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. 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.
Mermaid Craft is a game where users can explore an underwater world full of mermaids and other sea creatures. Players can collect items and build within the game, similar to Minecraft, but on a much smaller scale. After customizing their avatar, players are given some brief guidance about cleaning up trash that is polluting the ocean. However, players also have the freedom to interact with the game in their way, allowing for a customized experience that appeals to many children.
Modeled after the pixel-art style of Minecraft, Mermaid Craft offers a similar boxy-style world for players to explore. Mermaid avatars swim around and interact with seashells, sharks, seagrass, and numerous other items. In addition to the forward/backward/side movement, players can also swim up and down. This adds more dimension to the animations and visuals in the surrounding world. Players can even go onto the land above the ocean, with the possibility of walking or swimming movement above water.
Banner ads are shown across the top of the game and optional video ads can be viewed to unlock items within the game, such as new avatar customizations, or to speed up building and movement. The ads seem to be primarily directed to a mixed audience, with a few general audience and child-directed advertisements mixed in.
Mermaid Craft is rated E in the US Google Play Store and PEGI 3 in the UK Google Play Store.
While the description doesn’t explicitly state an age range, it does mention “girls” several times, for example, “The best sea adventure game for girls of 2017!” The description also highlights features that would appeal to children, such as, “As a mermaid princess you need a glamour look! Dress up and visit a mermaid hair salon.”
The app reviews reflect a child-directed audience, with many reviews from children themselves. This app seems to appeal to a younger audience than that of similar games, like Minecraft or Roblox, which matches the smaller scale and simplicity of this game compared to others.
Privacy
The developers indicate in their privacy policy (last updated on November 18th, 2022 ) that their apps and games are only intended for users over 18. However, no age gate was present in Mermaid Craft to check the age of the user or restrict minors from playing. As mentioned above, the app description makes it clear that children are the expected audience.
With that being said, the privacy policy details how personal information is used and shared, but it does not specify what information is being collected.
Find Pixalate's full catalogue of reviews in our CTV and Mobile App Review Page
Screenshots of Mermaid Craft: Ocean Princess
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.