Adopt Me
A guide for families with key information about ‘Adopt Me’, including the age rating, key terminology, risks and instructions for enabling parental controls and safety settings.
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Adopt Me is one of the most popular games available within the Roblox gaming platform. The game allows users to build and customise their own home, adopt a pet and make friends with other players. The aim of the game is to adopt and collect various pets and as players progress through the game, they can sell or trade items to find or purchase rarer pets. Adopt Me was originally launched on the platform in 2017 but is still one of the most-played games on the platform and maintains over 100 million monthly players. As with many games on Roblox, Adopt Me is constantly evolving, with new features being developed all the time. The game is free to play on Roblox.
Official age rating
Adopt Me is a PEGI 7 rated game.
It sits within the Roblox gaming platform, which is also PEGI 7 rated.
Find out more about age ratings in our ‘A parent and carer’s guide to age ratings of apps and games’.
How children and young people use the app
Adopt Me is popular with younger children. The colourful style of the game is visually appealing and child friendly. The design of the platform means it is easy for younger players to use, working their way through instructions and pre-set options to create, play and have fun. There is a creative element to the game, where players can customise their own avatar, house and vehicle. The focus on hatching and caring for a pet is also appealing to many younger users, as well as earning ‘Bucks’ for completing simple tasks such as cleaning their pet. Throughout the game, players have the chance to collect pets, searching out rarer pets as they go.
Key features and terminology
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Every user has a house within the game that they can customise and upgrade to whatever they want it to be. Houses are labelled with each player’s username.
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Users adopt an egg before it hatches into a pet.
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Once the egg has cracked, the user then has a pet to take care of. These are ranked:
- common
- uncommon
- rare
- ultra-rare
- legendary
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The currency used within the game which users can earn whilst playing. You can earn ‘Bucks’ by completing simple tasks, such as feeding your pet.
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This is the in-game currency used on the Roblox app to make purchases on the platform.
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There are a variety of ‘Potions’ a player can purchase using ‘Bucks’, each with a different effect that can be fed to the player’s character or pet.
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Helps to guide users around the island.
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An item which players can use to travel around the Adopt Me island and neighbourhood. These can be customised.
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Users can host parties with other users within the game.
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Where users can go and use ‘Bucks’ to purchase items they need or want.
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Where users can talk to each other whilst playing the game.
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Users can trade their pets with other players and chat about their trades.
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Where players can discuss the game with other users.
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Through the Roblox app, users can enable video chat for Adopt Me
Potential risks
Content
Adopt Me is a 7+ rated game, reflecting that this game is suitable for younger children, and should not contain imagery that would frighten young children and any violence is mild. Whilst your child is unlikely to encounter harmful content within the game itself, the in-game chat function or player profiles is where players may come across inappropriate content in the form of bad language. However, the game has ‘Parental controls’ which include the option to set chat filters, which should filter out any inappropriate language or content within the chats that is not suitable for children. Whilst chat filters are one way of ensuring your child does not encounter harmful content on the platform, it is recommended that you play Adopt Me with your child before they play alone to ensure that the content they are exposed to both within the game and the in-game chat is suitable for their age and stage of development.
Connecting with others
Whilst the main aim of the game is collecting and taking care of pets, there is a very social element to the game too. Players can talk to each other and establish trades, as well as set up chat rooms, where they can talk to each other more privately. As there is no way of knowing who is behind the other avatars in the game, it is possible that your child could chat with strangers within the game. It is recommended that the chat function is disabled for younger players. Full instructions on how to do this can be found in the ‘Managing interactions and content’ section of this guide. If you child engages in chats within Adopt Me, speak to them about the risks of chatting with strangers and explain the importance of not sharing any personal or identifiable information with other players. Encourage them to tell you if they have been asked more personal questions or feel upset or uncomfortable by anything shared within the chat.
User behaviour
As Adopt Me sits within the Roblox gaming platform, players must adhere to the Roblox Community Rules. Players who deviate from the expected behaviour risk being removed from the game. Speak to your child about what is appropriate behaviour when playing a multiplayer game and ensure they know how to report inappropriate or offensive behaviour. All players should be careful about what they share within in-game chat and in their profiles. The ‘About’ section within the player profile has an automatic reminder that players should keep themselves safe by not sharing any personal information. Ensure your child knows it can be difficult to keep ownership of any content once it has been shared online, as it can easily be copied and reposted without their knowledge and can then become difficult to remove from the internet.
Design, data and costs
As with most free online games, there are opportunities for players to make in-game purchases via the ‘Shop’ tab. Players can make purchases using ‘Bucks’, which they earn by completing simple tasks in the game, or using ‘Robux’ which they can purchase using real currency. It is important to note that these purchases do not benefit gameplay, but they can nonetheless be extremely appealing for children. Speak to your child about in-app purchases and ensure they understand that real money is used to make purchases within the game. Parents and carers are advised to set up relevant in-app purchase settings on the individual device. It is also important to check that the game is not linked to your bank cards or financial details.
One compelling element of Adopt Me is the quest to find and collect rare pets. Getting these takes a great deal of time and effort, so some users try to trade or sell other items for them. This can make some users vulnerable to scams and false trades, with some scams offering fake services such as pet cloning or Robux deals in exchange for items. Some users even offer to sell rare pets on other platforms for real currency. Scammers on the platform use a range of methods to try to steal from other players, such as pretending to be a poplar influencer or offering things that are not actually possible on Adopt Me. Some scammers may ask to borrow something then not give it back or try to establish trust, asking players to given them an item first and promising they will give them something in return later.
The concept of scams and false trades can be difficult for some younger players to understand and it can be upsetting if they lose their treasured pets in phoney deals. Whilst there is a warning when players attempt to trade, talk to your child about trades and explain that they should not trade an item they would be upset to lose or offer to pay money or exchange anything outside of the game. It is recommended that children only trade with known friends, rather than strangers and tell a trusted adult if they have been asked to trade something outside of the platform.
Adopt me provides weekly updates that ensure constant new objects, quests, and gameplay making it seem like there is always something new for players to engage with. Parents should be aware that this may contribute to long stints of time being spent on the game. Ensure your child takes regular breaks and appropriately limits their time playing the game.
Tips for keeping your child safe
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Whilst there is not a private account option, you can enable account restrictions, which ensure content is suitable for all audiences and communication settings are turned off.
To enable ‘Account restrictions’:
- open Roblox and select the three dots in the bottom right-hand corner
- select ‘Settings’ and find ‘Privacy’
- scroll to ‘Account restrictions’ and toggle on
To enable ‘Parental controls PIN’:
- open Roblox and select the three dots in the bottom right-hand corner
- select ‘Settings’ and scroll to ‘Parental controls’
- toggle on the ‘Parent PIN’ option and select a PIN (no changes to settings can be made without this PIN)
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If ‘Account restrictions’ are enabled, the ‘Communication’ options are turned off. You can also manage these manually. Users are able to restrict communication both through Roblox and through the Adopt Me game itself.
To restrict ‘Communication’ (via Roblox):
- open Roblox and select the three dots icon in the bottom right-hand corner
- select ‘Settings’ and find ‘Privacy’
- scroll to ‘Communication’
- select the drop box and choose ‘Custom’ or ‘Off’
- if you select ‘Custom’ you can choose from the following options:
- Chat filtering level
- Who can message me
- Who can chat with me in-app
- Who can chat with me
To restrict ‘Interactions’ (via Adopt Me):
- click the cog icon on the right-hand side of the screen
- select the drop-down menu in the top right of the tab and select ‘Interactions’
- work your way through the menu to set who is able to communicate with you
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Users can report and block other users who may be bothering them or behaving inappropriately on the platform.
To report a user or experience:
- whilst playing the game, press the icon in the top left-hand corner
- select ‘Report’ and choose from ‘Person’ or ‘Experience’
- select the user’s name from the drop box
- select the reason from the ‘Type of abuse’ drop box
- add a description to go with your report
- select ‘Submit’ to complete
To block a user:
- whilst playing the game, press the icon in the top left-hand corner
- select the ‘People’ feature and scroll to find the user you wish to block
- select the ‘Block’ icon and choose ‘Block’ to complete
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For account holders under 13 you can manage their spending within Roblox (providing the correct date of birth was provided when the account was set up). For accounts over 13 you will need to use the device settings to manage spending. You can also manage notifications within the game.
To manage notifications:
- open Roblox and select the three dots icon in the bottom right-hand corner
- select ‘Settings’ and find ‘Notifications’
- toggle on/off the notifications you wish to receive from the following:
- Receive friend request
- Someone accepts friend request
- Receive private message
- Updates
- Analytics report becomes available
- Someone accepts my join request
To manage monthly spending:
- open Roblox and select the three dots in the bottom right-hand corner
- select ‘Settings’ and scroll to ‘Parental controls’
- toggle on the ‘Monthly spend restriction’ option and input the desired amount
To disable in-app purchases on iOS:
- go to ‘Settings’ > ‘Screen time’ and scroll down to ‘Content and privacy restrictions’
- select ‘iTunes and app store purchases’ and set the option to ‘Don’t allow’
To disable in-app purchases on Android:
- go to your ‘Google Play Store’ app
- select ‘Menu’ > ‘Settings’ > ‘Require authentication for purchases’
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Adopt Me sits within the Roblox platform. To delete your Adopt Me account, users need to delete their Roblox account, which can be done by completing the Roblox support form.
Additional tips
As scams and false trades are known to occur on the platform, users should be aware of ways to avoid this. Players should be knowledgeable about the pets they collect and their value, meaning they are less likely to be tricked into unfair trades or sales. Players should also reflect on whether a trade or deal is too good to be true and feel empowered to say no to something that makes them feel uncomfortable. The creators of Adopt Me encourage all players to only use the official in-game trade tools and not to sell or trade pets outside of the platform.