Fall Guys: a parent's guide to Show-Bucks, Creative rounds and chat

Fall Guys at a glance

A wobbly TV game show where everyone falls over

Fall Guys puts players in charge of a round, wobbly character and drops them into a game show of colourful obstacle courses. They run, jump, grab and dive past spinning, sliding and swinging obstacles, trying not to fall off or be knocked out. It's online and competitive, but the mood is closer to a children's TV gameshow than a sport.

The game is made by Epic Games – the company behind Fortnite – and became free-to-play on 21 June 2022. That's important because it means Fall Guys uses an Epic Games account, and Epic's parental controls apply across Fortnite, Fall Guys and Rocket League together.

Rounds, shows and the last bean standing

PEGI describes a typical game as multiple rounds of obstacle courses and puzzles, played until one player or team is left. Each "show" is a set of rounds: a race to the finish, a survival round where the floor disappears, a team game, and so on. Players who don't qualify are eliminated and can go straight into another show.

Because one show leads straight into the next, "just one more" is built in. A useful house rule is to count shows rather than minutes, and to give a warning before the final one starts.

Fall Guys can be played solo, in squads or in private shows with friends. Private shows are a good choice for younger children because everyone in the lobby is someone they know.

Being eliminated is a normal part of every show – most players won't win most of the time. For a child, that can either be a healthy lesson in shrugging and trying again, or a source of tears. Watching a couple of shows with them early on tells you quickly which way it's going, and whether team or private modes would suit them better for now.

The controls are simple: run, jump, dive and grab. That means a parent who has never played can usually join a private show within a few minutes, which makes Fall Guys one of the easier online games to share with your child rather than just supervise.

Show-Bucks, Kudos and the season pass

Fall Guys is free to play, and PEGI notes it can be played without paying. It earns money through cosmetics – outfits, colours, emotes and the like – which don't make a player better at the game.

There are several currencies:

• Show-Bucks – the premium currency, which can be bought with real money. Epic said when the game went free-to-play that a limited amount can also be earned through progression and the season pass.
• Kudos – an earned currency for a smaller range of basic cosmetics.
• The season pass – a ladder of rewards with a free track and a premium track unlocked with Show-Bucks.

The in-game store has sections that refresh on a schedule, so the outfits on offer change regularly. We found no paid random items (loot boxes) in PEGI's listing or Epic's announcements; the items in the store are shown before purchase.

Cosmetics matter more to children than many adults expect. An outfit is how they show up in front of friends, and "everyone else has one" is a real feeling. Some families agree a fixed amount per season – for example, allowing the premium pass but nothing else – which turns the shop into a budgeting exercise rather than a running negotiation.

Under-13 Cabined Accounts can't make real-money purchases through Epic until a parent gives consent, and Epic applies an automatic daily limit on Epic payments for under-13s. Our in-game spending guide explains how to talk to children about cosmetic shops and agree a budget.

Epic accounts, parties and who your child can hear

Fall Guys puts dozens of players into the same rounds, and most of them will be strangers. What matters is whether your child can talk to or hear them, and that's controlled through the Epic account.

• Under-13s (or under the UK age of digital consent if higher) get a Cabined Account, with voice and free text chat switched off until a parent gives consent.
• Epic Voice Chat Permission and Epic Text Chat Permission each have four levels: Everybody; Friends, team members, & connections; Friends Only; or Nobody. Under-10s are capped at Friends Only.
• Require a PIN to Add Friends means your child can't send or accept friend requests without you.
• Voice reporting is shown in the Party Menu in Fall Guys and is always on for under-18s.

One catch: if your child lied about their birthday when creating the account, they won't have a Cabined Account or the age caps. Check the details on the account they actually play on – console players sometimes have a separate Epic account.

Console party chat is separate from Epic's settings, so restrict it in the console's own controls. See our online chat and strangers guide for conversation starters.

Creative rounds: obstacle courses built by other players

Fall Guys Creative is a level editor. Players can design their own rounds, publish them and share them using a 16-digit share code. Friends can then play them in a private Custom Show. Epic's studio also picks some player-made rounds to feature in the main Show Selector, as Creator Round Playlists or Creator Made Rounds.

For children, building courses can be a brilliant creative outlet – a bit like designing a Lego obstacle course that moves. The things to be aware of are:

• rounds made by other players vary in quality and difficulty;
• share codes are often swapped on social media and video sites, which can lead children to places outside the game.

Creators are expected to follow Epic's content rules, and featured rounds are selected by the studio. If your child mainly plays shows from the main menu, they'll mostly see official or featured rounds.

If your child is keen on building, it's worth encouraging. Designing a course means thinking about difficulty, fairness and what makes something fun for other people – the same skills game designers use. A good family project is to build a round together and play it in a private Custom Show with siblings, sharing the code only inside the family.

Daily challenges, a refreshed shop and the final-round heartbreak

Like many free-to-play games, Fall Guys gives players reasons to come back regularly. Epic's description of the system includes daily and weekly challenges that award currency and progress, a season pass that runs for a limited time, and a store that rotates what it offers.

None of this is unusual, but it adds up. A child may want to play "just to finish my challenges", or feel they'll miss an outfit if they don't buy it before the shop changes.

The game itself has an emotional edge too. Being knocked out in the final round after a long show is a common source of frustration for younger children, partly because only one player or team can win each show.

• Use Epic's Time Limit Controls, which apply across devices and give a warning at 30 minutes left.
• Talk about the shop as "it'll come round again or something else will" rather than "now or never".
• For younger children, private shows with family cut down on frustration.

Slapstick without harm: where Fall Guys shines

There's a lot to like here. PEGI's rating reflects that characters bounce around and can push each other but no harm or pain is shown – it's slapstick in the purest sense.

• Easy to understand. Run, jump, grab and dive; non-gamer parents can join in within minutes.
• Short rounds. Individual rounds are quick, so it's a good game for a short session after homework.
• Creativity. Creative mode is a genuine design tool, and children can build courses for siblings and friends.
• Free to try. Children can play the full game without spending anything.

Two locks to set: the Epic account and the console

Fall Guys needs two layers of controls, and missing one is the most common mistake. Full details are in our Epic Games controls guide.

1. Sign in to your child's Epic account at epicgames.com/account/parental-controls, choose Parental Controls and set a 6-digit PIN your child doesn't know.
2. Set Epic Voice Chat Permission and Epic Text Chat Permission to the level you're comfortable with.
3. Turn on Require a PIN to Add Friends and Require a PIN for Epic Games Payments.
4. Set Time Limit Controls – a daily total or time windows – and turn on Time Reports if you want a weekly email.
5. On the console, set spending and communication limits: see our guides for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

Epic's payment PIN doesn't limit spending of Show-Bucks your child already owns, so it's worth checking their balance too.

Before you start, check you're setting controls on the right account. On consoles, children sometimes end up with a separate Epic account from the one they use on a PC or a sibling's device; Epic suggests comparing the Account ID so the settings land where your child actually plays. Also check the birthday on the account is correct, because the under-13 protections depend on it.

Finally, keep your PIN to yourself and don't reuse one your child might guess. If your child asks for more time, Epic's Request for More Time option lets them ask and you decide, without handing over the PIN.

Should your child jump into Fall Guys?

Fall Guys earns its PEGI 3: it's cheerful, harmless slapstick that suits a wide range of ages. The considerations are the ones that come with any free-to-play online game – a cosmetic shop and season pass, lots of strangers in each round, and a stream of challenges that invite another visit.

With the Epic account set to your child's real age, a payment PIN in place and console spending limits switched on, most families will find it one of the friendlier online games around. For age-by-age advice, see our 7-9 and 10-12 pages.