Dauntless Parent’s Guide
The rating below is based on the game content. Online interactions will always increase the risk of unwanted content.
Violence – 3
Language – 4
Sexual Content – 5
Positive Message – 2
Total Score – 14 out of 20
(The higher the rating, the safer the game is for kids.)
ESRB Rating – T for Teen [for blood and violence]
The Game
Dauntless is made by Epic Games, the same developers who made Fortnite. The world is called “The Shattered Isles,” floating islands make up the landscape and the Behemoth are too close to civilization. You are a Slayer, one of the defenders of the cities, you must hunt and kill these beasts, using their parts and armor to create new weapons and armor of your own, thus making you more effective at slaying the monsters of the Shattered Isles.
Violence
The violence in Dauntless is player vs monster or monster vs player. You go out on missions to destroy these monsters and swing your sword, hammer, axe, or pike or shoot your blaster at it. There are some sprays of blood sometimes but mostly it is just to add flavor, there is no gore to speak of in this game. Even when you slice off a part of the behemoth, the appendage looks more like a T-bone steak than any kind of disgusting severed body part. The intensity of the violence can be high but it always (at least early on) feels like you’re going to succeed at defeating the monster. You just want to score as highly as possible while you do it.
Language
There is some minor (Rated PG) language during the intro cinematic of the game. Beyond that, you aren’t going to hear any language at all, except for other players while playing online. Most of the communication with non-player characters in the game is through text and it is usually just lore and mission details. Not a lot of flavor text, therefore, not much by way of adult language. Language doesn’t make the list of reasons Dauntless received a T for Teen rating.
Sexual Content
There is no sexual content to speak of in Dauntless. Unless you come across another player being inappropriate in the chat or on voice chat, you won’t see or hear anything sexual. I was even impressed at the design of the costumes and armor. All of the female characters are tastefully dressed. There is some “mid-drift” here and there but nothing over the top, sexually.
Positive Message
Besides fun, the message of this game could be teamwork. Hunts are measurably easier with friends. It is also easier if you learn how to strategize your weapons and armor so that your team can work together in the best way to defeat the monsters. The “freemium” model for this game is par for the course for Epic Games since they’ve made so much money off of their “free” title, Fortnite. You will be asked by your kids if they can buy something within the game.
What Parents Should Know
Remember that this game is online. It is easier and more fun to fight monsters and level up when playing with other people. You can hunt alone or create a hunting party full of your friends but random matchmaking is the default mode for going out on a hunt. Kids should be a bit older or at least know how to handle themselves properly on the internet before playing games with strangers online. Talk to them about their behavior and that of others online before allowing them to play a game like Dauntless.
You should also be careful if your credit card number is accessible on your child’s game system or computer. The items that you can purchase for Dauntless give you a really fun edge in the game and look super cool so kids will want to buy them. Like in Fortnite, they sell a pass that gives you a bunch of content and bonus loot for defeating monsters. These are all appealing and will cause your kids to ask you over and over again if they can spend some money in the game.
Finally, keep an eye on screen time. I found myself wanting to play “just one more hunt” over and over again late into the night. It is easy to pour hours and hours into a game like Dauntless and not realize how long you’ve been playing. You can use built-in parental controls to set time limits or limit internet access to the game system or computer. Since the game is fully online, disconnection from the internet will make it impossible to play Dauntless.
I think Dauntless is a pretty good alternative to the battle royale shooter games that are so popular today. I even think some of us parents can get involved, play with our children, and flex those video game muscles we built playing so much Zelda when we were young.
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