Common Sense Media Review
By Christy Matte
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Entertaining sim experience requires patience -- or cash.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
DragonVale
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 18 parent reviews
Parents say the mobile app offers a mix of educational and entertaining gameplay for children, fostering patience and strategic thinking, but serious concerns arise from its in-app purchase model, which many reviewers feel exploits young players. While some users praise it as a fun bonding experience, numerous complaints about unexpected high charges indicate a flaw in its design that may lead to financial issues for families.
- fun and educational
- parental warnings
- in-app purchases
- unexpected charges
- bonding experience
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 25 kid reviews
Privacy Rating Warning
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What's It About?
Kids start with a tutorial on the basics of building their dragon park. Then they'll proceed to hatch and raise dragons, feeding and caring for them. Kids use the in-game currency, gems, to buy new buildings, decorate, and make their park more attractive for visitors. This requires patience or cash, as players can run out of gems quickly; in-app purchases of gems can speed things up.
Is It Any Good?
DRAGONVALE starts slowly. You'll buy your first dragons and then you'll wait to save up money and build up experience to expand. Once the game gets going, however, it's fun to breed the dragons and seek out new species. This is not a game for kids who need immediate gratification, however, as tasks can easily take eight hours or more to complete without buying gems to speed things along.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Subjects : Math : money
- Skills : Responsibility & Ethics : fiscal responsibility , Self-Direction : goal-setting , work to achieve goals
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : September 30, 2011
- Genre : Simulation Games
- Publisher : Backflip Studios
- Version : 1.1.1
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 4.1 or later
- Last updated : December 20, 2021
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