Don't Starve: Pocket Edition
Common Sense says
- iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- $4.99
- Role-Playing Games
Parents say
Kids say
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A lot or a little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Don't Starve: Pocket Edition is a morbidly humorous and cartoony point-and-click app based on the PC game in which players have to gather the supplies and assemble the tools they need to survive. Along with picking berries and gathering the sticks needed to build a fire, players also sometimes battle with various scary creatures and will die frequently, though there's no blood or gore. When the character eats certain mushrooms, he may also occasionally experience hallucinations. The game has a morbid sense of humor, and there are occasional double entendres, usually involving the word "wood." Read the app's privacy policy to find out about the types of information collected and shared.
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User Reviews
- Parents say
- Kids say
Terrible game for young children!
Great game but challenging and sometimes scary
Its really good
What's it about?
In DON'T STARVE: POCKET EDITION, you play as Wilson, a scientist who mysteriously finds himself alone on a deserted island and has to forage for supplies and food to survive. Once you're on the island, you're too busy trying to find helpful items and avoiding all the bees, spiders, and pig people to have any other adventures. You gather resources and craft survival items such as shelter, tools, and weapons and fight all manner of monsters. Through day and night cycles, players must maintain their health, sanity, and hunger levels and keep a light source to fend off the darkness and deadly creatures.
Is it any good?
What sets this engaging point-and-click survival game apart is its TIm Burton-y style, whimsical creatures, and mysterious atmosphere. Set on a small, open island that has a wide variety of flora and fauna, Don't Starve: Pocket Edition has you picking carrots, collecting sticks, gathering rocks, examining trees, scaring off birds that are trying to eat your food, building traps, and basically doing whatever you have to do so you won't die. In addition to the standard crafting elements are the creepy shadow creatures and sanity maintenance, which are unique features that add to the overall atmosphere. Because this was a PC game first, there's a well-established community and online resources that kids can lean on. While it's rather challenging, especially at first, it's also so compelling and darkly funny that kids likely won't mind trying over and over to explore and conquer all this rich world has to offer.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about violence in games. Does it make a difference when the violence is cartoonish in a game?
Talk about survival techniques. What can this game teach us about surviving in a deserted place alone? What skills and character traits help overcome obstacles?
App details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Price: $4.99
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: June 29, 2016
- Category: Role-Playing Games
- Topics: Adventures, Bugs, Science and Nature, Wild Animals
- Size: 300.00 MB
- Version: 1.07
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 8.0 or later
- Last updated: October 16, 2019
Themes & Topics
For kids who love crafting and simulation games
Our editors recommend
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.