Transparent Methodology
How we audit game safety — and exactly how we score it
Trust on a child-safety site should be checkable. This page documents precisely what we measure, the public sources we rely on, and the deterministic formula that turns those signals into a 0–100 safety score. No black box — you can re-derive any score yourself from the data shown on each game page.
The review process
1) Intake & scope
We define the audience (kids/teens/general) and the scope of the review: advertising, purchases, declared data flows, and third-party tracking.
2) Data-practice mapping
We capture the app's public listing and its declared data-collection practices, recording each signal (location, device IDs, third-party sharing) as a structured field.
3) Tracker detection
We run automated third-party tracker detection and record the count. A high count usually indicates advertising/analytics SDKs that monetise attention and behaviour.
4) Dark-pattern & purchase review
We review purchase prompts and monetisation mechanics, flagging loot-box and pressure patterns that are designed to influence children.
5) Deterministic scoring
Every recorded signal is fed into a single, fixed formula that produces a 0–100 safety score. The same formula runs on every title, so scores are directly comparable.
The safety score, exactly
Every audit starts at 100 points. We subtract a fixed penalty for each risk signal present. The result is clamped to a minimum of 0. The formula is identical for every title — no manual adjustment, no per-game weighting.
| Risk signal | Condition | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Not COPPA-compliant | coppa_compliant = false | −30 |
| Contains advertising | no_ads = false | −20 |
| More than 3 third-party trackers | tracker_count > 3 | −20 |
| In-app purchases present | in_app_purchases = true | −15 |
| Collects location data | collects_location = true | −15 |
score −= 30 if not COPPA-compliant
score −= 20 if contains ads
score −= 20 if tracker_count > 3
score −= 15 if in-app purchases
score −= 15 if collects location
score = max(0, score)
What we record for every game
Each audit stores a structured set of signals. These are the fields shown on every game page and used by the score above.
- coppa_compliant
- Whether the title's declared practices align with COPPA for under-13 users.
- tracker_count
- Number of distinct third-party trackers / ad-tech SDKs detected.
- no_ads
- Whether the app is free of in-app advertising.
- in_app_purchases
- Whether the app offers in-app purchases.
- collects_location
- Whether the app collects location data.
- collects_device_id
- Whether the app collects persistent device identifiers.
- share_with_third_parties
- Whether collected data is shared with third parties.
- offline_ready
- Whether the app functions without a network connection.
- last_audited
- Timestamp of the most recent review of this record.
Our sources
Findings are based on the app's public Google Play listing, its declared data-collection practices, and automated third-party tracker detection. Where a specific source applies to a signal, we surface it in the Data Provenance block on that game's page.
Limits of this method
- • Declared practices can differ from runtime behaviour; apps change between versions.
- • A high score is not an endorsement — always supervise young children.
- • Scores reflect the date in each game's last reviewed field.
Want a full audit for a specific title?
If you're a parent, school, or organisation evaluating a game for kids, we can produce a clear, shareable safety report with concrete findings.