Stop downloading games. Instead...
Plus, avoid ads and micro transactions




š« Struggling to decide if a game or app is OK for your kid? Overwhelmed with all the options? Hate all the āfreeā games with ads and microtransactions? This will help! And itās PERFECT to do before the holiday season so you donāt have to buy a lot of games.
āļøAs we were prepping for travel I was updating our ipad and remembered how hard it is to find games that are fun, safe, and appropriate.
šOften games that are free are actually āfree to playā and incentivize spending money through tricky mechanics or ads, which can be inappropriate
š¤©Imagine my delight when I realized we could get Apple Arcade for free for 6 months through Verizon
š¹ļøApple Arcade (and the very similar Google Play Pass) are paid ($5 month) subscriptions to game libraries. But the plus side is they donāt allow games that rely on microtransactions or predatory mechanics
š¤This doesnāt mean every game will be a good fit for every family but it does lighten the load of trying to determine if a game is OK or not.
š„“Of course, there are downsides. Currently you cannot search for games in Apple Arcade, but you can filter by category and age rating, which helps.

Hmmm. I wonder if there's something similar available through our local library. They have movies to stream and online courses for free. At least some educational games makes sense. I'll have to ask next time I'm over there.
Thanks