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Parents' Guide to

OurWorld

By Erin Brereton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Virtual world with games and some smart parental controls.

Website http://www.ourworld.com
OurWorld Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 60 parent reviews

cassadyoung
cassadyoung Adult
May 27, 2020
age 14+

our world creators don't care about the game

I used to play this game back in 2010 when I was 10 and it was very fun and the software was actually nice and working the creators would always update if it started to get real bad. Then ow kind of started to die and less people logged in, so the creators stopped trying as much (very understandable) less money =less effort. But since covid-19 there have been so many people I met on ow who are logging into their old accounts and playing everyday again, spending lots of money, since we are adults now, and ow is still very laggy, needs a software update, and need to put more effort into the game itself (clothes and places wise).
000101001a
000101001a Adult
March 25, 2020
age 15+

This is not a game-- it's an MMOSP [Massive Multi-user Online Social Platform]

OurWorld is actually a flash games portal running on proprietary code that stretches the limit of what Adobe Flash software is capable of. The main attraction of this games portal is the ability to communicate with other players in a fictional setting [with background lore], playing the available list of games in this site allows players to earn experience points which can be traded for in-game currency to buy items for the avatars and their living quarters [yeah, you have to play games for a living in this site]. Unlike some other sites of the same genre, the price of things is dictated by the storefronts of the game so there isn't any sort of inflation to deal with [the user marketplace has no influence over the system stores]. Aside the way the site works, my concern is that besides the in-game currency there is also a money backed currency called "gems", these gems can be obtained for free with weekly coupon codes and can also be obtained by participating in surveys from sites that have absolutely nothing to do with Flowplay Inc. From the 9 years I have had being an user in this site I can attest to the fact that these surveys are invasive and many of the offers ask you to install programs in your computer that come with all kinds of worms that will spy on your information. No child should even be close to answering any of those surveys. There's also the fact that all kinds of nasty people join the site to try to hook up with minors-- this is a fact for all child/teen oriented platforms these days, this is why the majority of the playerbase these days does not participate in chatting openly [aside from how broken the chat system is with it's weird censorship to begin with]. In general, if your child wishes to participate in this site you should keep an eye out so they don't talk to predators and they don't fill those pesky surveys.
See all 60 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Teens have yet another place to wander and interact, play games, and shop for items to beautify their avatars with OURWORLD.COM -- a virtual world with better-than-average graphics. Avatars can zip between a coffeehouse, dance club, and theater (among other locations), and wave, dance, and chat with each other via thought bubbles. For the more action-oriented, the site offers dozens of games which range from those based on logic (Jewel Quest involves lining up symbols) to old-fashioned, arcade-like ones (Condor Cowboys knocks bandits off giant birds). Kids can pick their difficulty level; playing any of the games earns you \"flow,\" which is OurWorld.com's \"energy.\" Flow can be used to buy hairstyles and clothes -- and can be used to spin a prize wheel that can generate \"coins,\" the site's currency, which is also used to buy things. Paid memberships ($6 a month or $50 a year) get you access to even more stuff.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (60 ):
Kids say (233 ):

Parents have some control over what their kids can do on the OURWORLD site: They can decide whether kids can talk with strangers, friends, or not chat at all when they sign up, and can restrict kids from making any changes to their account settings. A language filter also helps prevent swears from being used in chats. However, the site is definitely geared toward kids who are tweens or older; it can be a little tricky to navigate around, and although many of the 40 or so puzzle, matching, and other games are tame, some action games involve shooting and killing that could be too violent for younger users.

OurWorld should provide some generally safeguarded fun as you make your avatar dance and travel around the virtual world. However, it's unclear if kids will log on for long without wanting to buy one of the paid subscriptions ($5.99-$10 per month or $49.99 a year) to help them rise through the site levels faster and access exclusive areas. There's also a push to purchase gems, one of the two forms of site currency, to get special virtual accessories -- but many kids will still find fun things to do on the site for free.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why it can be risky to chat openly online with strangers. Why is it safer to have pre-scripted responses, or to have some words blocked?

  • Families can also talk about what type of information is safe to share with others online. Why should you never give out any information that's considered personal, like the town that you live in?

  • How should you handle an unwelcome invite to chat or an inappropriate comment from another user?

Website Details

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