Parents' Guide to DragonVale

DragonVale Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Christy Matte By Christy Matte , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 9+

Entertaining sim experience requires patience -- or cash.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 9+?

Any Positive Content?

Enjoy 3 free reviews when you get the Common Sense Media app .

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 11+

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 educationalparental warningsin-app purchasesunexpected chargesbonding experience
Summarized with AI

age 7+

Based on 25 kid reviews

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?

Our review:
Parents say ( 18 ):
Kids say ( 25 ):

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

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

DragonVale Poster Image

You May Also Like...

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.

See how we rate