Why this conversation matters
Many popular games cost nothing to download. They earn money by selling extras: cosmetic outfits, bonus levels, faster progress, season passes and virtual currency. For adults this is a familiar business model, but children often have a looser grip on how real money relates to in-game “gems” or “coins.” A purchase that costs a few dollars can feel like pressing a button.
Talking about spending early, before the first unexpected charge, makes the topic part of ordinary family life rather than a punishment after the fact. This article offers general guidance. It does not promise that any approach will stop all overspending.
How game spending works, in simple terms
It helps to explain the common types to your child, using examples from a game they know.
- One-time purchases. You pay once for the game or an expansion, and you know exactly what you get.
- Cosmetic items. Outfits or decorations that change appearance but not gameplay.
- Convenience purchases. Speeding up waiting times or skipping grinding.
- Subscriptions and passes. A recurring payment, or a pass that unlocks rewards over a season. Some continue to charge until canceled.
- Virtual currency. Players buy a game-specific currency, which can obscure the real price of items.
- Chance-based purchases. Packs, crates or boxes whose contents are random.
The business side is discussed more in the pieces on monetization models and in-app purchases. For families, the main point is that each of these asks a child to make a decision about money, and the game’s design is built to encourage spending.
Explaining chance-based purchases
Chance-based purchases deserve special attention. When you buy one, you pay a price and receive a random item. Some items are common and others are rare, and the buyer typically cannot know which they will get. Children can understand this with an analogy, such as a sealed pack of trading cards or a prize bag at a fair.
Useful points to share:
- You pay before you know what you get, and what you get may not be what you wanted.
- Rare items are rare on purpose. Buying more packs does not guarantee the one you want.
- Spending adds up quickly, because each pack seems cheap alone.
- The excitement of opening a pack is part of the design, and it can make stopping difficult. The ideas behind reward schedules explain why.
- Games vary in whether they publish the odds, and rules differ between countries.
Chance-based purchases are similar in structure to gambling, and they carry financial and emotional risk, especially for children and for anyone who finds it hard to stop. Many families decide not to allow them at all, and that is a perfectly reasonable position. If your child has already spent, respond calmly and use it to learn.
Setting allowances and limits
A few approaches that families use:
A fixed monthly budget. Give your child a small, set amount for game extras. When it is gone, it is gone until next month. This builds saving and decision-making skills. For example, with a hypothetical budget of $10 a month and an item costing $4, a child can afford two such items with $2 left over, which is a concrete way to show trade-offs.
Earned money. Let the child choose whether to spend allowance or chore money on in-game items, and notice whether they still value the purchase a week later.
Gift cards or prepaid balances. These cap spending automatically and avoid linking a credit card to the account.
Ask-first rules. For anything above a set amount, the child asks and you talk about it together.
Wishlists. Encourage waiting a few days before buying. Many impulse wants fade, which is an excellent lesson for adult life too.
Whichever you pick, make the rule specific, and put it in writing if it helps. Combine it with technical limits. Most devices let you require a password or approval for each purchase and set monthly caps, as covered under parental controls. Remove saved payment details from child accounts where possible.
Questions to ask your child
Keep the tone curious rather than accusatory:
- “What would you buy if you could? Why that item?”
- “Do your friends buy things? How do you feel about that?”
- “If you spent your budget on this, would you still be happy with it next week?”
- “Have you ever bought something and then regretted it?”
Children sometimes feel social pressure to match friends’ outfits or items. Talking about this openly helps them separate wanting something from needing it.
Watch for pressure and tricks
Some games use timers, limited-time offers, daily login rewards and pop-ups to create urgency. Others tie progress to purchases so that waiting becomes uncomfortable. Pointing these out together turns them into a kind of puzzle, and children often enjoy spotting the tricks. Also teach them never to share account details or pay strangers for items, since scams targeting young players do exist.
If something goes wrong
Accidents happen. If your child spent money without permission, stay calm, find out what happened and check the store’s refund process, which varies and may not always apply. Look at whether the settings allowed it, close the gap, and agree on what the child will do differently. Treat it as a chance to teach rather than a crisis.
If spending seems compulsive, repeated or secretive, or your child is distressed about stopping, speak with a doctor, counselor or other qualified professional. This article is general information, not financial or medical advice.
The long view
The goal is not to stop children enjoying games but to help them understand value and choice. A child who can say “I’d rather save for the bigger item” or “that pack is not worth it” has learned something that applies well beyond screens.