Game Age Ratings, Explained

Buying a video game for a child is the one part of gift shopping where getting it wrong has consequences beyond disappointment. The good news is that the industry has a clear, free, well-run rating system, and reading it properly takes about two minutes once you know what you’re looking at.

In the United States that system is run by the ESRB — the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Every game sold at retail carries its rating on the front of the box, and every digital store page shows the same symbol. This guide explains what the symbols mean, what the small print underneath them means, and the two labels that matter more than the age letter for a lot of modern games.

The five ratings

• E — Everyone. Suitable for all ages. Most Nintendo family titles, sports games and puzzle games live here.
• E10+ — Everyone 10 and older. A little more cartoon action, mild language or suggestive themes than E. Still comfortably family territory; a lot of well-known children’s games sit here.
• T — Teen. Aimed at 13 and over. Expect more violence, some language, and themes aimed at an older audience.
• M — Mature 17+. Intended for adults. Strong violence, strong language, adult themes. Most of the big-name blockbuster franchises are rated M.
• RP — Rating Pending. Not yet rated, usually seen on pre-release marketing. If you see this on something you’re buying for a child, look the game up before committing.

There is also an AO (Adults Only) rating, which mainstream consoles don’t stock, so you are very unlikely to encounter it while gift shopping.

The part most people skip: content descriptors

Underneath the letter is a line of short phrases — things like Cartoon Violence, Mild Lyrics, Simulated Gambling, Comic Mischief, Blood. These are the specific reasons the game got its rating, and they matter because two games with the same letter can be very different.

An E10+ game rated for cartoon violence and one rated for suggestive themes are not the same purchase for a ten-year-old, and only the descriptor line tells you which is which. If you’re buying for someone else’s child, this line is where you find out whether the thing you’re handing over matches that household’s standards.

The two labels that matter more than the age rating

Modern games have two characteristics the age letter doesn’t capture, and for a child’s gift they are frequently the more important ones.

“Users Interact” means the game contains chat or messaging with other players that nobody is filtering. A game can be perfectly age-appropriate in its own content and still put a nine-year-old in an open voice channel with strangers. This is the single most common gap between what a parent expects and what a game actually is. Every console has parental controls that restrict or disable this, and ESRB’s own Tools for Parents page — linked in our sources — explains where they are on each system.

“In-Game Purchases” means the game will offer things for money after you’ve bought it. When the label reads In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), that specifically means loot-box style purchases where you pay without knowing what you’ll get. Many of the most popular games with children are free to download and make their money entirely this way, which is worth knowing before you give a child a gift card to go with one.

How to look up any game in twenty seconds

ESRB runs a free public search at esrb.org. Type the game’s name and you get its rating, its full descriptor list and the interactive-elements labels. It works for digital-only games too, which is useful when there’s no box to look at.

We do the same thing for every game on this site: the rating shown on each of our picks is the real published ESRB rating, read from ESRB’s own entry for that title, not our impression of how child-friendly a game looks.

Practical advice for buying for someone else’s child

Stay at E10+ or below unless you’ve asked. This is the single most useful rule. It costs you nothing — the family-friendly end of the games shelf contains most of the best-loved games ever made — and it means the parent never has to overrule your present.

Treat “all my friends play it” as information, not permission. It’s often true. It’s still the parent’s decision.

If in doubt, ask the parent, not the child. A thirty-second text — “is X okay for them?” — spoils very little and prevents a lot.

When you can’t ask, buy sideways. An accessory, a plush, a LEGO set or a small gift under $25 has no rating to get wrong. Our Switch games for kids list is filtered to E and E10+ only, if you’d rather work from a pre-checked shortlist.

Ratings outside the United States

The ESRB system covers the US and Canada. Europe uses PEGI, which prints a number (3, 7, 12, 16, 18) rather than a letter, and other regions run their own systems. The products and ratings on this site are the US ones. If you’re buying an imported copy of a game, the rating on the box may be from a different system entirely — another reason to look the title up rather than trust the packaging in front of you.