Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Hungry snakes in simple game with ads, racy usernames.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
slither.io
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 32 parent reviews
Based on 90 kid reviews
Kids say the mobile app is fun and addictive, providing simple gameplay that can keep players entertained for hours; however, it suffers from significant lag and inappropriate usernames, which can detract from the overall experience. While many enjoy the intuitive controls and cute designs, concerns about the presence of inappropriate ads and harmful user-generated content have raised questions about the app's suitability for younger audiences.
- fun gameplay
- addictive
- significant lag
- inappropriate content
- username issues
- suitability concerns
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Privacy Rating Fail
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.
This product does not have a sufficient privacy policy.
What's It About?
First, enter a username to gain access to the SLITHER.IO game screen, where you'll see a tiny worm with your username nearby. Short swipes move the snake to "eat" small orbs of light, which causes the snake to grow. Increase speed by double-tapping the screen and holding the snake. If you hit another snake, yours explodes and dissolves into light, which then can be consumed by others. The bigger your snake grows, the more difficult gameplay becomes. Players can see their current length, longest length, and top-ranking players in the upper-right corner of the screen. At the end of the day, the player with the highest score can post a message for all to see.
Is It Any Good?
This just-for-fun fun arcade game uses a bit of strategy, but lagging, ads, and frustration can put a damper on the fun. It's a bit maze-like, and players navigate the small passageways in between the snakes and figure out how to make it more possible for snakes to bump into you. It's unfortunate that even though there's nothing sexually explicit about the game and there's no chat option, users can (and do) choose profanity and sexually explicit words for usernames. Creating an option for kids to play offline against the app (not real people) or limit play to friends only would make slither.io more kid-friendly. Also, while growing snakes can be tons of fun, it can also get frustrating: Seasoned (and predatory) snakes show up to eat you, and sometimes gameplay slows down and can affect how accurate the controls are, which can end with your snake exploding. That's when it may be time to remind your kid that if the quest to grow the biggest snake becomes more compulsive and less fun, it may be time to close the app for a while and move onto something more substantive.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why arcade-style games such as this can become so absorbing and about finding balance with screen use. If your kid is getting frustrated by his or her exploding snake or low length score, talk about harmless fun vs. pointless frustration.
If you or your kid sees a racy username, use it as an opportunity to discuss safe and appropriate usernames in public forums.
Talk about the ads that pop up when your snake "explodes." Are they bothersome? Geared toward kids or adults? Are the ads worth being able to download the app for free?
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : April 4, 2016
- Genre : Arcade Games
- Publisher : Steve Howse
- Version : 1.0.5
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 6.0 or later; Android 2.3 and up
- Last updated : February 15, 2023
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