Are Violent Video Games Bad for Kids? It Depends on the Kind of Violence

"Is it violent?" is usually the wrong question, and "what kind of violence?" is the one that gets you an answer. Cartoon bonks, fantasy combat, and realistic gore are three different things, and this guide walks them in the order most kids can handle them.

Why the Letter Isn't Enough

An E10+ and a T can look identical on the box and feel nothing alike on the couch. Ratings compress a lot of information into one letter, and the part you need lives in the descriptors underneath it: "Cartoon Violence," "Fantasy Violence," "Violence," "Blood," "Intense Violence." Those words are the real rating.

Two other things the letter can't tell you:

• How the violence is framed. A slapstick bonk with a "poof" and a dizzy animation lands differently than a realistic weapon with a body that falls. Same verb, different lesson.
• Where your kid is. Some six-year-olds giggle at Mario Kart shells and some find them stressful. Some ten-year-olds handle fantasy combat with ease and some aren't there yet. That's calibration, and it's yours to make.

We sort violence into three tiers so you can place a game before you buy it, and so you can move your kid up the tiers on purpose instead of by accident.