Parents' Guide to

Nanovor

By Carolyn Koh, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Online battle game is free to play but costs to upgrade.

Game Windows 2009
Nanovor Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • Nanovor Game: Screenshot #1
  • Nanovor Game: Screenshot #2
  • Nanovor Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 4 parent reviews

nothappyintexas
nothappyintexas Adult
October 9, 2010
age 6+

No controls over who signs up

Nanovor lets kids sign up to play this game without parents' permission. Some kid -- I have no idea who -- hijacked my e-mail account months ago and is giving it out as his parents' e-mail. I keep canceling the account, but Nanovor lets his reopen the account with my e-mail over and over and over, even after I repeatedly explained the situation to them. Not only do they not require that the parents verify the e-mail, Nanovor doesn't even require that the e-mail be active; if messages to it bounce back, Nanovor doesn't cancel the child's account. It's a good thing the content on this site is mild, because there are absolutely no controls on it.
fuzzy999999
fuzzy999999 Parent of 9-year-old
February 21, 2010
age 5+

give it to mature 6 year olds or older!!!

good game nanovors can slice each other where blood and gore come out . blood is green goop so its not to bad except you can slice peoples heads off(again there head disenegrates and goo comes out)very amusing.

This title has:

Too much violence
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What’s It About?

In NANOVER, Lucas Nelson, a student at Hanover High, discovers a nanoscopic world inside his computer while researching dust-mites. These silicon-based creatures, which are many times smaller than dust-mites, live to battle and fight to live, their life force sustained by electricity. Lucas' Science Teacher names them Nanovor and with his assistance, Lucas creates a device he called a Nanoscope with which to collect and evolve these creatures. The secret is too good not to share and soon his best friends are also collecting the creatures and they let the Nanovor battle each other in turn-based gameplay. Lucas and his friends have rivals who discover what they are up to and the story plays out much like any Saturday morning cartoon with a web-movies released regularly.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (4):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Nanovor is a fun turn-based online combat game which can be played with up to four other people. Similar in format to kids' trading card games, kids collect Nanovors, build a deck (called a swarm), and battle others by revealing the creatures in their swarm while taking turns. Depending on what creatures are brought out to play, kids need to think and strategize on the fly, deciding which creature to play next or if they should use one turn to boost the power for a much more powerful attack in the next turn.

Kids will use logic in evolving their Nanover into more powerful versions by playing a Master-mind like code breaking game using three colors of Energy Modules. Energy modules are only used up on success in battle. The Free Game provides you with a certain number of Nanovor and Energy Modules, but thereafter, Nanovor and Energy Modules have to be purchased with real cash either through online transactions, expansion packs, or retail packages.

Online interaction: Targeted towards children 7 to 12, the game has chat via drop-down menu-driven choices and parents control how often and how much their children are allowed to interact with others online. By default, trading is set to "Off" until parents allow it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can explore science with their kids. What is nanotechnology? Is it possible that there are creatures much smaller than dust mites? Could living creatures be based on Silicon instead of Carbon? What is evolution?

  • Families can also talk about online consumerism. Games are costly to make. Some game makers, like those that created Nanover, provide some content for free to give players a taste of the game. If players want more out of the game, they have to pay for it via micro-transactions -- the buying of items for small amounts of money. How do you feel about this kind of marketing? Would you rather just pay for the game upfront?

Game Details

  • Platform: Windows
  • Pricing structure: Free
  • Available online?: Available online
  • Publisher: Smith & Tinker
  • Release date: August 3, 2009
  • Genre: Strategy
  • ESRB rating: NR for Not rated
  • Last updated: August 31, 2016

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