Welcome to Pixalate’s CTV & Mobile App Manual Reviews According to COPPA, a series containing the detailed factors the Trust & Safety Advisory Board educators used to assess an app’s child-directedness.
The educators manually review thousands of mobile apps available in the Google Play & Apple App Stores as well as connected TV (CTV) apps from the Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV App Store using the COPPA Rule factors shown below & make those results available to the public at ratings.pixalate.com.
This post takes a look at a game which is available from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Our reviewer discusses how the subjective factors set forth in the COPPA Rule apply to the app and factor into the reviewer's determination as to whether the app is child-directed or general audience (i.e., it is not targeting children).
The teacher will indicate the factors they relied upon in their assessment using the 10 factors shown below that reflect the 10 child-directed factors in the COPPA Rule.
Dan the Man: Action Platformer gameplay is about saving the village from impending doom by striking, kicking, and shooting your way through swarms of enemies. In this fast-paced game, player characters, either Josie or Dan are tossed into a world of mayhem and fight their way through everything. Players will be leaping from platform to platform and fighting bad guys to get to the evil King’s safe house and vanquish him. The visual content and animation have charming 2D characters with pixel art graphic design including recurring intense cartoon violence. If a child under the age of 13 is playing this game, parents should monitor usage. The music and sound in the game are light-hearted and have comical sound effects. The game has child-oriented characters and activities that appeal to children and adults.
Players collect coins to spend in shops within the game to upgrade skills and buy outfits, weapons, revival potions, and food. Players can also watch incentivized ads to get extra coins and weapons.
The game shows advertisements between each prologue.” These ads are child-directed with a mixed audience, such as, “The Superhero League.” Players can play in story mode with advertisements for free or pay for premium with no ads.
There is an age gate and under 13 are still able to play the game. The app does have in-app purchasing and in-game currency. It is rated T for Teens in the Google Play store and 12+ in the iOS store.
Privacy
The developer’s privacy policy states, “If you permit your child to use one of our Services that is not labeled a Child Safe App, you should disable in-app purchases on your phone and actively monitor your child’s use…we do not knowingly contact or collect from children under 13 without the permission of their parent/guardians. ”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Dan the Man: Action Platformer
Pixalate’s Trust and Safety Advisory Board was created to bring in individuals with experience using child-directed apps in the classroom to review and assess which apps are child-directed. This manual review process serves to quality check Pixalate’s automated review process. See our full methodology for more information.
Disclaimer
This blog post published by Pixalate is available for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice. By viewing this blog post, the reader understands and agrees that there is no attorney-client relationship between the reader and the blog publisher. The blog should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in the applicable jurisdiction(s), and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning any specific situation. The content of this blog post reflects Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and this blog post is not intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any entity, person or app, but instead, to report findings pertaining to mobile and Connected TV (CTV) apps.
