What are Steam Games? Guide for Parents

What Parents Should Know Before Their Child Uses Steam

• Steam offers thousands of games across many genres, including action, sports, simulation, strategy, and creative games, ranging from kid-friendly titles to games meant for older teens and adults
• Gaming on Steam can involve contact with strangers. Multiplayer games, group chats, voice chat, and messaging can expose kids to people they do not know outside the platform
• Trading features can put younger players at risk of scams. Kids may exchange digital items, trading cards, or games without recognizing an unfair offer or dishonest user
• Steam’s safety settings require parents to set them up. Steam Families and parental controls can limit games, purchases, platform features, and playtime, but these protections may not be active automatically
• Parents can make Steam safer by staying involved. SmartSocial recommends reviewing games together, making the account private, monitoring activity, and setting clear gaming limits can help Steam remain a positive experience

Steam Games Guide: What Parents Need to Know

How Steam Gives Kids Access to Games and Online Communities

• Steam is an online gaming platform where games are bought, downloaded, and played
• Users get instant access to nearly 30,000 games that are available for free or to purchase
• Steam offers games across all genres, ranging from family-friendly titles to games meant for mature audiences
• The Steam platform runs on macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. Users can link their mobile device or smart television to their computer to play remotely
• Streaming works over a home network or the internet, allowing teens to play their games without installing them on every device

Why Steam Is So Appealing to Kids and Teens

• Students can play with friends, chat, join groups, and feel connected—even when they’re not together in person
• The Cross-Platform Multiplayer feature allows users to play together from any device
• Games are stored in one account and can be downloaded on different computers, making it simple to pick up where they left off
• Players have access to in-game voice and text chat
• Users can trade games, trading cards, and in-game items with other players

Steam Risks Parents Should Know

• It’s common for teens to share their unique username with others so they can be easily discovered
•  Many games include chat, messaging, and multiplayer features where teens can interact with strangers

• Steam offers parental controls called “Steam Family View,” which prevents younger users from purchasing/downloading games without first entering a designated PIN
• Games have age requirements, but it is easy for students to bypass these and view mature content
• It is possible for younger players to get scammed into an unfair deal when trading items on the platform
• Although it’s rare, some downloads may contain viruses
• Users must be friends with another user to start a chat. Any user in a group chat can add their friend(s) to the chat without them being friends with everyone in the group. They just need to be friends with the person who invited them

How Parents and Educators Can Make Steam Safer

• Before giving children access to Steam, SmartSocial recommends parents set up their own account and become familiar with the platform. Then decide if it is safe for your family to use
• Set up parental controls through Steam Family View and set the appropriate restrictions for your child
• Consider setting your student’s account to “private” to prevent them from receiving messages from strangers
• Be involved in your student’s gaming, monitor their activity, and decide together what games are safe to download
• SmartSocial finds that having ongoing conversations about what kids are doing online is the best way to keep them safe

Important Parental Controls

Setting up a Steam Family

• Go to Account Details on the Store page
• Click on the Family Management section
• Click 'Create a Family' and enter a name to create a new Steam Family. This family name can be changed at any time in the future.
• To invite other family members, select 'Invite a Member' and select or search for family members to invite
• Choose whether the new member should be added as an adult or child
  • Any adult family member can manage invites and apply account restrictions. Children are subject to parental controls and do not have permissions to manage the family
• The invited family members will receive an alert that they've been invited to the Steam Family

Parental Controls (Steam Family View)

An adult in a Steam Family can set parental controls for children in the same family

• In Account Settings  select, Family Management, Manage, then expand the child's entry
• Toggle the 'Enable Parental controls' option
• Configure game access, Steam feature access, and playtime limits in the panel that appears

Making an account private

• From your Steam Profile, click the Edit Profile link under your displayed badge
• Click the My Privacy Settings tab
• Select your privacy setting to Public, Friends Only, or Private (any settings changed are saved automatically)

More resources for parents, students, & educators

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Pros and Cons of Video Games

Conclusion

Steam games are video games that are bought, downloaded, and played through Steam, a popular digital gaming platform for computers, giving students instant access to almost 30,000 games. While it can be a fun and creative outlet, the variety of content and online interactions means parents should stay involved. Using parental controls, setting clear limits, and having regular conversations can help ensure Steam games remain a safe and positive experience for your child.