I Tried Playing Roblox and Made Friends
A guide to the ins and outs of Roblox and how we can support our children on their Roblox journey
When we first started Screenwise Parenting, I told myself, “Maya you have to play Roblox. All the kids these days are using it.” And it’s true, everyone is talking about it, for better or for worse. When I was young, we had console, computer, or handheld (e.g., Game Boy) based games. None of them were connected to the internet. Now, gaming platforms are connected to the internet forming this metaverse platform that connects people from all over the world. Gaming and socialization are equal counterparts when it comes to open platforms such as Roblox and Minecraft. For this post, I want to tell you about my experience with Roblox, the affordances it brings to your developing child, and how you can positively and safely integrate Roblox into your child’s life. Roblox is extremely popular. It is not going anywhere. As parents, we need to know its ins and outs and how we can support our children on their Roblox journey.
What is Roblox?
Roblox is an online platform where users can play, create, and share games. It’s part game engine, part social hub, and part marketplace—allowing anyone to build immersive 3D experiences using Roblox Studio and a programming language called Lua. The majority of Roblox users are playing games on the platform rather than making them. So odds are, if your kid tells you, “hey I am on Roblox”, most likely they are playing a game and not making one.
My experience with Roblox
Rather than bore you with more of the history of Roblox, I wanted to put myself in the shoes of a kid whose parents just told them they could use Roblox. Of course, I am an adult and not a kid so my experience is going to be different but it will give you a feel for what it is like for someone trying it out for the first time.
I first went to Roblox.com on my desktop computer. From there, I downloaded Roblox to my machine. Note: Unlike Xbox Cloud Gaming, which streams entire games as live video from remote servers, Roblox uses asset streaming to load parts of games only as they're needed. Right after I created a username, I was tasked with creating an avatar. At this point, my options were very limited. You do have a limited selection of free clothing items to pick from but anything beyond that will require Robux (Roblox cash). Here’s a primer about creating avatars in Roblox Studio using Robux.
I then went to the home screen where I was presented with literally thousands of games to pick from. It was quite overwhelming (see the picture below). It sort of reminded me of this web gaming platform I used to play called Miniclip.com (they closed their web gaming platform back in 2022 and now only publish mobile games).
While it was hard to pick a game, I ended up picking a runner/adventure game called “Easy Parkour Obby.” It’s a colorful game featuring 101 stages of simple jumping and balancing challenges. ChatGPT told me “It’s popular among younger players for its low difficulty, bright visuals, and rewarding sense of progression—making it an easy entry point into the Roblox gaming world.” And I have to agree. If you fall off the obstacle course, you just restart that stage. You have unlimited lives. In previous posts we have spoken about how difficulty is actually fundamental to learning in video games. But in this case, it was relaxing to know I could just start over if I fell off the path.
After playing for about 2 minutes, the constant pop ups came about buying Robux. I could buy Robux to access powerups, clothing, and more. While this feature cannot be disabled, I did find that it was game specific (the other game I played called “Grow a Garden” hardly had any popups). And eventually, I got used to it with Easy Parkour Obby. With that said, this is something to keep in mind when having your child play Roblox (I go into this further below).
I made friends too
Then, within about 5 minutes of playing, an Avatar by the name of “Weeby” started chatting with me in the chat box. He first asked me how long I had been playing the game for, as if it wasn’t obvious! In the game, Weeby waited for me on the path as I trailed behind him and showed me tips and tricks I could use to avoid falling off of the path. They felt like an agent or mentor in the game. When I had to log off, I said bye in the chat (although I certainly did not have to) and closed my window. It was a completely positive experience with a stranger in the game in terms of them helping and supporting me. With that said, we are aware of the potential perils of encountering strangers in Roblox. Next week’s post delves into the world of social and “parasocial” relationships online.
When I tried another game called “Grow a Garden”, there was less chatting in chat boxes. In this game, communication and interactions occurred among actions. For example, players would approach me in the game and gift me mango trees, dandelions, and farm animals--all in an effort to get my garden growing.
Steps for introducing your child to Roblox
In my brief stint with Roblox, I had nothing but a positive experience. Yes, I am aware I am a grown adult and my experience is going to be drastically different compared to that of a 10 or 11 year old. On the flip side, 30 seconds into my experience, I was bombarded with pop ups asking me to buy Robux in order to purchase shiny objects. You should be a part of your child’s adventure with Roblox. Here are some steps you can use for introducing your child to Roblox:
Consider if you want to enable age‑based chat & purchase filters ("Under 13") or give your child access to Robux. Either option is okay here but it is important to know ahead of time so you can set expectations for your child. Roblox applies stricter filtering for accounts marked under age 13, which can reduce in-game purchase prompts, although it doesn’t eliminate them entirely.
Talk with your kid about why they want to start playing games on Roblox. Do they know what it is? What games are their friends playing on it? Do they want to just play games or do they want to actually build games too? Their answers will inform their journey with Roblox.
Introduce your kid to the concept of Robux. I played Roblox for the past few months without purchasing a cent of Robux. But, it was really hard to resist myself from buying just a couple of Robux. I really wanted to spruce up my avatar’s clothing! Consider restricting Robux purchases by using gift cards instead of stored payment methods. Or, set a parental control PIN and remove payment methods.
Play with them for the first time. Try out a couple of games together and see where it goes.
Have a conversation about the chat feature, parasocial relationships, and other parental controls.
In the end, having open platforms like Roblox naturally come with some risks around who can communicate with your kid and what sorts of games they can be exposed to. Platforms that are more closed (e..g, Nintendo Switch) are more controllable. As parents, we need to be informed so we can have reasonable expectations. Our next post will delve deeper into this idea of parasocial relationships and the research behind the benefits of these relationships.