When my 5th grade daughter came home from school, mentioning that many boys in her class often talk about Clash of Clans, we decided to investigate why the app was so popular. Even though I’m hesitant about addictive games, I do feel it is important she has enough literacy to contribute to hot topics of conversation. So together, along with her younger sister, we discussed the pros and cons of video games, and brainstormed how we could incorporate Clash of Clans without disrupting our family’s priorities.
With our boundaries and expectations set, we sat together on the couch and downloaded the app. It’s been about three weeks since that day, and so far I have to say: WE LIKE IT!
In summary, the game is set in a medieval village that you control. In your village, there are resources to earn like elixir and gold. Gems are the virtual currency. There are also defenses to build around your village like walls, canons, and archer towers. Troops power your offensive strategy, to be used when attacking another village. ‘Clans’ are when villages band together and share resources, which seems to be a key social element for higher level players. Overall, the decision making opportunities are fantastic for thinking through trade-offs. Also, the graphics are not very realistic (thankfully), so “gore” doesn’t seem to be an issue from what I can tell at the early stages.
Here is a snapshot of our village at week 3, and some observations about what I’ve learned so far:
Download Clash of Clans together, so parents can pay attention to any notices or disclosures about how the app works.
When Clash of Clans first opened on my iPad, there was a notification about In App Purchases in the app. The notification suggested that preferences can be adjusted in Settings to turn off IAP. I was thankful for this reminder, and I adjusted my settings immediately before proceeding into game play.
Play in a public place (i.e., the living room) and talk out loud about decisions.
I did not want the kids to take the device and retreat away from the family. Rather, I wanted us all to participate and learn together. During the first few orientation screens, the children read the instructions aloud. When we make decisions about how to proceed in the game, it’s a discussion, and we assign roles. I am the “collector” which means I check in during the day to collect the gold and elixir, and execute any of their instructions. My eldest is the “chief strategist” and leads our thought process about what to do next. My youngest is our “advisor” and chimes in with a “yay” or “nay” regarding our decisions.
Have patience.
While it’s true a lot that can be purchased in the app, we’ve been able to participate in everything just by waiting through the time allotment. For example, let’s say you’ve collected your gold and elixir, and now you want to train a Barbarian. You can wait a few minutes for the troop to be trained, or you can “pay” a gem to finish off the process immediately. There are longer wait times for more intense activities, like upgrading your Town Hall. If the kids start playing by making a few decisions each day, and then waiting until the next day to make more decisions, they’ve just learned a lesson in patience AND frugality!
Do research.
So we learned about this guy, Jorge Yao, who topped the Clash of Clans charts for 6 months. This other guy named Flammy held a series of YouTube interviews with Jorge, along with a bunch of game playing tutorials, and videos of live attacks. Listening to this material is a supplementary way to learn about game playing strategy in advance of making your next move. How do the high level players build their walls? How do they deploy their troops? After watching one of Flammy’s tutorials, we understood certain aspects of the game that had been confusing. ALSO, you can learn by “visiting” other villages of top players on the leader board. Here is an example of an advanced village:
Have fun.
It’s been so interesting to TALK to my kids about topics other than brushing teeth, checking homework, or getting ready for soccer practice. By playing this game with them, we talk about what we’d like to do next in “our” village. The other day, they built a pretend campfire in the living room with pillows, and danced around it like Barbarians, Archers, and Goblins. “Play” has taken on many forms.
With a healthy media plan, and a lot of conversation, plenty of fun can transpire with a game like Clash of Clans. If you are playing with your kids – let me know! I’d love to talk about how it’s going.
Photo Credit Flickr [Ricardo Cabral]
Beware of the Chat Room. Within a few weeks of having this game my 11 yr old allowed someone to join the chat, a person she thought was a friend. That person was soon cursing and asking offensive and inappropriate questions about her body. Then that person asked where she lived. I would not endorse this game.
Really amazing post! thanks for sharing. will back again.
Kate
white noise app
I like RPG games they are very addictive. I have played Warcraft 3 a lot, mostly I preferred playing online with real people because their the strategy is completely different.
Hi Erin. THanks for the heads-up. We do look at the “global chat” when we want to visit other villages to see how they are being built. I have noticed that it’s kind of a weird exchange, so I’m with them when they are reading. I will point out, “oh, that comment looks inappropriate” and we will close chat and move on. So you are correct to beware. I’m not sure what the “rooms” are. Point taken, I will avoid!
This is a great post MomswithApps. I like that you’re really getting interested in your child’s gaming habits. Especially using a non-traditional educational platform like a strategy game. It’s a really bold step and I’m glad to hear that it’s paying off. I like that you’ve incorporated scaffolded learning into what is at essence a fun activity. This practice can really improve a child’s confidence in what they are learning, whether that’s math or in-game resource management. We’ve written a post on our blog centered on, specifically, educational titles and some of the best ways to get good learning from them – http://www.lighthouselearning.com/educational-apps-for-kids/.
Excellent post! We are a clash family also and often sit on the couch with our devices comparing notes lol. I have created a clan for my family because there are too many inappropriate characters out there. I make sure everyone in our clan is nice, respectful and does not use bad language. So far we have a really nice team of people. Adults, teens and kids who appreciate a clan with nice people 🙂
I do wish that SuperCell did not allow young kids in global chat or have some sort of monitoring going on. There are far too many ding dongs out there and so many young kids who’d parents have no clue.
🙂
We found this game and as a family play the game. I like that there is no one on one chat. This game provides an opportunity for learning experiences. The user has control over who is and is not in the clan. We have clan rules that include no swearing, no inappropriate language. If we see that in the clan, they get one warning and then they are kicked out. The kids are monitoring that as well and they feel empowered to kick someone out that they doesn’t behave well.
We stay out of global chat. It is an opportunity to chat with cousins, uncles and aunts as well as the kids friends. We have a really fun clan that self monitors really well and is very supportive of each other.
We highly recommend the game.
Clash of clans is a great game. The chat is optional and if you do chat,
you can change the mode of chat to clan which is you only see chat from the people in your clan, or global. Your son/daughter can make a promise to you never to open global chat. Like I said before it’s a great game!
As a young lady myself (13), I completely agree with these comments, the game is very fun although slightly addictive. Some globels can be a little inappropriate and i think supercell should do more then ban these people for 24 hours as i do not think this is a harsh enough punishment, because people just come back on and do it again, so i find myself reporting and muting a lot of people. However when you can find a nice family friendly clan that is sutable for my age the game can be really enjoyable and you can decied tactest with your clan mate, enjoyable game but younger children’s parents should be aware
I too decided to take an active interest in my sons clash of clans but was completely horrified to find my sons friends using disgusting language , abusing and bullying each other. While you can report people in global chat it does not appear you can do so in clan chat. I was so disturbed I made it my mission to let all their parents know how shocking it was as many are completely unaware of what their children were doing. I also brought it up with their school principal so a warning could be published in the school newsletter as the bullying was out of control.
If you allow your child to download it I think it is wise to closely monitor it.
Wow, these are some great posts, Me and my son often play this game too, hes the stratergist and im the upgrader and mine and pump collector! We often have some fun times with this game, but as all the others have said, the global can be a nasty place. So we tend to stay away from clans and global and just enjoy the game together 🙂
We have just started playing CoC’s as a family. My oldest had a clan with only Middle School kids and I was very proud of them for kicking out people who didn’t go to their school but my girls want to play and some other friends so we decided to start our own family friendly no swearing clan. Now I just need to find more members that want to join us. If anyone is interested our clan is Cougars 5069
This blog was great to read, it let me know we can actually do a family friendly league and still have fun.
Thanks 🙂
Thanks so much for this post and all the great comments! My son wants to download this game. After a mishap I had with our teenage daughter and an app, I am really, really researching any apps and games my younger son wants. These were all really helpful!! I think I will even play the game with him!
Great informative website. Clash of clans is a great game. The chat is optional and if you do chat,
you can change the mode of chat to clan which is you only see chat from the people in your clan, or global.