Will Freeman – AskAboutGames

Having spent the day in the audience – and on the stage – at the brilliant and ongoing London Games Festival, we’re finally back at our desks gathering information on the best games for your family.

As with every Monday, today we’re here to help you choose some of the most popular video game releases for your family. Here at AskAboutGames we’ve picked our way through the official charts – which cover the previous week of game sales across the UK – to create the lists below. They group together the best selling games from the charts by their all-important PEGI age rating category. That gives you a quick-glance guide to the most popular games within each age category.

It’s worth noting that the ratings below denote content that is appropriate in theme and tone. They don’t always indicate the ability or age required to necessarily get the most from the game. A three-years-plus rated football management game, for example, won’t contain content that would be disturbing for a four-year old, but it may be too complex for a youngster of that age.

FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Forza Motorsport 7 (Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Sonic Forces (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
EA Sports UFC 3 (PS4, Xbox One)

Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Call of Duty: WWII (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Grand Theft Auto V (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

After a brilliant week for games in the UK – with the London Games Festival, Game BAFTAs and EGX Rezzed gaming expo all taking place – its time once again for our special PEGI age-rating charts

The PEGI age-ratings – granted to games in the UK by a group of experts at The VSC Rating Board – let you know what audiences a given game is suitable for. At one end of the spectrum are titles rated as suitable for those three years old and above, and at the very opposite end there are those that only suit an adult audience. Each week here at AskAboutGames we take the latest all formats game charts in full – which list the best selling games in the UK – and pick out the three highest ranking games from each age category. That results in the list below, which helps you see which are the most popular age-appropriate games for your family, whether you’re looking for something you can all play together, or, for example, a gift for a 16-year-old who longs to play 18-rated games, but needs something that will engage them while still being appropriate to their age.

And this week, for the first time we’ve linked each game title – where possible – to the VSC entry for the game and associated titles, so that you can see the precise reasons a game got the age rating it did.

FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Gran Turismo: Sport (PS4)

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Lego Worlds (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4)

Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Grand Theft Auto V (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Rounding up our long running careers series is perhaps the most traditional route into games; that of the tester.

Or at that least that’s what many will tell you testing – also known as ‘quality assurance’ or ‘QA’ – serves the industry as. Certainly, it can provide a great entry level job, and traditionally QA work has beeb a way to get into working in other specialities in games.

But as games have grown, so has what testing includes; especially when you consider that today ‘localisation’ is part of the discipline. Localisation includes translating, but also much more than that; a game might need the script edited to make jokes work in a distinct culture, or even have its screen layouts reshaped to make space for new longer words or phrases. Sometimes game mechanics even need reworking to make them functional or appropriate in another country.

The role:
Traditionally, testing means playing a game – and usually an unfinished one – looking for mistakes and errors. A tester might find that a game crashes at a certain point, has an inconstancy in its script, or that a character can walk through what should be a solid wall. Testing often involves playing games, but it can also be laborious; going through a game testing that every wall is solid isn’t as fun as playing a game for fun’s sake. But it can be a great way to get a job at or a studio – or a company providing game testing services – letting you learn the process of games being made, and increasing your chances of finding the contact that helps you level up your games career.

However, increasingly game testing – and the craft of localising games – is a great life-long career full of challenge, technicality and creativity.

The opportunity:
As mentioned above, testing is a great way to get close to the game development process. By the same breath it also lets you get published game titles on your CV or portfolio, and puts you right in an industry where you might find other work or future employers.

Testing work is one of the lower paid jobs in the industry, but it still provides a great wage for starters. According to the most recent Develop Salary Survey, a QA tester earns an average yearly wage of £20,866 globally. A QA lead, meanwhile, averages £33,016 annually across the world.

The challenge:
Testing is a great opportunity to get involved with the industry and the game development process, and you’ll find yourself playing secret game projects well ahead of release, so – especially as an entry level career – there’s little to complain about, beyond the slightly lower than average industry wage. But some will tell you that testing can be a bit of a grind at the junior level. Certainly, playing games to find problems rather than have fun utterly shifts the experience of tackling a game. Testing certainly isn’t just ‘playing games for a living’.

The qualifications:
As with most games roles, traditional education will be a great foundation even if there’s just a general spread of decent grades in core subjects. The likes of computer science and design might help at GCSE-level and equivalent. Beyond that, a game design or game-related degree will be a huge advantage. But it isn’t essential. A demonstrable willingness to work hard, enthusiasm for games as a medium, and a eye for detail will be a great boon. And, of course, if you have a genuine passion for testing and localisation as a career, you’ll stand out from the many wanting to use it as a route in to another role.

And if you worked on a student or game jam project, and provided testing services on that project, make sure you included the in any testing job application as a starter portfolio piece. It may not have been a published game, but working examples open doors in the world of the games industry.

Of course, if you speak other languages well, that can significantly bolster your chances in translation. And if you have studied or lived in a culture other than that of a game’s country or countries of origin, you’ll be a boon to any localisation of a game.

After a stunning weekend in the sunshine, here at AskAboutGames towers the cold has returned, meaning a chance to squeeze in some gaming without the guilty feeling that we should be out in the garden. If you’re in a similar situation, you might be looking for some new games for your family to play.

Fortunately, you’ve found the right place to check out the most popular games of the past week, grouped by their PEGI age-rating so that you can see which is appropriate for your family.

PEGI ratings are granted to games in the UK by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board. They might deem a very family-friendly game as suitable for players aged three years old and above… or they might see that a very adult game will only suit an adult audience, meaning it gets and 18-years-plus rating. And physical copies of games cannot be sold in the UK without a PEGI rating. Each week the AskAboutGames team pour through the latest all formats game charts in full – which list the best selling games in the UK – selecting the three highest ranking games from each age category, and gathering them in the categories below.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Rocket League Collectors Edition (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Splatoon 2 (Switch)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4)

God of War (PS4)*
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PS4)*

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

* New entry

For all the debate around games and violence, it is extremely rare for a game to be banned here in the UK. That is largely because of the ratings process carried out by The VSC Rating Board, which goes through any game due to be released on these shores, and after careful consideration grants that game its PEGI age rating; anything from a three-years-plus rating to an 18-years-plus rating.

Age ratings on games don’t only protect youngsters from mature content – though that is a vitally important function of their application. They also make sure, in limiting games with mature content to adult audiences, that video games as a medium do have the option of exploring mature themes, topics and issues. If we didn’t have the option of giving a game and 18-years-plus rating, mature games simply couldn’t be sold, because they might be provided to young players. So age ratings protect younger players, and game’s ability to offer experiences for a range of age-groups.

Sometimes, though, a game isn’t suitable for anybody, and even an 18-years-plus PEGI rating isn’t enough. In that case, The VSC Rating Board has to refuse a game a rating, meaning it cannot be sold in stores in the UK. It is perhaps the most significant power The VSC Rating Board has in protecting the UK from harmful gaming content. But like any great power, it is wielded with great responsibility. Banning a game is a big decision. Done without thought it could restrict freedom of speech and stifle the UK games industry’s ability to make money and offer careers.

As such, the decision to ban a game is taken very seriously, and it is extremely unusual to see it happen. Indeed, until recently the last time we came close to a banned game in the UK was when, in 2007, Rockstar’s game Manhunt 2 was not granted a rating. In that case, the developer made changes to the game, and later that year an edited version of Manhunt 2 was granted an 18-years plus rating, with the game going on sale in Europe in 2008.

A decade later, we have only just seen the next game banned. And as that case proves, sometimes a ban is the only reasonable option.

The title in question is erotic RPG Omega Labyrinth Z; part of a sub-genre of role-playing games with sexualised and pornographic content. And in this case, the game has crossed the line through what The VSC Rating Board has highlighted as the “sexualisation of children”; something particularly concerning when the gameplay itself focuses on sexualised interactions.

In a detailed statement on the decision not to give the game an age rating – making it illegal to sell in boxed form in the UK – the Rating Board said: “the game clearly promotes the sexualisation of children via the sexual interaction between the game player and the female characters. The style of the game is such that it will attract an audience below the age of 18.”

A little more detail was provided on why this kind of game should not be allowed a release in the UK, in terms of the potential dangers of it seeing release.

“There is a serious danger that impressionable people, i.e. children and young people viewing the game would conclude that the sexual activity represented normal sexual behaviour,” the statement continues. “There is a constant theme of sexual innuendo and activity throughout the game that suggests behaviour likely to normalise sexual activity towards children. As a means of reward gained by successfully navigating the game, the player has the means to sexually stimulate the female characters by using either a hand held remote device or touch screen software.”

PQube – which was endeavouring to publish the Japanese-made game in the UK – responded in a statement to games industry site GamesIndustry.biz, saying: “PQube specialises in the localisation of Japanese video games and endeavours to publish them as faithfully to the Japanese source material as possible.”

The publisher has, however, agreed to respect and comply with the rating decision entirely, and will not pursue appeals; having appealed in one other territory. Omega Labyrinth Z will also not see release in Germany and Australia, says the BBC, and the publisher has confirmed that it will not be on sale in New Zealand and Ireland.

This effective ban goes a long way to demonstrating the power The VSC Rating Board can wield when needed. It also demonstrates that players young and old are protected from the rare cases in which the game medium can be harmful. And while it only covers physical sales from a legal perspective, the ban is likely to have a significant impact on any digital release.

Game’s potential to entertain, challenge and provoke thought remains, and should be as free as is reasonable to flourish. But when a game crosses the line, The VSC Rating Board and the PEGI ratings system are here to protect us.

Once again it’s time to check out the UK’s best selling video games, grouped by age rating so that you can pick the most popular titles suitable for your family.

Here at AskAboutGames we’ve gone through the latest all formats video game charts, and picked the three best selling games under each PEGI age-rating category. PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after careful analysis by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board. The team there apply a rating between three-years-plus at the lowest end, and 18-years-plus at the other side of the spectrum, having explored a given game’s content in detail. And in very rare cases, games are deemed unsuitable for any rating, meaning they cannot be sold in the UK.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01: Variety Kit (Switch)*
FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 02: Robot Kit (Switch)*

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Destiny 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

* New entry

Today the charts come a little later than usual, thanks to a scorching bank holiday. Now everyone is back at their desks, it’s time to consider what games we might to play when the sun inevitably takes a backseat to clouds and rain.

As with every new week, we’re here to help you choose some of the most popular video game releases for your family. AskAboutGames has poured through the official charts – which cover the previous week of game sales for the UK in its entirety – to create the lists below. They group together the best selling games from the charts by their all-important PEGI age rating category. PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after analysis by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board. The idea is that our game lists based on their ratings give you a quick-glance guide to the most popular games within each age category.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)*
FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)

Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Destiny 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

* New entry

‘What is early access?’ is a question AskAboutGames gets asked now more than ever. That’s because the concept of ‘early access’ is currently increasingly common as a way to release a video game.

Currently some very high profile games are ‘early access’ releases; take Fortnite Battle Royale, for example. Battle Royale, of course, is the spin-off from Fortnite currently proving to be a global sensation; if you want to know more about that game be sure to check out our detailed parent’s guide to the game.

‘Early access’ is actually quite an easy concept to understand. An early access version of a game is made available to the public before the game has been finished. What’s a little harder to comprehend is why that happens. To understand that requires a dip into the recent history of game development.

Before the internet was everyday, games only really used be available as physical copies in boxes. That meant that when a game was released, it had to be entirely finished by the game developers. What the customer got on a disk or cartridge was how the game would stay.

Then it became possible to connect consoles and home computers to the internet, and games makers realised they could ‘update’ games remotely, after release. So even if you bought a game on a disk, an update might be made available over the internet, adding new content to a title, making subtle tweaks or correcting mistakes.

Next, downloading entire games became possible. Those digital titles could also be updated, often many times over, and for years after the original release. It became increasingly common for games to get modified over and over after the consumer had paid for their copy. Some observers even wondered if you could ever call a particular version of a game ‘final’.

At the same time, over about the past few years, there was a boom in smaller ‘indie’ studios making games on low budgets with small teams. Those indies couldn’t always afford the traditional method of making sure a game worked as intended; testing by large specialist teams that would take a great deal of time and money.

Inspired by the notion that games could be updated after the consumer had purchased a copy, the idea came about of releasing an unfished ‘early access’ games to the public, so as to use those early players as testers that would feed-back with reports of problems, ideas for improvements, and thoughts on what works well. Those ‘public testers’ wouldn’t be paid, but they might get a game free, cheap, or simply be thrilled to provide feedback and be involved in the development process. And, of course, they get the game early.

A lot of the most significant early access games initially saw release on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, where backers were already supporting a game before it was made. But now numerous games from studios large and small undergo early access, simply because it helps studios make the game their fans want, saves time and money in terms of testing, and assures a game’s quality before release.

It’s worth noting that you might also hear early access refered to as ‘paid-alpha’, or ‘alpha -access’; ‘alpha’ being an industry term to an early version of a game. There are also ‘private betas’, where only invited or registered players can get early access to a game.

There are challenges with early access, of course. For one, if a game isn’t finished, the press aren’t usually willing to review it, for fear of the final game being different from the one they critique. Similarly, early access games aren’t usually eleigable for many sales charts, simply because an unfinished game does not meet the criteria of a ‘full’ game. And many developers find their projects caught between their own vision for the game and conflicting perspectives from players.

Certainly, though, early access can make games hugely popular. Both Minecraft and PlayerUnkown’s BattleGrounds found their fame in early access – though both have now seen full releases. And Fortnite Battle Royale, of course, continues to captivate players across the world without it being fully released.

When the game Detroit: Become Human releases later this month, it will likely do so under the spotlight of much controversy.

As such, it gives us a good opportunity to explore how game controversies unfold. This article is in fact the first of a series this month, where we’ll use Detroit: Become Human as a case study for how games are rated, received and viewed when they contain adult content or potentially difficult themes and scenes.

The game has already attracted much debate, after an early trailer promoting it depicted scenes of domestic violence towards a child. There are two polarised options on the trailer. Some see it trivialising child abuse for a piece of entertainment. Others see a mature game exploring an important issue.

The trailer itself – which is certainly adult and does make for difficult viewing – arguably presents a tale of a character protecting a girl from domestic violence, and attempting to save her from her aggressive father. That character is Kara; an android housekeeper, who throughout the video increasingly attempts to defend the young girl.

That trailer inspired waves of controversy and international headlines, as detailed in gaming website Eurogamer’s in-depth news story on the reaction to it. Spokespeople from the NSPCC and the National Association of People Abused in Childhood made statements about the game, and a UK member of parliament joined in with the debate.

What is important to note is that very few people commenting will have played the game. It does not launch until May 25th, so only its creators and handful of others will have tried it. Here at AskAboutGames we are yet to play it.

The challenge with controversy from people who have not played the game they are critiquing is that content in any media is about the context in which it is presented to its audience. Take books as an example. A novel made for and targeted at young children should not contain explicit violence and details of abuse. But there are many works of fiction for adult readers that use writing to explore such themes as domestic violence in childhood, and they can be important in generating debate around an issue that should not be ignored, as well as provoking thought about challenging experiences and how they impact us. But it all depends on how those adult books handle the issues they address.

The question to ask yourself is: ‘is it possible for a video game for adults to explore adult themes in a mature, sensitive and intelligent way?’.

We do not yet know if Detroit: Become Human will offer an example of a game that proves the answer to that question can be ‘yes’. We do know, of course, that an adult game should not be allowed to be experienced by children. However, Detroit: Become human has been rated as only suitable for adults by the panel of experts at The VSC and given a PEGI 18-rating. That means the game should not be sold to – or played by – anyone under that age.

Returning to the matter of context, it may be possible to see why there is a division in how people responded to the trailer.

David Cage, the director of Detroit: Become Human, is famed for making narrative-based games where the players’ actions influence how a story unfolds, leading to many different experiences and outcomes. If you know that, it appears that the trailer is trying to demonstrate that the player has agency in influencing the storyline, and can make choices to help protect the girl. People that have played Cage’s games are also likely to know that many of his titles explore difficult themes and tell stories of tragedy and coming to terms with ourselves and our experiences. They are often much more emotionally challenging than they are ‘fun’, and certainly for mature audiences.

But if you don’t know anything about David Cage’s games, and have only considered games to be works of pure entertainment, it is reasonable to see what is in the trailer as trivialising child abuse.

Again, not having played the game, it is near impossible to be sure if it will trivialise the issue or treat it well. If it does trivialise child abuse, that is clearly an extremely troubling and potentially dangerous approach for any game to take. But if it respects the issue in a way that is mature and nuanced, it may prove very important as a thought-proving work that shines a light on an issue that should not be left ignored.

The presence of domestic abuse to children in the game does bring up many questions worth exploring. Are games always works of entertainment? How is the content of games policed? What happens to give a game its age rating? If games are art, should they enjoy freedom of speech just as if they were poetry or theatre? What kind of content should be use to promote a game?

Our coming features will try and touch on some of those issues, concluding with a video-based ‘Parents Guide’ to the game around launch, by which time we hope to have played it. And we’d love to hear your thoughts too. Do let us know in the comments what you think about the trailer, the game, or what impact or influence it might have. We’ll keep an eye out for comments below.

Here at AskAboutGames we know that the benefits playing games can bring are only a reality if the audience is served with age-appropriate content.

That’s why, each week, we present the latest UK game sales chart in a way that makes it easy for you to find the most popular titles suitable for the age of the gamers in your family. We go through the official charts to build the lists below. Each groups together the best selling games from the charts by their PEGI age rating category, and lists them by the order they appeared in the full charts. In the UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below, and ignore the older-age groupings.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)
FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)

Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)
Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)

Destiny 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

How age-ratings work is deliberately straightforward. An 18-years-plus rated game is only suitable for those aged 18 and above, and it’s as simple as that.

The same, of course, is true for all the categories, from 3-years-plus all the way through to the higher tiers. However, the number of an age rating in isolation says very little about why the game was deemed suitable for that rating. It just makes clear which rating has been granted.

That is why The VSC Rating Board – which examines games before granting them PEGI ratings in the UK – makes public additional information for every game it rates. This detail is called the ‘Additional Consumer Information’, or ‘ACI’ for short.

A typical ACI sheet for a particular game will offer insights into the type of content the game features, and what about it warrants the rating given. It may also make clear the inclusion in games of elements such as in-game payments that use real money.

You can search for the ACI of numerous’ rated games over on the VSC website.

This article is the first of a two-part piece on how ACIs work and what they can tell us. As part of our ongoing series of features looking at the rating of controversial narrative adventure Detroit: Become Human http://www.askaboutgames.com/why-is-detroit-become-human-so-controversial/, the second part of this feature will look at how that game’s ACI passes a lens over the controversy. By then, here at AskAboutGames we’ll have played the game through, and so will also be able to explore how the content is reflected in the ACI.

Before that, though, lets have a closer look at what an ACI is, and how it is structured. We’ll do that by looking at the ACI sheet of this year’s Nintendo Switch release of the action game Bayonetta 2.

At the top you’ll see the PEGI age rating, confirmation of the specific version of the game, the name of the company that publishes it, and its release date. Then you’ll see some of the symbols that represent PEGI’s different ‘content descriptors’. With Bayonetta you can see that the game has been labeled as featuring ‘bad language’ and ‘violence’; factors that significantly influenced the age rating of the game. You can find a full guide to the content descriptors here.

Then there is ‘advice for consumers’, giving a broad overview of the rating applied and the reasons for doing so.

Next comes the ‘brief outline of the game’, which gives a rough sense of the game for context. It may seem trivial, but if you’re asking a younger family member about a game they may be playing, being able to describe it even simply may be very useful.

The ‘content-specific issues’ section is often the most detailed. It will often give specific examples of content from the game, or may look at the overall gameplay experience and the interaction involved. Here general themes and tones can also be described.

Finally, there comes the ‘secondary issues/information’ category, which is not always used. It is a place for other important notes relating to content, age rating, and sometimes examples of specific content that may be a trigger or concern for a certain user. In the case of Bayonetta 2, for example, instances of nudity are highlighted; that may be useful to a player, parent or guardian with concerns around depictions of nudity regardless of the age of the person consuming the game. This section may also feature notes about if a title includes the ability to spend real money in-game, or if certain language is used.

By contrast, here is the ACI sheet for the 3-years-plus PEGI-rated game FIFA 18. In this example you can see how different things are when a game contains no concerning or potentially age-inappropriate content.

All of this information is made available to help inform those making video game buying decisions. It may make it easier to explain to a child why they cannot play a given 18-rated title, or it may, for example, help you be more informed about a game that you feel is suitable for you to give as a gift. Knowledge is power, and the ACI is designed to help you understand the rating applied, and bolster your decision making about the role games play in your family.

And remember, do check back soon to see the second part of this piece. We’ll add a link here when it’s ready.

At AskAboutGames we’re passionate about the idea that games can be a very positive force in a family – if age appropriate titles are selected.

That’s why, every Monday, we pick our way through the official charts – which cover the previous week of game sales across the UK – to create the lists below. They group together the best selling games from the charts by their all-important PEGI age rating category. That gives you a quick-glance guide to the most popular games within each age category.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)
Sea of Thieves (Xbox One)

Destiny 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Assassin’s Creed: Origins (PS4, Xbox One)

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Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Today the highly anticipated game named Detroit: Become Human has been released.

There’s a good chance you’ve heard about it. Even before it’s release, it attracted a great deal of controversy, as we explored in the first piece in a brief series of articles looking at the game as an example of how age ratings are applied.

Now the game is out, critics, commenters and industry specialists are offering a diverse range of opinions, with significant divides over perspectives on its relative merits.

Detroit: Become Human is a mature narrative adventure by Quantic Dreams, the studio of a game maker named David Cage, who is renowned for giving players ways to influence stories as they emerge. It has been rated as being suitable only for players aged 18 years and over. It was given a PEGI 18 rating after being reviewed by a group of experts at the Video Standards Council Rating Board.

The Video Standards Council Rating Board, otherwise known as the VSC Rating Board, also give a game it’s Additional Consumer Information, which lists details of a game’s content, and the factors that dictated the rating applied. You can see Detroit: Become Human’s Additional Consumer Information here, and learn more about what Additional Consumer Information is in our special focus here.

But how does the Video Standards Rating Board decide what level of rating to give a game? And what does it take to be an expert Rating Board specialist?

We spoke to Gianni Zamo, communications Officer at the Video Standards Rating Board, to find out more about the examination process.

When a member of the VSC team examines a game, how do you have to approach playing it?
The critical thing is to approach the game objectively and analytically – the examination process is not concerned with how good, bad or indifferent a game may be, or how easy or hard it is to play. Examiners, therefore, have to be able to examine a game without prejudice and – unlike the consumer – have no choice about a game they may be examining. A broad appreciation of all types of games is a must, therefore.

What makes a good game examiner?
Much of the above applies to this: objectivity; a keen eye for detail; an understanding of context; patience – plenty of; broad experience of many styles of gaming – RPGs, shoot-’em-ups, strategy titles, etcetera.

The process of rating a game involves much more than simply playing it through. Why does the process need to be so intricate and thorough?
These individual processes ensure that we can examine a game quickly and efficiently rather than having to laboriously chew our way through every moment of the game. It is the content in terms of ratings issues – sex, violence, etc, that we are predominantly interested in.

Qualities like violence, ‘likelihood to cause harm’, adult themes, and offensiveness could be seen as rather abstract, subjective or hard to define absolutely. What mindset does and examiner need to take on in the examination process?
We would disagree that issues such as game violence, sex, drugs use, etc, are ‘abstract’ or ‘subjective’ – they are pretty self-evident, otherwise consumers wouldn’t have concerns. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. Issues such as bad language may well be ‘subjective’, but on the whole the PEGI ratings criteria have been formulated to broadly reflect the majority view of what is and isn’t acceptable at particular categories. We doubt that many would argue that the use of the strongest sexual terms would be acceptable at PEGI 3, 7 or 12 for example. Examiners simply apply these criteria in response to what they are seeing with an almost algorithmic approach to what they are doing.

With a game like Detroit, we see an adult product for adult players. Obviously your work protects the young and vulnerable; but it also protects games’ ability to serve adult audiences and address adult issues. Why is that important?
It is important since we generally accept that in the UK, adults should be able to view whatever they want to view so long as it is legal. This is an important principle to uphold if we are not to risk losing our right to freedom of speech. This is, of course, generally tempered by law, but it remains a critical element if we are not to end up accidentally or even intentionally censoring adult viewing choices. This is also why our ability to ‘ban’ content is subject to stringent tests and checks.

After a bank holiday weekend where the sun stayed out at AskAboutGames towers – despite the forecasts – we didn’t get around to playing half as many games as we expected. But making the most of games in a healthy, positive way is about knowing when to put the controller down as well as when to pick it up.

But now the week has started proper, there’s new game charts to take in, to see what we might play next time the sun goes into hiding.

So we’ve gone through the latest all formats video game charts, and pulled out the three best-selling games under each PEGI age-rating category. PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after careful analysis by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board. The team there apply a rating between three-years-plus at the lowest end, and 18-years-plus at the other side of the spectrum, having explored a given game’s content in detail. You can use the lists below to see which popular games best suit your family’s respective ages.

Many games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Splatoon 2 (Switch)

Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (Switch)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)

Dark Souls Remastered (PS4, Xbox One)*
Destiny 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

Detroit: Become Human (PS4)*
State of Decay 2 (Xbox One)*
God of War (PS4)

–

* New release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Here at AskAboutGames we present the latest UK game sales chart in a way that makes it easy for you to find the most popular titles suitable for the age of the gamers in your family. That’s because games’ potential to be a positive force in families’ lives comes about when people enjoy age-appropriate content.

Each Monday we pour through the official charts to compile the lists below. Each groups together the best selling games from the charts by their PEGI age rating category, and lists them by the order they appeared in the full charts. In the UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below.

Many games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received. You can learn more about those VSC ‘ACI’ profiles here.

FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Rocket League: Collectors Edition (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Burnout Paradise Remastered (PS4, Xbox One)

Sega Mega Drive Classics (PS4, Xbox One)*
Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Dark Souls Remastered (PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Star Wars: Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
Far Cry 5 (Xbox One)
God of War (PS4)

–

* New release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Over the past few weeks here at AskAboutGames we’ve been looking at the process of rating a game, using the controversial new narrative thriller Detroit: Become Human as a case study.

We chose to use an adult, emotive game so we would explore how the ratings process handles mature content, and what role controversy has – or doesn’t have – in the ratings process.

We’ve already looked at the controversy itself, and how the ratings process works. We also explored the basics of the ‘Additional Consumer Information’ profile each age-rated game in the UK is given by The VSC Rating Board. This time we return to Additional Consumer Information sheets – or ‘ACIs’, as they are more commonly known – and Detroit: Become Human’s profile specifically.

You can quickly see that as well as carrying all the standard information found in any ACI, here in Detroit: Become Human’s profile, it is made extremely clear why the game has been found suitable only for those aged 18-and-over. As detailed in the ‘Advice for consumers’ section: ‘This rating has been given due to depictions of violence to vulnerable/defenceless human-like characters, depictions of strong violence to human-like characters, and use of sexual expletives.’

The ACI also touches on the controversial scenes that made the game infamous long before its release. While controversy itself doesn’t influence the ratings process or rating applied, here we can see how an ACI can provide clarity and assurance to consumers around a given controversy by detailing any content at the heart of a controversy – rather than the controversy itself – without bias or prejudice. This can also give the likes of parents and guardians an opportunity to see beyond the controversy to the facts of the content itself. Often controversies around games become so dominated by opinions about a title, the details of the content itself can get left out of the discussion; something that can be particularly confusing when trying to make an informed purchasing decision.

Also in the same section, however, we can see that an ACI is not only about addressing controversy. It is about informing consumers, so we also see examples of Detroit: Become Human scenes that are typical of the game, or particularly strong examples of content that can be found throughout the gameplay experience..

You will also see that ACI’s themselves, in detailing disturbing content, necessarily can detail adult themes, including violence, sexuality and bad language. As such, it’s worth reading any ACI carefully before sharing it with younger family members – perhaps in a situation where you would be explaining why a child cannot play a particular game.

ACI’s are there to help, whether a game is family-friendly and free from controversy, or extreme in its themes or interactions. So if you need to know more about a game, its ratings and its content, visit The VSC Rating Board website and search on the homepage for a game’s ACI.

Looking for the most popular video games that are age-appropriate for your family?

Then you’ve found the right place. Here you can find our specially curated guide to the best selling games of the past week, grouped by their PEGI age-rating.

PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK by a group of experts at The VSC Rating Board. They pour through games before applying an age rating based on the content they find. And physical copies of games cannot be sold in the UK without a PEGI rating. Each week the AskAboutGames team pull apart the latest all formats game charts – which list the best selling games in the UK – before selecting the three highest ranking games from each age category, and gathering them in the categories below.

FIFA 18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Gran Turismo: Sport (PS4)

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Burnout Paradise Remastered (PS4, Xbox One)

Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Sega Mega Drive Classics (PS4, Xbox One)
Sea of Thieves (PC, Xbox One)

PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Dark Souls Remastered (PS4, Xbox One)

Vampyr (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
God of War (PS4)
Detroit: Become Human (PS4)

–

* New release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Every year since 1995, a huge conference known as E3 has stood as the world’s most significant video games event. It is a place where the biggestest release announcements and gaming news are made public, and every year it seems to grow both in size and prominence.

This week saw E3 2018 take place, and if you go to the biggest headlines from the show, you’ll find a lot of news around mature games with 16-plus and 18-plus PEGI age ratings. Those games tend to have the biggest marketing budgets, so have a knack for building the most hype. You didn’t have to look much further, however, to find a bounty of news about new family friendly and family focused games. So we rounded up some of the most interesting below, with links to their trailers.

It’s worth noting that mayor these games have not yet been given age ratings; some may emerge with higher ratings than expected.

Kingdom Hearts III – An authentic Japanese RPG with a family friendly twist, and a cast that sees Disney characters and RPG icons rub shoulders.

Tetris Effect – An early icon of universally appealing gaming returns to PS4 and VR, reimagined by abstract music gaming maestro Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Do remember that most VR headsets are not suitable for younger children, regardless of a game’s content.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps – A sequel to the gorgeous, artful platformer Ori and the Blind Forest.

Forza Horizon 4 – While this open-world racing game is likely made with older players in mind, there series has always carried a low age rating, and is likely to be great for parents to play with – or against – older children in their family.

Sea of Thieves: Cursed Sails and Forsaken Shores – Rare’s popular 12-plus rated cartoon piracy game is set to be expanded with new challenges, and we can’t wait.

Super Mario Party – Nintendo’s iconic plumber comes back to Switch with a compendium of playful party games designed for social play.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Donkey Kong Adventure DLC – An expansion brings the infamous ape to the game that couple Ubisoft’s eccentric rabbits and Nintendo’s beloved cast together for accessible tactical role-play.

Just Dance 2019 – More of the same perhaps, but when the same is ‘dancing together as a family’ it’s hard to complain.

Pokeball Plus – A physical Pokéball that can be used with the new ‘Let’s Go’ Pokémon releases (video from IGN).

That’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of family friendly games detailed at E3, of course. So keep checking back in to AskAboutGames for more in the latest and greatest games for your family.

If you watched, read or listened to the news today, you’ve likely come across stories about ‘gaming disorder’.

The World Health Organisation – or ‘WHO’ – has today for the first time listed ‘gaming disorder’ in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases. It should be noted that the publication and listing of ‘gaming disorder’ is only in preparation for consideration by the WHO, with a final decision set to be made in 2019. But what is ‘gaming disorder’, is it a reality, and what can you do if you’re worried about gaming time in your family?

Perceived as a clinical condition by the WHO, their definition of ‘gaming disorder’ can be understood as – in layperson’s terms – something an addiction problem. The WHO cites three tenants of which gaming disorder is made up: gaming taking priority over the rest of life, impaired control of the addiction, and significant distress caused to social life, education, family and personal relationships, as well as negative impact on diet, sleep and physical activity.

As for how much gaming is needed to be diagnosed with the proposed disorder, as is often the case with addiction-related conditions, it is not only about the amount of hours devoted; it is really about how much the urge to play games impacts and directs your life. The press have uncovered stories of those who play over 10 hours of video games a day, but the WHO focuses instead on “impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

However, not everybody agrees with the WHO. There are many experts, for example, who feel the diagnosis is not without problems. Some criticise its credibility altogether, while others have expressed concerns about misdiagnosing other forms of behaviour.

This morning a group of gaming organisations across the world, including UK gaming industry trade body Ukie (which supports AskAboutGames) have issued a joint statement pointing out just how many players have a healthy, safe and beneficial relation ship with playing games, and questioning the validity of the diagnosis.

“Video games across all kinds of genres, devices and platforms are enjoyed safely and sensibly by more than 2 billion people worldwide, with the educational, therapeutic, and recreational value of games being well-founded and widely recognised,” the joint statement reads. “We are therefore concerned to see ‘gaming disorder’ still contained in the latest version of the WHO’s ICD-11 despite significant opposition from the medical and scientific community. The evidence for its inclusion remains highly contested and inconclusive. We hope that the WHO will reconsider the mounting evidence put before them before proposing inclusion of ‘gaming disorder’ in the final version of ICD-11 to be endorsed next year. We understand that our industry and supporters around the world will continue raising their voices in opposition to this move and urge the WHO to avoid taking steps that would have unjustified implications for national health systems across the world.”

Speaking to CNN, Anthony Bean, a licensed psychologist and executive director at mental health clinic The Telos Project stated that he felt the diagnosis was ‘premature’, noting that even gamers who are themselves concerned that they are becoming addicted are actually using gaming “more as a coping mechanism for either anxiety or depression.” There, a focus on the depression or anxiety may be more helpful than a focus purely on addiction.

Meanwhile, as quoted by the BBC, Dr Richard Graham, lead technology addiction specialist at London’s Nightingale Hospital, pointed out that while the WHO’s move may help bring attention to the problem of gaming addiction, there is need for relative calm, and noted that the WHO classification “could lead to confused parents whose children are just enthusiastic gamers.”

Of course, anyone can play too many games; just as with other mediums, online time, and even work, too much of something at the expense of other factors of life and health can be problematic. Most would agree that 10-hours a day everyday is too much. That does not mean, though, that all gaming time is bad – indeed, as covered by Engadget there are many benefits. Equally there is no suggestion that all gamers will have problems associated with the past time.

Far from it, in fact.

Because even the WHO has listed its diagnosed disorder as only effecting a small number of users. And their advice to any one who cares for somebody who plays games?

“Be alert to the amount of time they spend on gaming activities, particularly when it is to the exclusion of other daily activities, as well as to any changes in their physical or psychological health and social functioning that could be attributed to their pattern of gaming behaviour.”

Sensible, practical advice there. But from an organisation that many feel has been a little too knee jerk, hasty and imprecise with its diagnosis.

With the World Cup upon us, it’s probably no surprise that FIFA is the most popular 3-years-plus rated game in the UK today.

But what about the rest of the best selling games of the past week? Which might be suitable for your family? To help you answer those questions, below we’ve taken the latest UK all-formats video game sales charts and picked the three best selling games within each PEGI age rating category, grouped them together, and listed them in the order they appeared in the overall chart. The PEGI age ratings are given to a game after careful consideration by a group of experts at The Video Standards Council Ratings Board; you can learn about the process of examining a game here.

Many games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received, which provides extra detail on a given title’s content. You can learn more about those VSC ‘ACI’ profiles here.

FIFA 18 (PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Gran Turismo: Sport (PS4)

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Sega Mega Drive Classics (PS4, Xbox One)
Sea of Thieves (PC, Xbox One)

PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition (PS4) (Link to standard edition’s ACI)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Detroit: Become Human (PS4)

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

With the sun beating down on most of the UK today, we admit we’re keen to get outside away from screens. But, as ever, that isn’t mutually exclusive to enjoying some gaming time. So when the weather gets a bit much and the cool even draws in, we’ll be catching up with some of the latest video game releases. And looking at the latest UK video games sales charts, it appears that we aren’t the only ones.

But what are the most popular video games of the past week? And which might be most suitable for your family? You’re in just the right place to answer those questions. As is a weekly tradition at AskAboutGames, we’ve poured through the latest UK all-formats video game sales charts, before selected the three best selling games within each PEGI age rating category. Then we’ve grouped those titles together by age rating, and listed them below in the order they appeared in the overall chart. The PEGI age ratings are given to a game after careful consideration by a group of experts at The Video Standards Council Ratings Board; you can learn about the process of examining a game here.

This week it’s interesting to see that – after many weeks with 18-years-plus ratings dominating the top of the carts – this time around three of the top-four slots go to three-years-plus rated games, including first place with Mario Tennis Aces.

Mario Tennis Aces (Switch)*
FIFA 18 (PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Splatoon 2 (Switch)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Sega Mega Drive Classics (PS4, Xbox One)

PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition (PS4) (Link to standard edition’s ACI)
WWE 2K18 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Detroit: Become Human (PS4)

–

* New release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Remember when Minecraft was the talking point in playgrounds across the UK? Before Fortnite captivated the attention of gamers, parents and guardians, and the press, the world building game was defining of what a video game success could be. And it’s back in the charts, after the Switch version saw a mighty jump in sales. Equally, thanks to a move from PlayStation exclusive to a multi-format release, chart stalwart Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy – which compiles the classic platform series – has hit the number one spot. There sure are a lot of popular games to choose from at the moment, both new and old. But which suit your family?

Fortunately, you’ve found the right place to check out the most popular games of the past week, grouped by their PEGI age-rating so that you can see which is appropriate for your family.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

FIFA 18 (PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Tennis Aces (Switch)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Minecraft (Switch)

The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)*
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

Star Wars: Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Destiny 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* New release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains brief references to a sexual abuse case, in exploring safety in online game Roblox after a recently reported incident. If that may make difficult reading for you, but you’re keen to learn more about the game, do go straight to our Parents’ Guide to Roblox.

—

Over the last week a story emerged on major news sites detailing the enactment of a sexual assault in the game Roblox; a title described by its makers as ‘family-freindly’. It was carried out by human-controlled player characters on another non-consenting human-controlled player character.

As reported by the BBC and many others, the victim was a seven-year-old girl in America, whose mother Amber Petersen saw the incident as it happened on screen, describing it as a “gang rape” in a later Facebook post warning other parents about Roblox.

After Petersen captured screenshots of what happened – some reportedly containing representations of male genitalia – and shared more details on social media, the company behind Roblox banned the player responsible for the in-game attack. There is some discrepancy in reporting, in that there were apparently up to three players involved as perpetrators, but references to those banned are in the singular person; AskAboutGames is endeavouring to confirm the number of banned players. The Roblox Corporation was quoted on the BBC as saying it had “zero tolerance for this behaviour”. Universally, everyone agrees this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and profoundly upsetting.

The case brings up two important points. Firstly, attacks, theft, abuse and other crimes in virtual worlds may lack a physical element, but they can still be profoundly disturbing, damaging or leave a lasting impact for victims and their families. Secondly, games that allow users to create and share their own content can as such include content not covered by the age rating given to the base game.

On the first point, consider the crime of theft. In a hypothetical virtual world-based game, imagine a player has spent real money and time investing in building a unique spaceship of their own design. If another player were to hack the account of the spaceship builder – either in the game or on a website where players trade virtual items – they could claim the spaceship as their own, and block out the original owner. The perpetrator will have taken something with real value and without permission, committing a theft. While the impact of different crimes is as distinct in each case as the incidents themselves, just as a theft in an online game can have a powerful, lasting impact the victim, so can virtual sexual abuse. Essentially, a crime with a victim has an impact, and should be taken seriously even if it is ‘only’ virtual in nature.

On the latter point, it is worth describing Roblox a little. The game lets players create their own avatars, worlds and games, allowing them to interact with other users in myriad different ways, sharing what they have made. Put another way, it is a a very simple game creation tool. The base game is rated at a PEGI 7 in the UK, meaning it is deemed suitable for players aged seven years old and above. However, the base game is only what is provided to players by the Roblox Corporation; things like the tool itself, and sample games made by the company. According the The VSC Rating Board that gives games their PEGI age rating in the UK, “user generated content has not and cannot be rated by PEGI“. That’s because new content is uploaded constantly in Roblox, by a reported 64 million regular players. Apparently 15 million games have been made in Roblox so far.

Titles like Roblox certainly offer many benefits. They can let players be creative, offer escapism and teach the likes of design and computer skills. So what can a parent do to make sure their child is protected in such online worlds, while still enjoying those benefits?

We have a bounty of detailed advice in our Parent’s Guide to the game, including insights on parental controls in Roblox.

The general advice, however, is much the same as in any case when a child is playing games in the family. Parents and guardians should do their research before buying a game, using resources like askaboutgames.com and The VSC Rating Board’s ‘Additional Consumer Information’ guides to games and their ratings. If a child in the family has found a way to play a game already, you can still do your research to find out how suitable the game might be. Engaging with your children and showing interest in the games they play can also help you build an honest, open, respectful and impactful dialogue with your younger family members about games and the ways they play them. While the onus on making safe game worlds is on the game studios that create such titles, parents can help keep online worlds safer by reporting problems they find do find in games; that can lead directly to the banning of a player doing seriously unpleasant things in an online space enjoyed by many users. Finally, of course, it is always worth respecting PEGI age ratings.

It would be a shame to let the horrific actions of a tiny minority ruin the enjoyment of the many players who gain a great deal from their gaming. With information, research, open communication and proactivity, we can collectively make sure gaming worlds are safe for their users, and perpetrators of virtual unpleasantness – and more – are held accountable.

You can read Roblox Corporation’s official guide for parents – including means to contact the team with concerns – at this link.

While you wait for football to come home – or not come home – or if you just want to ignore it, some family gaming time might be a perfect alternative use for your screen. Of course, you’ll also want to get out in this beautiful weather; but sometimes a refuge from the sun is much needed.

To help you pick what games, each week we present the latest UK game sales chart in a way that makes it easy for you to find the most popular titles suitable for the age of the gamers in your family. We pour through the official charts, before creating the lists below. Each groups together the best selling games from the charts by their PEGI age rating category, and lists them by the order they appeared in the full charts. In the UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below, and ignore the older-age groupings.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

FIFA 18 (PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Tennis Aces (Switch)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Splatoon 2 (Switch)

The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

Jurassic World: Evolution (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
Star Wars: Battlefront II (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Red Faction: Guerrilla Remastered (PS4, Xbox One)*

God of War (PS4)
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Fallout 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* New release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

New research by Childcare.co.uk has found that over half of parents surveyed in the UK let their children play 18-rated games.

As reported by UK video gaming site Eurogamer, that set of guardians do so without providing supervision, and sometimes without knowledge of the content of the game. The survey of 2,171 parents saw that while some 23 per cent ignore film age ratings in general, 86 per cent of the same group largely ignore video game age ratings.

By contrast to the majority of parents happy to let children play 18-rated games, the research found that a considerably smaller 18 per cent of those surveyed confirmed they would let 10-to-14-year-olds watch an 18-plus-rated movie.

Despite the findings, it is not appropriate, fair or helpful to point the finger of blame at parents and guardians. The solution is to educate; not stigmatise. Relative to the likes of films, video games are a fairly new medium. Many parents and guardians are faced with policing video game consumption in their own homes despite having little or no experience of playing games themselves. Many more did not grow up with games in their own family home. You will also on occasion come across a sense that games’ status as playthings means they are associated with toys, and thus not deemed as potentially harmful as adult films. And, inevitably, children will sometimes make powerful pleas to parents that they ‘need’ to play the latest popular game; regardless of age rating.

Educating families, of course, is the very reason AskAboutGames exists.

Looking at the survey, it appears there is a sense that games containing adult content are less likely to have a negative impact than films. This is something of a misconception.

There are certainly many benefits to playing age-appropriate video games, including social, educational, health and therapeutic-related gains.

But adult games are rated 18-plus for a reason. A helpful way to think about it is that if an 18-rated film with scenes of a violent, sexual or otherwise mature content can disturb or otherwise impact your children negatively, so can an 18-rated game. Games are not so different from films. Both present the moving image and audio. Games at a fundamental level simply add interactivity; a fact that some feel makes them even more powerful and impactful. And just like and adult film, an 18-rated game can also contain violence, scenes of a sexual nature, and depictions of difficult and upsetting incidents.

To an adult audience member, that type of content can be powerfully thought-provoking. To a child, those scenes could be profoundly upsetting or disturbing.

Games are absolutely not always digital toys or virtual playthings. They are ‘just’ interactive stories and experiences made from pixels and sound. That basic foundation presents a spectrum that lets games be many things. Some are adult while some are family-friendly. Games can be mainstream, experimental, complex, simple, silly or serious. Just as with films, just because many games are family-friendly, many are not.

So what can you do, especially as a parent? The simplest thing is to talk to your children about games; and not only when you are trying to stop them playing. Take an interest, be enthusiastic, ask questions, and even join in when they are playing an age-appropriate game. That lets you develop an honest, open dialog that makes the difficult conversations with your children around games more productive.

The other thing that can have a huge impact is to take a little time to research the games your children are playing, or are keen to play. Read reviews on gaming sites, watch trailers online, and, of course, keep visiting AskAboutGames. As well as spotlighting popular games with our parents’ guides and highlighting the most popular releases by age rating, we also provide details on how the ratings work, and explain many things such as the extra information available to detail why games are given a particular rating.

Every week at AskAboutGames we provide a specially prepared list of top selling games, based on the latest UK game sales charts. We do so to allow you to see the most popular titles suitable for the age of the gamers in your family.

Essentially, the lists below detail the three best selling games of each age rating category. How do we get to those lists? We go through the official charts, picking the top sellers of each PEGI age category, and then list them in the order they appeared in the full charts. The PEGI age ratings are the main rating system used in the UK. The UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below, and ignore the older-age groupings.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (3DS, Switch, Wii U)*
FIFA 18 (PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Mario Tennis Aces (Switch)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

Octopath Traveller (Switch)*
The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Jurassic World: Evolution (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Destiny 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)
Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

–

* = New Release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Video games have never quite shaken an association with violence. While here at AskAboutGames we’re driven to share the benefits of family-friendly gaming, it’s hardly surprising that the medium can struggle to distance itself for the issue.

Most strikingly, many of the most prevalent or founding gaming genres allude to violence in their naming. There’s shoot ’em-ups, beat ’em-ups and first-person shooters; each central to the popularity and evolution of games as a mass market media.

In reality though, there are many thousands of games without a bit of violence in them. And games journalist James Batchelor has made it his task to document, share and celebrate non-violent games though his Non-Violent Game of the Day project; often known as ‘NVGOTD’.

It’s a fairly self explanatory initiative. Batchelor finds and shares a non-violent game every day he can, predominantly through the NVGOTD blog, and its Twitter feed. It’s worth noting now that a game without violence can still contain adult themes – and we’ll return to that issue below – but NVGOTD offers a tremendous resource for parents looking for non-violent games for their families to enjoy.

“After the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, the media inevitably discovered the shooter had played violent video games, and pointed the finger of blame squarely at our industry,” says Batchelor, who in his day job serves as UK editor at renowned video game industry website GamesIndustry.biz. “In response a bunch of gamers organised a ceasefire; a day where they would not play violent video games to prove that there’s more to the hobby than just killing things. I wanted to take this one step further.”

As such, Batchelor quickly set up a blog and began recommending different non-violent games. His definition of violence is quite clean cut. There’s no shooters and fighting, of course. But he also counts Mario jumping on an enemy to dispatch it as a violence. Hunting animals in a field sports game? That’s enough violence to mean such titles wouldn’t qualify. There’s certainly games that test the definition of what can be considered violent – but in being strict NVGOTD offers a wide audience a reliable means to discover the best of the myriad games that don’t include such aggression.

“Ideally, I’d like this to reach parents and non-gamers so they can see just how broad the range of games available is,” he says.

Batchelor confesses that in the five years the blog has been running, he’s not quite hit a game ‘every day’; but he is building an incredible resource, with quite the master list behind the scenes.

“There are currently 2,598 titles for me to work through – and those are just the ones I’ve found over the past few years. If I finally manage to do update the blog on a daily basis, that’s enough games to last until August 2025, and more are being announced all the time.”

But what of that point on variety? Does turning attention away from guns and fists really leave such a diversity of game types, topics and styles?

“What’s most impressed me about the variety of non-violent games is not necessarily the range of genres, but the breadth of subject matter,” Batchelor offers. “Once you free players from the task of simply killing things to level-up to get better at killing things, video games can truly take on new meaning.

“There are games that explore pivotal aspects of the human experience such as love, loss and death, or topical issues like the plight of Syrian refugees or climate change. There are titles that take you to incredibly imaginative and unique worlds, landscapes you might not appreciate if you’re traversing them while under fire. There are games that test strategic skills and lateral thinking, rather than dexterity and reflexes – solving a mystery or completing a puzzle can be just as satisfying as beating a boss. There’s even a game where you play a slice of bread whose sole purpose in life is to become a piece of toast.”

Batchelor endeavours to keep things varied; it would be a little too easy, after all, to find a puzzle game or sports release for each post. But even in ‘conventionally non-violent genres’, he’s been impressed by what he’s uncovered.

“There are new takes of decades-old mechanics and gameplay styles, and a multitude of ways developers can tackle the same subject,” Batchelor enthuses. “Let’s take football, for example: there are the usual football games like FIFA and PES, but then there are simplified versions like Beyond The Kickmen or Tiny Striker, plus comprehensive simulators like Football Manager and even an XCOM-like turn-based strategy game in Football, Tactics and Glory.”

So if you are looking for diverse, distinct and even thought-provoking games for your family, you’d do well to check in with NVGOTD frequently. Of course, there is the aforementioned issue than non-violent games can still be mature. Over time, NVGOTD has featured a very small number of games that explore complex themes, like the iconic That Dragon, Cancer, about a family losing their child to the illness. Early on Batchelor also featured the odd game with scary moments; but soon moved away from those after readers found their inclusion too contentious. Occasionally a text-based game like courtroom simulator Phoenix Wright might include a reference to violence in text.

As such, it should be emphasised that a tiny minority of games in the NVGOTD list are not suitable for youngsters. But that point lets AskAboutGames revisit one of its key pieces for advice for parents and guardians with regard to appropriate gaming in the family. Research a game before sharing it with your children; that lets you be confident in the creation you are letting them enjoy. And a resource like NVGOTD is a perfect place to do that research. It doesn’t endeavour to provide a list for children; instead NVGOTD is a brilliant resource for those that love games, and a perfect starting point for parents looking to see their children to do more than virtually shoot and punch.

And it just happens that NVGOTD’s latest recommendation is one of AskAboutGames’ favourite treasures: Hidden Folks, which offers a cheerful, artful and charming spin on the Where’s Wally format.

This week we’re rather spoilt for top-selling family-friendly games.

In recent years the higher profile of 18-rated titles sees them just about dominate the gaming sales charts. Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, God of War, Far Cry, Fallout; these are the titles that often occupy the top slots. Following on from a slightly family-friendly bias in the charts last week, this time around we see only one 18-rated game in the top-ten sellers of boxed games in the UK. And there are no 16-plus rated games. It’s a good time to be a gaming family.

To help you choose the most popular family-friendly gamester your family, we’ve curated the lists below. they detail the three best selling games of each age rating category. To build these lists the AskAboutGames team go through the official charts, picking the top sellers of each PEGI age category, and then list them in the order they appeared in the full charts.

The PEGI age ratings are the main rating system used in the UK. The UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below, and ignore the older-age groupings.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

Sonic Mania Plus (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
Forza Horizon 3 (Xbox One)
FIFA 18 (PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Minecraft: Xbox Edition (Xbox 360, Xbox One)

Sea of Thieves (PC, Xbox One)
The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
Octopath Traveller (Switch)

Jurassic World: Evolution (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4 (PSVR))
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Call of Duty: WWII (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Far Cry 5 (PS4, Xbox One)

–

* = New Release

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

With the summer holidays in full swing in the UK, the heatwave has come to an end for the most of us – for now, at least. That might mean a few more days spent inside, looking for something to do as the rain and wind picks up. The right video game might be just what’s needed.

And here at AskAboutGames we’re keen to make it easy for you to find the most popular titles suitable for the age of the gamers in your family.

So we kick off every new week by going through the official charts, and then pull together the lists below. Each groups together the three best selling games from the charts by their PEGI age rating category, and lists the selected games in the order they appeared in the full charts. In the UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Sonic Mania Plus (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)**
Mario Tennis Aces (Switch)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
No Man’s Sky (PS4, Xbox One)

The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
Octopath Traveller (Switch)

Jurassic World: Evolution (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
WWE 2K18 (PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One)

God of War (PS4)
Call of Duty: WWII (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* = New Release
** = Link points to standard game edition

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

When a physical, boxed copy of a console, PC or handheld game is released the UK, it always carries a PEGI age rating. That’s nice and simple.

And as we learned in our recent in-depth look at the video game age rating process here in the UK, any retailer or individual selling a PEGI 12, 16 or 18-rated game a person younger than the rating stipulates can be prosecuted.

But in a world where many games are sold digitally – as a download direct onto a console with no need for a disc, for example – how do age ratings work? And what can parents and guardians do to manage the content their children consume.

The major console companies each have digital stores that you can access as websites, or directly on the respective consoles: PlayStation 4, Switch and Xbox One. Strictly speaking, none of those stores are legally obliged to carry PEGI ratings, but they all volunteer to do so.

Mobile app games sold on the Google Play store carry PEGI ratings as much as is possible, as detailed in our spotlight on rating mobile games. Apple, meanwhile, have their own rating system for apps released on their iPhone and iPad devices.

But what about Steam? If you’re not familiar with Steam, it is an online storefront for downloading and playing Windows PC and Mac games, as well as titles released for the less common Linux operating system. Linux is essentially an alternative to the Windows system. Steam also provides a community hub, consumer reviews, game creation tools, access to demos, and much else besides. You can think of it a a combination of online community and gaming store. The store is accessed through the website, or by downloading the Steam software onto a computer. It was created by – and continues to be run by – Valve Software, a video game developer famous for making influential titles like Half-Life, Team Fortress, Counter-Strike and Portal.

Steam is extremely popular. Earlier this year 18 million players were logged into the service at one time, setting a new record for the service, which courts the attention of over 150 million registered users. That’s not surprising considering it offers games as diverse and popular as Rocket League, Grand Theft Auto V and Minecraft.

According to Steam’s terms and conditions, you need to be at least 13-years-old to create an account. And you’ll need a credit or debit card to buy games. Of course, some youngsters are able to find a way around such things, signing up despite not meeting the minimum age, and entering parents’ card details themselves.

Steam games do not carry any consistent age ratings. Every game does carry ‘tags’ which anyone can add to a game’s product page; most significantly the creator of that game themselves. So you might see a game with tags like ‘Violent’ and ‘Sexual Content’ next to it. Those are helpful, and the size of the Steam community makes it powerful in self-policing. But tags arguably don’t offer a consistent or nuanced guide for parents and players. There are, for example, different shades of violence, from Mario jumping on an enemy’s head, to the aggressive gunplay of Grand Theft Auto V. As such a ‘Violent’ tag could mean many things. Tags are not a standard, and are not necessarily created by experts in game content and ratings.

Games on Steam are the responsibility of their publisher (or developer, in the case of self-publishing). As such, many do list the PEGI rating granted to the boxed version of their game on that title’s Steam store page; similar to how PEGI ratings are applied on the Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo console stores. Sometimes a game’s profile page on the Steam store is preceded by a content warning, offering a light barrier to access, but one based on trusting the user’s decision to respect it.

So what can you do to control how youngsters in your family access steam games, or to better understand what a game of interest to your child might contain if it carries no PEGI rating?

Steam offers a few options, such as the Family View parental controls. Family View lets a parent or guardian limit or block access to certain areas of Steam, protecting access with a custom pin number. As part of Family View, parents and guardians can control a ‘Family Games Library’. Let’s say as an adult has downloaded several games into their Steam library; some that are family-friendly, and some that are adults-only. The Family Library option lets you select which games in your library others will have access to when they access steam in Family View mode.

You can also adjust Steam’s settings so that games with violent and/or sexual content are not included in the store you see when browsing Steam. To do that you’ll need to select ‘Store Preferences’ if you are using the Steam software, or ‘Preferences’ if you are using the web browser version of Steam. Depending on which version you’re using, you’ll find the option to select in the drop-down menu that appears if you hover over your account name in the top-right corner of the screen. Once you’ve selected the relevant preferences, you should see the screen below. You can also list up to three tags you wish there, meaning games with those tags will not be shown in your account’s Steam store page.

We’d also offer one of our most common pieces of advice here. Before you buy a game for a youngster in your family, do your research. That’s a sensible approach even when buying a PEGI-rated boxed game; but it’s especially important when a game is without age-rating or consistent content signifiers. These days there are an abundance of videos, reviews and even demos online, and you should check as many as you can before buying a game without a rating.

Really, though, the best option is to stick with games on Steam that do carry a PEGI-rating. You can see one of the PEGI age-rating systems very clearly a little way down on the right hand side of a given game’s store page on Steam.

You can also choose to pick boxed games and those digital releases on the PlayStation 4, Switch and Xbox One stores, where PEGI ratings are always present. In doing that you know a game you are buying has been thoroughly tested by experts in content and the influence of content on youngsters.

Now the summer holidays are well underway, and many are already returning from vacations and trips. Plenty have enjoyed the most appealing activities to entertain the kids, but there may still be a good deal of time to spend occupying the youngsters in your family. As long as it’s balanced with plenty of other activities away from the joypad, some video game time might be just what’s needed. But what games to get that are appropriate for the ages of your family members?

To help you answer that question, here at AskAboutGames we’ve gone through the latest all formats video game charts, and pulled out the three best-selling games under each PEGI age-rating category. PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after careful analysis by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board. The team there apply a rating between three-years-plus at the lowest end, and 18-years-plus at the other side of the spectrum, having explored a given game’s content in detail. You can use the lists below to see which popular games best suit your family’s respective ages.

Many games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Mario Tennis Aces (Switch)
Sonic Mania Plus (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)**

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

Jurassic World: Evolution (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
WWE 2K18 (PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One)

Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
Call of Duty: WWII (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
God of War (PS4)

–

[No new releases in our charts breakdown this week] ** = Link points to standard game edition

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Earlier this week UK games industry trade body Ukie tweeted a picture of a rather curious bus stop advertisement from mobile phone outfit 02.

Ukie, of course, is part of the team behind AskAboutGames, along with the VSC Ratings Board, which grants UK games their age-ratings. As a trade body Ukie looks to support, grow and promote the games industry in the UK.

But why was that advert so striking? All it did was ask a simple question. ‘Is it alright that your kids only aspire to be an eGamer?’ The question pointed to 02’s ’02 Family’ initiative; something that appears to have aims not unlike AskAboutGames’. Through 02 Family, the communications giant hopes to inform and support parents and guardians bringing up youngsters in the digital, connected age; their focus is rather more about mobile phones, of course.

The question posited by the billboard didn’t answer the question. Arguably, then, it was just trying to encourage debate, and inspire thought. That’s very amicable. Except that the question felt rather loaded, in including the word ‘only’. To say that a child ‘only’ aspired to a certain career suggests they aren’t being ambitious enough. Consider these two hypothetical sentences, where we’ve deliberately moved the focus away from games:

‘My child wants to work in music.’

‘My child only wants to work in music.’

The second is certainly a little more dismissive of the child’s ambition, compared to the first.

And, yes, the 02 ad also included the term ‘eGamer’; a rather unspecific and less-than-common term. It seems they are referring to an ‘eSports athlete’ or ‘professional gamer’. We’re not here to criticise their preferred jargon, though. The point is, the ad seems rather dismissive of ambitions to make a living from games.

Ukie’s tweet about the 02 campaign was typically spirited and playful, but made an important point. The games industry is huge in the UK, and offers thousands of well-paid jobs catering to numerous skillsets, interests and specialties. The UK games industry is worth £5.11 billion, providing a significant space for opportunity, success and high earnings.

More and more schools, colleges and universities include game design skills on their curriculum, making the route to becoming employed in games more feasible and achievable. And even if your child loses interest in a career making games in later life, the core skills they will have learned on that journey will qualify them to work in many other sectors. Knowing how to code, design, engineer and distribute are increasingly essential skills in a continuously more technological, digital and connected world.

It’s fair to point out that, if the ad is talking about professional gamers, that is a slightly different realm. eSports – which refers to organised competitive gaming – can make its stars very rich indeed. Some of the best players are millionaires, making a great deal from prize winnings and sponsorships. And many more make a good amount in the five-figure area. Certainly, not every eSports competitor makes money. But the only way there is to make a success of eSports is to try, which brings us to a more important point; stifling your children’s ambition might not be the best way to go about managing their relationship with games. If they show an interest in eSports, talk to them about it; maybe play some of their favourite esports titles against them (and be prepared to lose!).

Why does eSports interest them? What do they love about it? Have they considered the many other professions in the booming eSports sector? There’s commentators, coaches, sports psychologists, broadcasters, event organisers, managers, marketeers; and, of course, the thousands of people making the games eSports athletes play. A youngster’s interest in becoming an eSports stat might actually open the conversation that leads them to a life loving their career, even if they’re making a lot of money making games, rather than earning it playing them. If you want more insights in the common careers in the games industry, check our recent series of guides to games jobs youngsters can aspire to and eventually make their day job.

Here at AskAboutGames we’re not here to criticise 02, and we certainly don’t know their answer to their own question. They may feel exactly as we do about the opportunity, and they deserve credit for inspiring an important conversation, which may well be their sole aim. But we do believe this; if youngsters in your family aspire to make video games part of their career, they have their eyes on an exciting, growing industry full of opportunities and good wages. And they are offering you a chance to engage with them in discussing the role games can play in your family.

As for us, we’d love to only be an eGamer when we grow up.

After something of a delay, finally this week the UK video game sales charts are available to the public, so we’ve compiled our regular list helping you pick the most popular age-appropriate games for you family.

Regular readers will know this update usually arrives every Monday. While we at AskAboutGames don’t know the exact reason for the hold up, we do know that the charts need games retailers across the country to provide sales data on each game they’ve sold. Gathering and compiling all that data is a wildly complex task, and now it is done.

So why do we provide these charts?

There are a lot of video games available, and not all of them will be suitable for your family. For that reason, here at AskAboutGames we pour through the latest all formats video game charts. Then we pull out the three best-selling games under each PEGI age-rating category. That gives you a quick-glance round-up of the most popular video games suitable under each age-rating: 3-plus, 7-plus, 12-plus, 16-plus and 18-plus. Those PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after careful analysis by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board.

Many games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received, and get more detail on the type of content in the game.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
Madden NFL 19 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
Overcooked! 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
The Sims 4 (PS4, Xbox One)

Jurassic World: Evolution (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Destiny 2 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)

Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
Call of Duty: WWII (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
God of War (PS4)

–

* New entry

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Recently a gaming ‘streamer’ known as Ninja became the first to reach 10 million followers on Twitch.

If you’ve got gamers in your family, you’ve likely heard of Twitch. You might even recognise the look of the website. But what is Twitch, and what can you do to make sure it is appropriately used in your home?

At its most simple, Twitch is a video gaming website. Its most significant offering is the ability to watch other people ‘stream’ live video of themselves playing a video game, usually while providing some kind of commentary. As such, a ‘streamer’ is somebody who creates and delivers these live broadcasts.

Twitch also features the likes of product announcements, broadcasts of competitive gaming events, gaming news and official broadcasts from game companies. While Twitch is associated with personal gaming streams, the broadcast of major competitive events – or eSports – is an increasingly popular part of the website. Twitch can also be viewed on mobile devices, games consoles and some specific streaming hardware like Amazon Fire TV, as well as via a web browser.

Users who set up a Twitch account can not only watch their favourite streamers, but also set up their own streaming channel. It’s relatively easy to do, and using simple software, a web-cam and computer, it is possible to stream your own broadcasts.

Another popular element of Twitch sees viewers chatting to each other – and the streamer – via live text as they watch.

Gaming videos are, of course, very popular on Youtube too. But while live streaming is both possible and popular on Youtube, it is more generally associated with pre-recorded, edited video footage.

While it is not as popular, there are also music performances, TV broadcasts and tutorials for the likes of drawing and painting on Twitch. However, games and gaming entirely dominate the platform.

Certainly, most Twitch streamers broadcast as a hobby. But some have become very rich and famous. Ninja – real name Richard Tyler Blevins – is a true internet personality. His individual streams – distinct live broadcasts – attract huge audiences. It was reported that he was earning $560,000 a month from his Fortnite streams on Twitch; and that was back when he had ‘only’ 3 million followers. The money largely comes from paying subscribers, who subscribe to specific channels like Ninja’s, paying to get access to extra content. Ninja makes plenty of extra money from his other channels, like Youtube.

Officially, Twitch is for gamers aged 13 years and older. And a user between 13 and 18 years old should use the platform with an adult, according to the site’s terms of service. But any parent will likely know youngsters are fairly savvy at getting around such restrictions.

A typical Fortnite live stream on Twitch

Twitch offers fantastic potential; a chance to learn about new games, and a community of enthusiasts who want to share their passion. Streaming yourself can teach you to be tech savvy, give you experience in creating content and building a brand. Even if it doesn’t make you a penny, it’s a worthy creative endeavour, and might teach skills that help a great deal in education, and after that, finding work. And it could make your family rather well off (just to make it clear, this is extremely unlikely, and there’s a lot of competition to make even a tiny amount of money on Twitch. It is not a quick way to make cash.)

Twitch being live, however, means it brings with it many challenges. It is very hard to police or censor live content that – at least with the personal streams – is often improvised. Many users say what comes to their mind as they think it, meaning hearing mature conversation and bad language is not impossible. It may even be common on some channels.

Equally, the live chat is uncensored, and can include course language, offensive discussion and adult content. In rare cases abuse and threats are directed at users on Twitch via the chat window.

Also, games with adult age ratings are broadcast on Twitch. Users can’t play them, but they might see adult content. Even without an account, you can load up the website and see other people play games, including those carrying a PEGI-18 rating in the UK.

There are also a lot of adverts, which can only really be avoided by paying for a premium ‘Turbo’ account.

Parental controls on Twitch don’t exist, but there is much you can do. For one, many more official streaming channels on Twitch use a system that filters the chat stream for bad language and other words, blocking those words before they are used. Many channels may also have live moderators checking and policing the conversation; meaning another real human reading and contributing to the chat to keep it safe and friendly. The very largest channels often use automated tools on top of human moderators to keep things extra safe.

As such, try and spend some time watching the streams or channels youngsters in your family do. It won’t take long to get a sense of the games those streamers play, the tone and language of the broadcaster, and the content of the chat streams.

It’s worth knowing that Twitch uses the term ‘Whispers’ to refer to direct, private, one-to-one messages. There are also group-chats that users can invite each other to. You should make sure you have access to any Twitch account a youngster in your family uses, so you can check any conversations in these Whispers. Also, encourage them to speak to you as a parent if they see anything upsetting, or experience anything that they don’t feel confortable about or understand.

Twitch’s chat does make it easy to see who moderators are, so you or your younger family members can speak to them direct about any concerns. Twitch also has numerous settings for blocking the ability to receive different messages. And as you can easily report any problems you have, the community is fairly well self-policed.

And if Twitch has a presence in your family, and you’re unsure about that, the best way forward might be to set up a streaming channel with your younger family members. You might have to put your ego to one side and only be involved behind the scenes, because us adults are apparently embarrassing at all times… and you might start out with very few viewers indeed. But running a channel together is a fantastic creative process you can enjoy and learn from together. And more importantly, that will help you build up trust and a dialogue about how Twitch is used and enjoyed in the home. What’s more, as US streaming outfit FatherSonGaming prove, families can be very successful together as gaming streamers, and maybe even bring in some income.

We’ll admit it; it’s been a long week.

Here at AskAboutGames, along with much of the global games industry and gaming public, we’ve been at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany for the past few days. With 500,000 visitors and countless game booths and announcements, it’s been a busy, exciting and sometimes very crowded time at the vast gaming expo.

We even got some hands-on time behind closed doors with some very exciting family-friendly games, and got to hear some exciting news first hand. So here’s our list of the five most promising family games that starred at Gamescom.

Super Mario Party
Due this October on Switch, Super Mario Party is the latest Nintendo game to offer a range of simple, accessible mini games for friends and family to play together. We got some hands-on time at the Nintendo booth, where we’re pretty sure the professional demoing the game let us win on purpose. From frying food with the motion sensitive Joy-Con to racing tricycles via eccentric hand motions, we had a wild time we’re sure will go down well with families the world over. And yes – we mean ‘eccentric’ both mechanically and to mean ‘a bit strange’. You’ll see!

LEGO DC Super-Villains
The LEGO game formula may be well tested by this stage, but the releases continue to delight families, youngsters and even adult gamers playing alone. And this time a LEGO game offers the chance to fill the boots of some of the DC comics universe’s most notorious baddies? That sounds great to us. It looked superb at Gamescom, and we can’t wait to see more.

Spyro: Reignited Trilogy
Based on the success of the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane trilogy in the charts, giving an HD polish and general revamp to a classic platformer is worthwhile in gamers’ minds. And the return of Spyro the Dragon is looking very promising indeed, bring back the first three games in the beloved series. It’s a great collection of games for players young and old, and presents a chance to bridge the generation gap in families, by sharing older relatives gaming past with an experience perfect for the current generation of young gamers.

Pokémon Let’s GO Pikachu! and Let’s GO Eevee!
The pair of Pokémon games – at least in the demos we played at Gamescom – featured fairly familiar monster hunting gameplay, albeit influenced by some of the Pokémon GO mechanics. That’s no bad thing; we loved what we tried. But it was the special Poké Ball Plus device that really made the experience. The golf ball-sized Poké Ball-shaped controller is motion sensitive, letting you capture Pokemon with a flick of the wrist. The optional controller also includes lighting effects, rumble and buttons, and while it only really does what a normal Joy-Con can do, it added a great deal of immersion to the experience.

Life is Strange 2
You’re right. The first Life is Strange did receive a PEGI 16 age rating. And the sequel isn’t looking to be a game suitable for young children. But family games includes games perfect for older relatives to play together and explore ideas pivotal to what it is to be in a family; love, complex relationships, coming-of-age and more. A follow on from the brilliant, intelligent and thoughtful 2015 adventure game, Life is Strange 2 tells the tale of a broken family and two brothers on the run. The Gamescom demo was remarkably powerful, and we feel it’s tale of teenage life may make an emotionally evocative and thought-provoking experience for young adult and older family members; perhaps to explore together.

This week’s data is finally in, meaning we’re here to share our specially curated version of the UK games sales charts, designed to help you pick to most popular age-appropriate games for your family.

Choosing games – or even understanding which exact games youngsters in your family are keen to play – is a tricky business when there are so many. Many games will be perfect for your everyone in your family, but that doesn’t mean all of them will be suitable. Recognising that challenge, the AskAboutGames team go through the latest all formats video game charts each week (though there have been some problems with securing the data these past two weeks). With that done, we select the three best-selling games under each PEGI age-rating category and share them below. That gives you a quick-glance round-up of the most popular video games suitable under each age-rating: 3-plus, 7-plus, 12-plus, 16-plus and 18-plus. Those PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after careful analysis by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board.

F1 2018 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
FIFA 18 (PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

Shemnue I & II (PS4, Xbox One)*
The Crew 2 (PS4, Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4 – PSVR)
Jurassic World: Evolution (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
God of War (PS4)
Call of Duty: WWII (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* New entry

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

PEGI has moved to help parents better understand when games offer players the opportunity to spend real money in the game.

What does that mean, and why does it matter to your family? Some games these days offer the chance to buy extra items with real money, via digital stores built into the game. Sometimes it might be an extra pack of levels to explore; an extension to the game. In other cases players may be able to buy purely cosmetic items to make their character look more unique in online multiplayer gaming. Or they could be given the option to buy extra weapons or abilities.

Often it is very hard for parents or guardians to be able to tell if a game may offer the chance to spend money before it has been purchased. To help with this PEGI is now marking games that offer the chance to spend extra money in-game with a special symbol. PEGI is the organisation behind the pan-European age rating system for video games – the one we use in the UK. This symbol will soon be applied to all physical games (meaning games sold on disks or cartridges) offering in-game purchases. However, many games companies selling games as digital downloads voluntarily choose to display the age-rating and content descriptors on the online version of a game, if they those ratings and descriptors have been given to the physical edition of the same title.

The idea of PEGI marking games with symbols that compliment the age rating is nothing new. As we’ve explored here on AskAboutGames in more detail, the symbols are actually called ‘content descriptors’. A physical copy of a game sold in the UK will be marked with a PEGI age rating such as 7-years-plus or 18-years-plus. It will also carry some content descriptors; symbols that help understand why a certain age rating was applied. Content descriptors include ones such as ‘violence’, ‘bad language’ or ‘drugs’. You can see the full list of age rating categories and content descriptors here.

Now an ‘in-game purchases’ content descriptor symbol will be displayed when appropriate. The decision to do so was motivated by parental concerns. A recent Ipso survey that found that two-in-five parents of children that play video games believe their youngsters spend money in-game.

This is what the ‘in-game purchases’ content descriptor symbol looks like:

“Making parents aware of the existence of optional in-game purchases upfront is an important first step. PEGI will now make this information available at the point of purchase, so that a parent can decide whether and how they want to monitor and/or limit a child’s spending”, says Simon Little, Managing Director of PEGI. “While we know that parents use different methods to control spending, parental control tools are a very helpful next step in making sure that the overall online experience of the child is safe, including the possibility to control spending. Entering into a dialogue with the child about the games they enjoy is certainly a must for all parents. It will provide them with the necessary context to create a gaming environment both the children and the parents are comfortable with.”

The ‘in-game purchases’ content descriptor will start to appear on physical games later this year.

The ‘in-game purchases’ content descriptor has already been used in the past some places where PEGI ratings are applied to digital games. It is now being used much more universally for physical copies of games

Picking the ideal games that are suitable for your family members can prove an overwhelming task.

That’s why here at AskAboutGames, each week we provide a specially prepared version of the latest UK game sales charts.

Essentially, the lists below detail the three best-selling games of each age rating category. How do we get to those lists? We go through the official charts, picking the top sellers of each PEGI age category, and then list them in the order they appeared in the full charts. The PEGI age ratings are the main rating system used in the UK. The UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below, and ignore the older-age groupings.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

F1 2018 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Pro Evolution soccer 2019 (PS4, Xbox One)*
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Switch)*
The Sims 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Firewall Zero Hour (PS4 – PSVR)*
PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4 – PSVR)

Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4)*
God of War (PS4)

–

* New entry

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Monday having come around again already, we’ve compiled our regular listings helping you pick the most popular age-appropriate games for you family.

And why do we prepare these lists?

There are a lot of video games available, and not all of them will be suitable for your family. For that reason, here at AskAboutGames we go through the latest all formats UK video game sales charts. Then we pull out the three best-selling games under each PEGI age-rating category. That gives you a quick-glance round-up of the most popular video games suitable under each age-rating: 3-plus, 7-plus, 12-plus, 16-plus and 18-plus. Those PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after careful analysis by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board.

F1 2018 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Pro Evolution soccer 2019 (PS4, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4)*
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)*
Destiny 2: Forsaken (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
God of War (PS4)
Call of Duty WWII (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* New entry

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Here at AskAboutGames, we’re often sharing advice on how to make gaming a positive part of your family’s life.

We’re informed by the games industry, attending events, our own experience covering games for families, and insight from groups like games industry trade body Ukie and UK games age rating group The VSC.

What we aren’t, however, is young people. OK; we’re nowhere near claiming our pensions yet, but our experience is only half the perspective. Because if you’re going to interact with younger members of your family in an attempt tp safeguard them with regard to online gaming communities they are involved in, understanding their perspective is important.

That, in part, was the spirit that motivated the Digital Schoolhouse initiative to conduct and publish their new report; Online Safety: A Pupil’s Perspective. The report – which you can learn more about and see in full here – surveyed 2304 students aged between 9 and 18 years old. The idea was to understand their perspectives. Do they feel safe online? Do they care? Are they aware of the common ways to protect themselves in online games? Are schools providing them with the right information?

Encouragingly, the key findings of the report showed that most young people are very savvy to the threats and challenges of online safety; an important factor when online games like fortnite have become quite so popular. Here they are, as shared by Digital Schoolhouse in their recent blog post:

• 90% of pupils recognised that e-safety (meaning safety online) is an issue of importance
• Only 2% of pupils said they had no confidence at all in their own ability to stay safe
• 77% of pupils know where to find information on how to play games safely and responsibly
• 80% of students who play games online know where to find information on playing safely and responsibly, compared to 59% of those that don’t play games online
• Only 19% of students said that their parents set limits about their time spent online and actually enforced it. 35% of students said there were no limits at all
• 63% of parents talk to their children about staying safe online

In general, the numbers point to youngsters being aware of their safety, its importance, and how and where they can learn about online safety. It would, however, be irresponsible to gloss over the other side of the story. While it is great that 98% of pupils have confidence in their ability to stay safe online, the 2% that don’t clearly need support. And there are 10% of children that feel online safety is not important; that group clearly needs informing.

The solution to those challenges is education, meaning helping youngsters, parents and the games industry all learn how to keep children safer. That’s an effort the finding of the report hope to inspire, in schools, through resources like AskAboutGames, and within the industry.

The main message here for parents, though, is that our children are likely to be as keen to stay safe online as we are keen for them to do so. That does mean the door is open for parents and guardians to talk to their children about gaming and online safety; we are almost all on the same side here, and the research suggests children are open minded to hearing advice on staying safe online. That should make it easier for you to talk to your youngsters about the gaming they are doing online. And as ever our advice is that you start that conversation as an enthusiastic chat about their love of gaming, rather than leaving it until there’s a potential problem. Starting the conversation as a general one with no particular aim to influence their online gaming will help a great deal if and when a more serious conversation is needed.

But how can you as parent or guardians make sure that when you do talk with your children, you are informed and up to date?

Over the coming weeks we’ll be spotlighting some of the best resources to help your understanding of online safety and gaming in your home.

As the wind howls and the nights start to draw in, the time of year is coming when there’s a little less opportunity to spend time outside.

While you’ll likely and rightly still be trying to keep your youngsters active and out and about, sometimes the long nights make a perfect opportunity to enjoy the best of what appropriate games can bring your family.

But what games to get that are appropriate for the ages of your family members?

NBA 2K19 (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
F1 2018 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Sonic Mania Plus (PS4, Switch, Xbox One) **

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
NHL 19 (PS4, Xbox One)*
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
Destiny 2: Forsaken (PC, PS4, Xbox One)**

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
The Elder Scrolls Online (PC, PS4)

–

* New entry
** Link points to base game’s additional rating information

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

After a small delay where the UK video game charts are compiled, this week’s data is finally in, meaning we’re here to share our specially curated version of the those charts.

We provide the below to help you pick to most popular age-appropriate games for your family.

NBA 2K19 (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
F1 2018 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
LEGO The Incredibles (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4)
(Only two 12-rated games in this week’s top-40)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
VR Worlds (PS4: PSVR required)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

–

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Each week at AskAboutGames we publish our own version of the latest UK video game sales charts, tailored for families. We do that to provide an at-a-glance guide the most popular titles suitable for the age of the gamers in your family.

Ultimately the lists below detail the three best selling games of each age rating category. How do we get to those lists? We go through the official charts, picking the top sellers of each PEGI age category, and then list them in the order they appeared in the full charts. The PEGI age ratings are the main rating system used in the UK. The UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below, and ignore the older-age groupings.

FIFA 19 (PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)*
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
NBA 2K19 (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Minecraft: Xbox Edition (Xbox 360, Xbox One)**
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
Dragon Ball Fighter Z (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
Overwatch: Game of the Year Edition (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
Valkyria Chronicles 4 (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)
The Elder Scrolls Online (PC, PS4)

–

* New entry
** Link points to base game’s additional rating information

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

It can be hard to find reliable information about games and their content. The problem isn’t a lack of information. Sometimes it can feel like there is too much available. Run a game name through a Google search, and the volume of information can be dizzying.

That’s why here at AskAboutGames over the coming weeks we’re going to bring you several profiles of the best, most reliable resources for better understanding how games can be a positive part of your family; and when certain games might not be suitable.

And we’re going to start with one of the newest; the ‘PEGI Ratings’ app, brought to you by the VSC Rating Board, who give lots of games in the UK their PEGI age rating.

The app is straightforward, easy to use, and free (properly free too; there’s no hidden costs or extra purchases) on iPhone and Android. In short, it gives parents, guardians and carers a simple way to check the age ratings of hundreds and hundreds of games. You can also look up the extra information on each game, that explains why a particular rating was given. That’s the ‘Additional Consumer Information’ which we explain in detail here.

A typical game profile in the PEGI Ratings app

It’s easy to search for games, or browse by platform, genre, recent releases and – perhaps most importantly for families – age rating. There’s also information on the age ratings themselves, details on the ‘content descriptor’ symbols that help you understand a game’s content, and guides to using the parental controls on various gaming devices. Those controls let you decide what content your children can access, and how long they can spend playing games. There’s even a guide to AskAboutGames; The VSC Rating Board is one of the groups that makes what we do possible.

Browsing and filtering is easy in the PEGI Ratings app

We’ll be honest; the app is so useful and simple we use it ourselves at AskAboutGames as a go-to source for information.

You can download the PEGI Ratings app here on iOS for iPhone and iPad, and here at the Google Play store for Android devices. Or simply search for ‘PEGI Ratings’ on your mobile or tablet device’s store.

Information on the individual PEGI age ratings

Making games a positive part of your family’s life starts by picking the most appropriate games for your youngsters.

That can be easier said than done, when there are so many games about, and so much information about them exists. So we’re here to provide a round-up of the current most popular boxed games in the UK, specially tailored so families can select games by their age rating.

We pour through the official UK games sales charts, before creating the lists below. Each groups together the best selling games from the charts by their PEGI age rating category, and lists them by the order they appeared in the full charts.

Put more simply, below you can see the three best selling games of the week under each age rating.

In the UK PEGI certificates are given to games by a board of experts at The VSC Rating Board; we use their ratings to guide our groupings. So if you have, for example, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old in your family, and you want a popular game for them to play, you could glance at the three-years-plus and seven-years-plus lists below, and ignore the older-age groupings.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

FIFA 19 (PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Forza Horizon 4 (PC, Xbox One)*
Super Mario Party (Switch)*

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Minecraft: Xbox Edition (Xbox 360, Xbox One)**
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PC, Xbox One)
(Only two 12-rated games in this week’s top 40)

Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
Tekken 7 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Grand Theft Auto V (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* New entry
** Link points to base game’s additional rating information

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Video games can very much be a positive part of your family’s life; as long as you pick the right video games.

But choosing the most appropriate games for your family? That can be easier said than done. There are so many games about, and so much information about them exists. So we’re here to provide a round-up of the current most popular games in the UK, specially tailored so families can select games by their age rating.

Put more simply, below you can see the three best selling games of the week under each age rating.

The charts round up sales of boxed video games, but many will be available digitally too.

Most games below link to their profile over on The VSC Rating Board website, so you can see details of why they were granted the rating they received.

FIFA 19 (PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Forza Horizon 4 (PC, Xbox One)
Super Mario Party (Switch)

Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Minecraft: Switch Edition (Switch)**
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

The World Ends With You: Final Remix (Switch)*
The Sims 4 (PC, Xbox One)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)

WWE 2K19 (PC, Ps4, Xbox One)*
Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
Tekken 7 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* New entry
** Link points to base game’s additional rating information

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Recently at AskAboutGames, we looked at the VSC Rating Board’s new PEGI app, which helps you check the content of games you might be considering buying for your family.

This time around, we’re going to look at the advice about online gaming on offer from beyond the industry. The people and companies that make online games are in the vast majority very keen to make sure their players are safeguarded, and that connected realms are suitably policed by staff and technology. That’s primarily because they do care, but equally for a game to thrive commercially it needs to protect the players.

Still, it’s important you read up on how online gaming works, and what the opportunities and challenges are with regard to children playing them. And we’d totally understand if you wanted to hear some advice from experts outside of games. Certainly, the games industry itself has an informed perspective – that’s why AskAboutGames is made possible by Ukie and the VSC Rating Board. But there’s some other great insights out there. And the more you read, the better placed you are to make gaming a positive force in your family.

We’d very much recommend the NSPCC’s guidance on online safety for youngsters. One thing that’s encouraging is that their ‘T.E.A.M’ advice very much matches what we at AskAboutGames suggest. Here’s how the NSPCC put it:

Talk about staying sake online
Explore their online world together
Agree rules about what’s OK and what’s not OK
Manage your families settings and controls

Similarly useful is Childline’s guide specific to online gaming which, along with advice on keeping your family safe, also includes lessons for youngsters in treating other online users with respect. It can, after all, be easy to forget that the character on screen you are talking to has a real person behind them in an online game.

Perhaps the most valuable, though, is the entire UK Safer Internet website, which has an abidance of advice, resources and insights for everyone, and not just youngsters. You won’t get the gaming-specific focus of AskAboutGames, but you will be able to get superb and detailed insights into technology generally, from people who know. And gaming is covered too. We’d advise checking in with their Parents and Carers Advice Centre for plenty of good information.

Those websites should keep you busy, but do check back in with AskAboutGames soon, as we’ll be sharing more great resources.

Picking games that are suitable for your family can prove a difficult business. There are a lot of games out there, and so much information, it can be hard to zero in on the basics. And as the winter evenings draw in, screen time might become increasingly important to your family; as long as the role games play is positive and appropriate.

Lots of games will be ideal for your everyone in your family, but that doesn’t mean all of them will be. Recognising that challenge, the AskAboutGames team go through the latest all formats video game charts each week (though there have been some problems with securing the data these past two weeks). With that done, we select the three best-selling games under each PEGI age-rating category and share them below. That gives you a quick-glance round-up of the most popular video games suitable under each age-rating: 3-plus, 7-plus, 12-plus, 16-plus and 18-plus. Those PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK after careful analysis by a group of specialists at The VSC Rating Board.

FIFA 19 (PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Forza Horizon 4 (PC, Xbox One)
Super Mario Party (Switch)

LEGO DC Super-Villains (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
Starlink: Battle for Atlas (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
The Sims 4 (PC, Xbox One)
[Only two 12-years+ rated games featured in the UK top 40 this week]

Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
Soul Calibur VI (PC, PS4, Xbox One)*
WWE 2K19 (PC, Ps4, Xbox One)

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

–

* New entry
** Link points to base game’s additional rating information

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track

Continuing our recent series of articles looking at some of the most useful resources for parents and guardians who want to make gaming a positive part of their families’ lives, this week we’re turning our attention to Youtube.

If you’ve got youngsters who love games in your family, you’ll likely know that today Youtube serves as the destination for getting gaming news, reviews and insights. Many of the top Youtubers are as popular as some of the best-known video games there are. And some make a lot of money. That does mean there are a lot of other users broadcasting gaming content on the platform, in the hope that they become one of the most successful… which makes finding the channels that are appropriate for your family rather tricky. There are so many to choose from.

So we’ve picked four of the best for you:

It’s worth noting that with no specific ‘age rating’ system being universal to Youtube content, we’d advise you check any of these channels yourself before letting your kids see them. They certainly should only offer appropriate content. But what is appropriate to one family might not be to another. Following the links below to each channel’s homepage, you can click on ‘videos’ to get a sense of the type of content they upload. We at AskAboutGames can’t guarantee what any channel will upload in the future. And we haven’t had a chance to individually check the hundreds and hundreds of videos the below have uploaded. But they certainly should provide family-friendly content. In an ideal world you should check any Youtube video before letting a child see it; especially younger children.

• FGTeeV is the big one in terms of popularity. With over 8.5 million subscribers it is hugely well watched. Covering games like MineCraft, Roblox, Fortnite and Pokémon, it is lively, silly and posts a lot of content. Being a US channel, some of the information is biased to the States (so release dates and such), but its popularity means it is one your kids might readily watch with you.

• Close to home in the UK (and hugely popular too) we have FamilyGamerTV. Created and run by the former – and soon returning – AskAboutGames editor Andy Robertson, it is tremendously well trusted, and great at keeping parents informed with realistic, thoughtful and detailed information. It’s certainly entertaining enough to keep your youngsters delighted; but you can be sure you’ll get informed and reliable information made with parents in mind. That’s why you’ll often see it spotlighted in places like national newspapers.

• One for the kids that parents might enjoy too also hails from the UK. Definitely daft but promising to always be made with younger viewers in mind, Mr Stampy Cat – AKA StampyLongHead – found fame when Minecraft was an emerging sensation. Today there’s still lots of MineCraft content, but also plenty on games like Splatoon, Super Mario, Stardew Valley and Zelda. Again, this isn’t made with parents in mind, but as we always say at AskAboutGames, engaging with your kids’ love of games through joining in watching (or playing) the content they enjoy is a great way to build up trust, making it easier when you have to have harder conversations about appropriate gaming.

• With over 2 million subscribers, young British Youtuber EthanGamerTV comes under the ‘made by kids for kids’ category (though in reality Ethan’s parents manage and maintain the channel in terms of admin and representing their son). A specialist in mobile and tablet games as well as Roblox and MineCraft, Ethan’s focus is on having fun, rather than winning and competing. And all the content is designed to be age appropriate for younger viewers. Being a ‘kid gamer’ channel, it’s not specifically made for parents… but it’s another great one to watch with your younger family members, so you can keep you ear to the rail of what children think about gaming.

Are you looking for the most popular video games that are age-appropriate for your family?

Then you’ve found the right place. Here you can find our specially curated guide to the best selling games of the past week, grouped by their PEGI age-rating.

PEGI ratings are given to games in the UK by a group of experts at The VSC Rating Board. They pour through games before applying an age rating based on the content they find, granting either a 3-years-plus, 7-plus, 12-years-plus, 16-years-plus or 18-years-plus rating. Physical copies of games cannot be sold in the UK without a PEGI rating. Each week the AskAboutGames team pull apart the latest all formats game charts – which list the best selling games in the UK – before selecting the three highest ranking games from each age category, and gathering them below.

FIFA 19 (PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Forza Horizon 4 (PC, Xbox One)
Super Mario Party (Switch)

LEGO DC Super-Villains (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy (PS4)
LEGO The Incredibles (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)

My Hero One’s Justice (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One)*
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, Wii U)
[Only two 12-years+ rated games featured in the UK top 40 this week]

Marvel’s Spider-Man (PS4)
PlayStation VR Worlds (PS4 – PSVR required)
WWE 2K19 (PC, Ps4, Xbox One)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4, Xbox One)*
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

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* New entry

Data is taken from the Ukie Games Charts ‘Top 40 Full-Price Entertainment SOFTWARE’ compiled by GfK Chart Track