This is a conversation about how to tell whether a video game is safe for your kid, with a game developer who has spent 25 years making games, including Club Penguin.
My guest is Stephen MacDonald, CEO of Magic Potion Games, the studio making Imagine Island, an online game built for kids under 13. His work includes Club Penguin at Disney, plus time at Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, and he's the dad of two boys who both play a lot of games.
We start with why so many games kids play were never made for them. Stephen calls these accidental kids games: games whose players turned out to be much younger than the developers expected. He explains how a kids game can make money without dark patterns, which he describes as design that tries to trick people into spending money, and why his game sends kids to get a parent before they can pay for anything or chat freely.
I also share what happened when I signed up for Roblox as an eight-year-old, to see what my son would see. Almost right away it tried to sell me $199 in Robux. Robux is Roblox's in-game currency, bought with real money.
Then we get into chat. Imagine Island has no private messages, and Stephen explains why: "If you can't say it out loud in a group, you shouldn't be saying it." Kids find ways around chat rules, and one he has seen is a shared Google Doc on a school Chromebook. He gives parents a test for when a child is ready for games with open chat, such as voice chat: can you have a real conversation with them about grooming and sexual exploitation? If you aren't ready to have it, or they aren't ready to hear it, he says they aren't ready for those games. Grooming is when an adult builds a child's trust in order to exploit them.
Stephen's advice is to check a game yourself before your kid plays it. Start with what the game's website says about moderation, parent tools and age verification. Moderation is how a game filters and reviews what players say to each other. You can also ask an AI tool for a list of pros and cons. Then spend at least an hour playing it the way your kid would. When I asked for his one piece of advice for parents, he said to play with your kid.
My guide to what chat in games and apps means for your kid: https://www.familyitguy.com/online-chat-dangers.html
Chapters:
0:00 Highlights from the conversation
0:52 Who Stephen MacDonald is, from Club Penguin to Magic Potion Games
8:51 The questions parents ask about games, and Roblox
11:37 How Roblox grew
17:02 Accidental kids games
20:17 Why he builds games for kids parent-first
24:39 Making money from a kids game without tricking kids
30:04 How Imagine Island keeps chat off until a parent verifies
33:20 What the law asks of games for kids under 13
37:43 Signing up as an 8-year-old: a $199 Robux offer
43:48 Try the game yourself before your kid plays it
45:35 When is a child ready for chat?
46:32 Two red flags: chat, and games built to hold attention
49:38 Attention is trained, and kids copy what you do
57:17 Paying his kids to think: $50 to beat Chrono Trigger and explain it
1:00:34 Chat in Imagine Island: a fenced playground with no private messages
1:08:42 Kids find a way around rules: a Google Doc on a school Chromebook
1:11:10 When your kid asks to chat: starting the real conversation
1:13:31 How to check a game's safety yourself
1:18:34 How games pull kids back, and checking a company's values
1:24:41 Can moderation keep up as a game grows?
1:31:17 Can an adult pretend to be a kid?
1:35:10 Watch how your child reacts to a game
1:41:34 His advice to parents: play with your kid
1:43:46 His advice to game developers
1:49:28 Where to find Stephen and Imagine Island
Where to find Stephen:
Imagine Island: https://imagineisland.game/
Magic Potion Games: https://magicpotiongames.com/
Family IT Guy helps parents protect their kids from the two biggest digital dangers: addictive algorithms and anonymous communication, and the ways AI is making both worse. Ben Gillenwater spent 30 years in cybersecurity, and he teaches this as a parent in the same trenches you are.
Website: https://www.familyitguy.com
Listen to the Family IT Guy Podcast:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-it-guy-podcast/id1831912044
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/72yZUVsOqdDk7en5FS9U8g
Guest: Stephen MacDonald, CEO, Magic Potion Games
#parenting #onlinesafety #videogames #kidsonline #digitalparenting #familyitguy
