Roblox

  
App Review – Roblox
Threat Level – Low

Roblox is a game application developed by a company called Roblox Corporation. They are only working on this gaming app at the moment. 

Roblox takes a step towards the ever growing community of mixing social media and video games. Video games has had a lot of social interaction ever since I was a kid.  However, back then we would have to go to each other’s houses and play 2 player mode. I remember when Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64 came out with 4 player multiplayer. We were absolutely thrilled. Wow have times changed. With the growth of the Internet, faster connection speeds and mobile gaming and not to mention all gaming consoles connecting to the Internet, social gaming is just the ‘norm’ now. 

I received an email about Roblox from a parent with the curious 9-10 year old wanting to play it because their friends are. As a parent of four, we hear that a lot. I had never heard of Roblox so I was happy to help out, download the game, and give it a review. 

Let’s start out with, What is Roblox?

Roblox is what we like to call a digital sandbox. Roblox is an app available for free on all the major app stores and is a video game with a social media tie. When you launch the app, it will give you the option to just play or to login and connect to play the game. Let’s start with the ‘just play’ feature. This doesn’t require any setup. When you select this option you are then sent to the select a game screen. The way this app works is it lets the players make their own games with a cookie cutter type programming. So you will start to see games that you can play inside the app developed by the players themselves,  categorized by style and genre.  Technically this not just one game, but hundreds of games inside one app.   This is a very neat concept and to be honest, I have already started creating one just for the fun of it (to create a game for Roblox however you will need to download the Roblox Creator app). The games that other users have designed for the app could be a little suggestive with Zombies or Cops vs Robbers style games, but I didn’t see anything that was really bad that I wouldn’t want my kids to see. The company does an excellent job in filtering the games and they even have a parents menu that answers all your questions.

If you select the option to create an account with a username, then you can even vote on the games you like and become more connected with forums and chats.  To create a user account, it does require and email address, username (selected by yourself), sex and age questions. Once created it will send a confirmation email. 

There is a chat feature inside the game that has different levels and can be controlled in settings. There are 2 chat modes. Under 13 and over 13.  Of course this is decided on setup when they enter birthday, but can be changed in settings. The under 13 chat words have to be selected from a list for comments verses the over 13 chat which is open. Roblox does however moderate all comments and filters comments that are innapropriate. 

Roblox offers many different games once you launch the app to choose from that are all original and made by other Roblox users. This gives the app a new approach on giving players control. 

I gave the app a low threat level and with proper moderation, this should be safe for players of all ages. The moderation by the company and their dedication to Internet safety is excellent. Thumbs up to Roblox.