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Ages 8+ · Digital Life · Games and apps
Free games that cost money
🆓free🏪coin shop🎁mystery box🧑ask first
Free can still cost money.
The big ideaA free game can still cost money. Ask a grown-up before you buy.

How it works

A free game was made by many people who are paid for their work.

So a free game earns money some other way.

Free to start does not mean free all the way.

Ask a grown-up before you buy, and tell a grown-up if you tapped by mistake.

Can cost money• A coin shop• Pay to skip a wait• A mystery box• A monthly pass• A sale with a ticking clockFree• The first levels• Coins and stars you earn• Your high score• Pausing• Waiting for a gate
What costs money, and what is free.

Example 1: The gate

  1. A locked gate and a timer said wait or pay to skip.
  2. Robin waited and laughed with Jo.
  3. The gate opened and it cost nothing.
  4. Paying to skip would have cost real money.

Example 2: The mystery box

  1. A pop-up offered a mystery box, and Robin's tablet had a card saved.
  2. One tap paid, and the box held only a plain sticker.
  3. With a mystery box you pay before you see what is inside.
  4. Robin told a grown-up, who said, Thank you for telling me.

Example 3: A safe plan

  1. One: ask a grown-up first, every time.
  2. Two: wait and think, because waiting cost Robin nothing.
  3. Three: turn on a buy check, so the device asks for a grown-up's password.
Ask a grown-up firstWait and thinkTurn on a buy check
Before a buy.

Words to know

free to start
Free for the first part, but not always all the way.
in-game shop
A place in a game that sells coins or boxes for real money.
buy check
A setting that asks for a grown-up's password before a buy.

Watch out

Try it

  1. A game says Free. Can it still cost money?
  2. A button says Pay to skip. What costs money, skipping or waiting?
  3. You tapped a mystery box by mistake. What do you do?
  4. What makes a tablet ask before a buy?
Answers: 1. Yes · 2. Skipping · 3. Tell a grown-up · 4. A buy check
Try at homeAsk a grown-up to show you how your device checks before a buy. Look at it together.
For grown-upsSit with your child and turn on the buy check on their device, then talk about which parts of a game they play are free.
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