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.
Family Farm Adventures is a story-based app that follows a young woman as she tries to help her grandmother fix up the family farm on a tropical island after an earthquake. Players are guided through individual tasks, such as clearing away debris, planting seeds, and harvesting crops. As the players progress through the levels more tasks are added, such as feeding animals and visiting other nearby islands. The story is simple enough for children to follow and interesting enough to hold the interest of adults.
This app is visually appealing for both children and adults, with animated characters that straddle the line between simple, child-like animations and more sophisticated, adult-oriented ones. The characters are similarly designed to what you might find in a Disney movie and both children and adults will enjoy meeting the various characters embedded in the story.
Completing tasks and interacting with the app provide a variety of animations. These animations are not only present when actively engaging with the app, but when idle as well. Chickens pecking at food, a bird landing on Granny’s arm, and the dog scratching himself can all be seen during a casual observation of the island.
While there is some reading to understand the story, there are plenty of nonverbal cues that are given as well, such as characters making sounds indicating their emotions or emojis in speech bubbles. Flashing arrows and hands also give nonverbal instructions on what the player needs to do to interact with the app. This ensures that younger players can still enjoy the game and follow along with the instructions, even if they cannot yet read.
There are plenty of sound effects when players interact with objects, such as chopping sounds when harvesting crops or waves lapping the shore at the beach. The characters make mostly nonsensical sounds to show their feelings and reactions to things happening in the game.
While there is background music, it is not overly child-like. The game music feels a bit adventurous and is mildly reminiscent of the Downton Abbey theme. Like many other aspects of this app, the music is appropriate for both adults and children and would not dissuade either party from wanting to participate.
Various different incentives are earned throughout gameplay. Coins, gems, energy, and stars are earned by completing tasks, discovering objects (such as treasure chests), and leveling up. Items produced on the farm can also be sold to earn additional coins.
Coins are the in-game currency, needed to purchase seeds and supplies for the game. Energy is needed to complete tasks, and gems can be used when energy has been depleted or when a task needs to be finished more quickly. Stars determine when a user is able to move up to the next level.
Although many reviews mention the ability to watch ads to earn rewards, like energy, I did not encounter this option on either iOS or Android. I did not see any type of advertising and was only offered the option of in-app purchases to gain additional energy or gems. It is possible that players must reach a certain level to have these ads or that the game has been updated and removed from the advertisements.
Family Farm Adventure is rated 4+ in the Apple App Store, E in the US Google Play Store, and PEGI 3 in the European Google Play Store. The app description doesn’t specifically mention children in any capacity, either encouraging or discouraging them from playing.
It is difficult to ascertain the actual demographics of the audience based on the reviews, as most don’t mention age. With that being said, reviews can be found that are written by parents mentioning their children playing, and a few that do appear to be written by children.
Privacy
Century Games maintains in their privacy policy, which was last updated on April 30, 2023, that they “do not know the age of our players” and “If you are a minor under 16 years old, please note that you are allowed to use our Services upon the prior consent of your parents or legal guardian.” That being said, there is no age gate implemented or parental consent obtained to ensure that minors are either not playing or receiving permission from parents to play.
They indicate that they do collect a variety of information from users, including device information, IP addresses/location information, and “details about the games and platforms you use.” They do use target advertising and may collect additional information from any linked social media accounts. The privacy policy indicates that they do not sell any personal information to third parties, but they may share it with a third party “for the purpose of personalizing, adjusting and improving our Services.”
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Family Farm Adventure
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.
