Review

Outernauts

Common Sense Media says

Good monster-collecting game could eat up lots of your cash.
Age
13
Quality
 
Learning
3
  • Positive messages1
    The game offers plenty of incentives to help out friends, including sharing your treasure, building items for them, sending gifts, and inviting them to visit your homeworld, etc. There's also the unfortunate message that spending money will make life (and the game) a whole lot easier.
  • Positive role models3
    Outernauts capture wild creatures and use them to do battle against other monsters, but they also care for the creatures they adopt. The storyline contains a not-too-subtle message about pollution ruining environments and endangering animals.
  • Ease of play4
    There's a lot to learn, but it's all explained incredibly well. Few tutorial systems have ever been this clear and precise.
  • Violence2
    As in Pokemon, when these creatures battle, you never really see them hit each other. They snarl, bark, and jump, but it's usually only swooping colors and flashes of light that you see over the enemies. It's more about the symbolic representation of the attack, which have names like "wing slap," "sting," and "bite."
  • Sex0
    Not applicable.
  • Language0
    Not applicable.
  • Consumerism4
    The game is free to play, and you can earn plenty of free in-game coins to spend on items and upgrades; but if you want to do more than just dabble in Outernauts, you'll end up spending real cash -- anywhere from $5 to hundreds. There are two in-game currencies -- coins and gems. The coins you can earn, but the gems can only be purchased with real money. And there are important items that can only be bought with gems.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking0
    Not applicable.
  • Privacy & safety3
    Some privacy concerns: Certain missions can only be completed (or can be completed much faster) with the help of other players. This could entice children to "friend" strangers on Facebook. However, there is no open chat in the game.
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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Outernauts is Facebook game about collecting Pokemon-like space monsters and having them do battle with one another. The game is colorful and cartoony and would appeal to kids as young as eight -- however, Facebook is age-gated for users thirteen and over. While free to play, the game has a tricky currency system, requiring users to spend real money on "gems" in order to upgrade their game experience and truly progress through the storyline. In addition, the game offers lots of benefits to players who cooperate with friends. While the teamwork aspect presents a good message, it may also encourage kids to befriend strangers on Facebook, just so they have more people to play with.

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