
▶ World mapTap a building to exploreGame guides12 games, checkedThe vaultMoney in gamesRadio towerChat & strangersClock towerTime & routinesThe libraryRatings decodedFive worlds every gaming parent clears
Each world is one big worry, broken into small steps. Clear a world's checklist and it's marked as done on this device.
Set up the console
Ten calm minutes with the right menus: purchases, chat, time and age filters on every device.
Money in games
Virtual coins, battle passes and paid random items, explained without the panic.
Chat & strangers
Who can talk to your child, how to narrow it down, and what to do if something feels wrong.
Time & routines
Why stopping mid-match is hard, and routines that work better than arguments.
Ratings decoded
What PEGI ages really mean, what they leave out, and the 2026 changes.
Game finder
Tell us a little about your child and the guides re-sort themselves.
The games in your living room, decoded
Every guide opens with a Parent Check: five dials for chat, spending, intensity, "one more go" pull and player-made content.
Fortnite
Fortnite is less one game than a free app full of them: a 100-player shoot-out, a LEGO building world, a music game and thousands of islands made by players. Here is how each part is rated, how the money works and which settings matter.
Roblox
Roblox isn't one game but a huge collection of games made by its users, from gentle obstacle courses to scary escapes. In 2026 it changed a lot: age checks for chat and new accounts built around a child's age.
Minecraft
Minecraft is a building game with no set goal and no finish line, which is both its magic and why it's hard to stop. It's PEGI 7, can be played fully offline, and its riskier parts are all behind settings you control.
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V is an adults-only crime game with a large online mode, GTA Online, built in. If it has come up at school, here's what PEGI says about it and how to keep it off your child's console.
EA SPORTS FC 27
EA Sports FC 27 is the same football game many families have bought every autumn for years, but this edition carries a PEGI 16 rather than a PEGI 3. Nothing about the football has changed; the reason is the paid random player packs in Ultimate Team.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is the newest instalment of a war series that many under-18s talk about at school. It's rated PEGI 18, and this guide explains why, what online play involves, and how to handle the conversation without a standoff.
Among Us
Among Us is a short, chatty bluffing game set on a spaceship, where most players work together and a hidden few try to trick them. It's cheap or free, mild in content, and the main thing to get right is the chat setting.
Rocket League
Rocket League is football played with rocket-powered cars: no violence, quick matches and a lot of skill. It's free to download, so the things to set up are spending through Credits and who your child can chat with on their Epic account.
What fits at 6, 9, 12 and 15
Good starting games, the settings that matter at each stage, and how to hand over a little more independence.
Under 7s
The first games a small child plays are less about the game and more about the habits around it: where the console lives, who holds the other controller, and how a session ends. Get those right and the rest is mostly fun.
Ages 7–9
Somewhere between seven and nine, games stop being something you play with your child and become something they talk about at school. Reading improves, friendships matter more and the first requests for online games arrive. It's a good time to set up accounts that can grow with them.
Ages 10–12
Between ten and twelve, gaming becomes social. Games are where friendships carry on after school, often with a headset on. Children want more independence, and they can handle more, as long as the settings around them have kept up.
Ages 13–15
Teenagers want, and need, more say over their own gaming. The job shifts from setting rules to agreeing them: fewer locks, more conversations, and a clear plan for the games that are rated above their age.
Checked, dated, and honest about it
Official sources first
Ratings come from the PEGI database and the UK app stores. Settings come from each platform's own support pages, quoted with their real menu names.
Every page is dated
Games change their shops and settings often. Each guide shows when we last checked it and lists the sources, so you can see exactly where a fact came from.
Views are labelled as views
The Parent Check dials are our editorial reading of documented features, not lab scores. We explain each one in a sentence so you can disagree with us.
Ten minutes. One console. Done.
Pick your child's device and follow the numbered steps with the real menu names. Spending, chat and time limits in one sitting.
Questions parents ask us first
Who writes Pressstartparent?
A small independent editorial team in the UK. We compile each guide from official sources such as the PEGI database, platform support pages and publisher information, and we date every check.
Do you test games yourselves?
Our guides are built from documented features and official settings rather than hours of play. Where we give a view, such as the Parent Check dials, it is clearly labelled as our editorial view.
Is the site free? How do you make money?
The site is free to read. There are no adverts, no affiliate links and no sponsored content on it.
What does the "parent level" in the corner do?
It is a light-hearted progress tracker. It counts the guides you have opened and the checklists you have finished, and it is stored only in your own browser.
My child is already playing. Where should I start?
Open the guide for the game they play most, then the set-up guide for the device they play on. Ten minutes with those two pages covers spending, chat and time limits.