Parents' Guide to

Growtopia

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

2D online crafting game tempts kids to spend lots of money.

Growtopia Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 9+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 5+

Surgery Fail Skill

Its not fair, pls delete it
age 13+

Games speaks saying Give Me Money!

Unless you are willing to put money into the game to buy a world lock the game is unplayable due to the fact that you have a bunch of trolls coming into your world and causing havoc by breaking your things or setting your world on fire with lava. I just downloaded the game and got rid of it a half hour later because I got tired of people just constantly breaking my stuff and placing lava blocks all over the place. 2000 diamonds for the world lock and they only give you 30 just to get a small lock which does absolutely nothing.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (3 ):

Hurdles must be overcome in order to have fun with this game, and some come with a price tag, with the first hurdle being the first hour of play. Growtopia begins by unceremoniously plopping players into a world with little in the way of easily accessible guidance (you need to figure out how to use the Growtopia manual in your inventory) and a strangely confusing control scheme that assigns unexpected functions to action buttons, triggers, and control sticks. But stick with it long enough and you'll overcome these quirks, at which point you may discover that it's actually pretty easy to harvest resources, build things, make doors, edit signs, and do all sorts of other fun creative stuff. Like other crafting and building games, the only limit to what you can create in this 2D sandbox is your imagination. And few such games make it easier to join up with and collaborate with friends -- even those playing on different platforms.

Unfortunately, you may soon encounter a second hurdle even steeper than the first: Money. While it's easy to build basic things (so long as you're willing to wait for the necessary resources to grow once you've planted them) the most tantalizing stuff costs money. There are dozens of packs and item sets that allow players to do everything from recruiting dragons and riding tiny horses to creating their own themed games and stories. Even some basic, necessary stuff -- such as expanding the very limited amount of storage in your backpack or using locks to safeguard your worlds from griefers -- has a price tag. Some players will be able to get away with spending only a little to sate their creative appetites, but others could wind up spending hundreds of dollars to access and obtain everything they want to be able to build with. Growtopia provides plenty of opportunity for players to create and cooperate, but it doesn't make it as simple or inexpensive as one might hope or anticipate.

Game Details

  • Platforms: Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One
  • Subjects: Language & Reading : following directions, Hobbies : building, gardening
  • Skills: Creativity : imagination, making new creations, producing new content, Self-Direction : goal-setting, work to achieve goals, Communication : conveying messages effectively, Collaboration : cooperation, meeting challenges together, teamwork, Tech Skills : digital creation
  • Pricing structure: Free (Free to download and start playing, but many items require players to spend real-world money.)
  • Available online?: Available online
  • Publisher: UbiSoft
  • Release date: July 17, 2019
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • ESRB rating: E10+ for Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
  • Last updated: July 25, 2019

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