Parents' Guide to

SecretBuilders

By Will Wade, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 5+

Vast virtual world appeals to wide age range.

Website http://www.secretbuilders.com
SecretBuilders Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this website.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 9 parent reviews

IDECMeep
IDECMeep Adult
September 18, 2015
age 10+

Okay Game

I think this game is OKAY but does have some violent language. This game is not very popular either but I do have to say that it has TOO MUCH SAFETY. I have played it for a bit to see how it was and I have got banned for 24 hours for saying hi and apparently it was flooding when I just said it once.. The looks of the game are a bit suspicious and you need membership for quite a bit of things. Other then that, the game is pretty good.
ayiticherie
ayiticherie Adult
January 20, 2013
age 18+

DRUG DEALERS ON THIS SITE

I was lulled into thinking that this was a safe place for kids when I saw the Parent magazine endorsement on the bottom of their website. Boy did I have another thing coming. I signed up specifically with commonsense to WARN OTHERS ABOUT THIS WEBSITE. There is one part of the website where they can decorate their own rooms and that seems innocent enough but if you flick on the map button on the top it will take you to several chat room filled with "kids" who are having conversations. As I type this there is someone in the North Pole chat room asking others if they want to buy any "trees" (Marijuana) another offering "ice" (Crystal Meth), someone else saying that they have free girls in their room and they want to party and another saying they want to kill themselves. Appalling. STAY AWAY.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 9 parent reviews

What’s It About?

SecretBuilders is an enormous online world for kids to explore. Players customize their own avatars and navigate through virtual bazaars, haunted houses, magical forests, laboratories, and many, many other locations, where they encounter other users, historical figures and plenty of entertaining activities. People can play games, go on quests and participate in other pursuits, usually earning \"shills,\" the coin of the realm. Everyone gets their own home, and can spend their shills to purchase pets, furniture, and other decorations. People can also befriend other users, chat with each other, and post messages on public forums. The site says it is aimed at kids ages 5 to 14, and offers a huge variety of ways for children all across this very broad spectrum to have fun.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9):
Kids say (38):

SecretBuilders is so engrossing, that users may not even realize that it also has a strong educational element. Many of the games introduce basic concepts in science, math, and the humanities, and players will encounter important people from history such as Albert Einstein and William Shakespeare. Children are strongly encouraged to help develop new content by submitting ideas and requests for new features and activities, which will likely create a stronger sense of community. There's a charitable bend, too; in the SecretBuilder School kids can earn money for charity by playing learning games (advertisers donate $0.002 per correct answer).

Online interaction: The developers have taken pains to make the site a safe place for young people, by ensuring that parents can keep tabs on their kids' activities and online friends, offering different chat modes for younger and older players, and by screening user-submitted information for inappropriate content.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about combining education and entertainment. Is it possible to make games both fun and educational? Is a game less fun if it also tries to teach something? Do the games on this site seem like school? Do they make learning fun? Do some seem more like lessons than others? How would you make learning into a game?

  • What's safe to share online? Interactions in online worlds can be rewarding and fun, but everyone should take a few basic precautions. Prepare yourself and your kids for interaction in an online world. Read our tips for kids in an online world.

  • Who is that orange monster with purple hair and combat boots? It might be your child's avatar. Common Sense Media's All About Avatars explains what you need to know about avatars and how to bring up the orange monster in the room.

Website Details

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