Clash of Clans
A guide for families with key information about ‘Clash of Clans’, including the age rating, key terminology, risks and instructions for enabling parental controls and safety settings.
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Clash of Clans is a free cartoon-style combat game available on mobile devices. The game is set within a fantasy world in which you build a village and establish an army, known as a ‘Clan’. The objective of the game is to build your village, design your base and defend it. With your clan, you can battle with other clans from around the world to take control of their villages and even join forces with another clan, known as ‘Clan Wars’. Whilst the game itself is free, as with many other games, it relies on in-game purchases to enhance the gamer’s experience.
Official age rating
This is a PEGI rated 7 game.
The PEGI 7 rating reflects that Clash of Clans contains cartoon-style violence and the use of weapons. In the Apple App Store, the game is rated as 9+ referencing its mild cartoon violence. There are no age verification methods used when creating an account, so ensure your child has entered their correct date of birth to benefit from some of the safety settings.
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
Clash of Clans is a fantasy-based strategy game which places the player in a leadership role as the chief of a village with the responsibility to build and defend it. Whilst children and young people enjoy the process of designing and building elaborate villages and creating strong armies, the social aspect of the game is appealing to players. By forming clans with their friends, they can work together by strategically planning and donating troops to attack and defend against other players from around the world. Players can use the resources and rewards they gain from attacking other villages to further build their own defences, upgrade their buildings and to train their troops. By developing your own village through losses and wins, this gives the game a slow build up and makes being part of a winning clan even more satisfying.
Key features and terminology
There are a wealth of gaming terms used within Clash of Clans, but most refer to actual game play and strategy. Below are a few terms and phrases it would be worth knowing.
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This simply refers to Clash of Clans.
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A group of players who work together in the game under the same banner. Ultimately, this is a user’s team.
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There used to be two ways to chat within the game – ‘Global chat’ which was public and ‘Clan chat’ which was private within your clan. ‘Global chat’ has since been removed from the game due to inappropriate usage. Players are still able to chat within their clan.
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An ‘Event’ is a time limited challenge which can offer rewards on completion. If you have set gaming time limits with your child, you may want to let them complete an event before exiting the game.
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Players are placed in a league once their trophy count is above 400. Each league has its own rewards which increase as they get higher.
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People who taunt or tease or bait other players for a reaction.
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Short for bad mannering, which usually involves taunting or poor sportsmanship.
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These clans are only available to players over 16.
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These clans can include players under 16 and the chat filtering in these clans is stricter.
Potential risks
Content
Clash of Clans has a PEGI 7 rating, reflecting that this game is suitable for younger players, 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 is where players may stumble across inappropriate content in the form of bad language. It is possible to set filters on the ‘Clan Chat’ to limit exposure to inappropriate language. Whilst chat filters are one way of ensuring your child does not encounter harmful content on the platform, it is recommended that your child only plays with known friends to help further reduce this risk. Players under 16 should only play in ‘Family Clans’ rather than ‘Standard Clans’, as chat filters are stricter in this format. By forming a clan with friends, rather than strangers, your child is less likely to experience language or behaviour that is not suitable for their age. However, it should be acknowledged that your child may still be exposed to inappropriate content by their known contacts.
Connecting with others
As with any other multiplayer game, it is possible that your child may come into contact with strangers when playing Clash of Clans. It is recommended that your child forms a ‘Clan’ with known friends and plays with people they know in the offline world, rather than with people they do not know. If your child is in a clan with people they do not know in the offline work, 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 within chats. Encourage them to tell you if they have been asked more personal questions or feel upset or uncomfortable by anything shared within the chat.
It is worth noting that some gamers use third party chatting apps like Discord to chat whilst gaming. Ask your child if they are using any additional chatting apps whilst playing and check who they are communicating with. It may be helpful to know that although chatting is an appealing part of this game, it is not essential to play.
User behaviour
Clash of Clans has its own set of community standards, which all players must adhere to in order to play. Players who deviate from the expected behaviour risk being removed from the game by the developer, Supercell. 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. Younger players who are using the chat feature should also be aware of what is and is not appropriate for them to post in chats and discuss the various ways they can protect themselves by playing with people they know rather than strangers. Ensure your child knows it can be difficult to keep ownership of any content once it has been shared online, as content can easily be copied and reposted without their knowledge and can then become difficult to remove from the internet.
Design, data and costs
As this game is free to download, it relies on in-game purchases to create revenue. When players download the game on iOS devices, a notice appears which suggests users can speed up progress with in-app purchases. Speak to your child about in-app purchases and ensure they understand that real money is used to make purchases within the game. You can also set the relevant in-app purchase settings on your device and make sure that the game is not unknowingly linked to your bank cards or financial details.
Like many other multiplayer games, Clash of Clans can be highly immersive and compelling resulting in extended stints of gameplay. Speak with your child about setting gaming time limits, or quest limits, to ensure they get a suitable break away from the game.
Tips for keeping your child safe
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There are no specific controls in place to manage privacy within the app. However, remind your child not to use their real name or any other identifiable information as part of their username.
Whilst the game itself may not have any privacy features; you can make your player profile private in the gaming section of your mobile phone.
To set to ‘Private’ (on iOS):
- go to the ‘Game centre’ in the settings menu on your iPhone
- scroll down to ‘Privacy and settings’ and change your ‘Profile privacy’ to ‘Only you’
To set to ‘Private’ (on Android):
- go to the ‘Play games’ app, touch the menu icon and select ‘Settings’
- select ‘Game profile’ > ‘Play now’ > ‘Your game profile’
- adjust your visibility and notifications settings to the most private options
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There are limited parental controls in this app. There is an in-game settings area where users can set filters on the ‘Clan chat’, which changes swear words to asterisks. You can also disable ‘Multiplayer games’ and ‘Adding friends’ options if you don’t want your child to interact with others. However, you will need to do this individually on each device, both Android and iOS.
To set filters on ‘Clan chat’:
- go to the in-game settings area via the cog icon on the right-hand side of the screen
- here you can ‘Filter Clan chat’ by making sure it is green
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Users can report and block other users who may be bothering them or behaving inappropriately on the platform. In Clash of Clans, you can report players or messages you find inappropriate, and you can also mute players, which is the equivalent of blocking.
To mute another player:
- select the player you wish to mute
- select the ‘Emote’ icon and choose ‘Mute’
To report a player or message:
- open the chat within the game
- find the message or player you wish to report
- tap the message or player and select ‘Report’
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Whilst this game is free to play, in-game purchases are available. You can disable in-app purchases on each individual device itself.
To disable in-app purchases (on iOS):
- go to the settings menu > ‘Screen time’ and scroll down to ‘Content and privacy restrictions’
- select ‘iTunes & 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’
- this means you will need to set a password to make in-app purchases
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Account deletion means all of your information will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored.
To delete your Clash of Clans account:
- on the homepage, select the ‘Settings’ menu and scroll to ‘Help and support’
- select ‘Account’ and scroll to ‘Contact us’
- select ‘Message us’ and a chat box will appear
- select ‘Other’ from the listed options and choose ‘Delete my data’
- read the information and select ‘Continue’
- explain why you want to delete your account in the box provided and submit
- human support will review your case and respond within a few hours
- go back through the above process to access the chat box and confirm if you want to proceed
Additional tips
Clash Royale is another game similar to Clash of Clans, made by the same game developer, Supercell. They have added three new titles to the Clash franchise – Clash Quest, Clash Mini and Clash Heroes. It is worth exploring each of these other games to ensure they are appropriate for your child.
Don’t forget to check the settings on each device your child uses to access this game. You should be able to set some controls and restrictions from the settings function on each device.
Supercell has a dedicated parent guide, offering information and advice for keeping children safe on the platform.