Slay dragons. Race cars. Solve a mystery. Rule the school. If you can dream it, you can play it – or build it – in Roblox.

Millions of kids spend their free time on this hugely popular gaming platform, exploring and connecting with friends. But what should parents know about this wide-ranging world? We’ve got answers to your most pressing questions.

There are two sides to Roblox: playing and building.

Your onscreen avatar can jump into vibrant 3D experiences that span just about every genre – racing, adventure, combat, you name it.

You can also build new worlds entirely from scratch using Roblox’s robust tools. This requires a Mac or PC and the free Roblox Studio, in which kids can create their own Roblox worlds and learn the fundamentals of coding, game design and 3D graphics.

There are thousands to play through!

Mission: Mars, which has design elements based on real NASA data, asks players to explore and survive on the red planet. Discover new species, hatch eggs and tame dragons in Dragon Adventures. In Blade Ball players compete to be the last standing in a test of timing and strategy. Battle for survival in SharkBite 2 where you must pick a team: boat-eating shark or wannabe survivor. In Adopt Me! players raise virtual pets and decorate a house.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

The majority of Roblox experiences are family-friendly, and because blood and gore is not part of the official Roblox toolset, there’s generally very little of it on the platform.

However, it is possible to find some objectionable material in non-curated content. Also, some experiences, such as the monster shoot-’em-up Michael’s Zombies, are designed for players age-13 and older. And in acknowledgment of the growing number of adult players, Roblox has begun allowing some experiences designed for ages 17 and up.

Only players who have passed strict age verification – including uploading a selfie and a photo of a government-issued ID – can access 17+ experiences. Parents can take steps within Roblox to decide which experiences their kids can play.

Head to the Security section in the settings menu. Enable parental controls and your child will only be able to access content Roblox has deemed age appropriate – decisions it says it makes based on child development research and informed by industry standards. Granular controls let you set the Allowed Experiences to wherever you’re most comfortable: All Ages, 9+, 13+, or 17+.

Users can communicate via text messages that are broadcast to everyone in an experience, as well as through direct messages among friends. Built-in filters are designed to block offensive language, prevent the sharing of personal information and to stop any behaviour that indicates an attempt to bring someone off platform – such as references to third-party chat applications.

Your child’s name and email address are never made public. You can limit who is allowed to contact your child – or turn off chat and messaging altogether – by going to the Privacy section of the settings menu.

Roblox is free to download, and most of the experiences on the platform are free.

Devoted players can unlock additional content and features through a monthly subscription, and some worlds let you purchase items such as pets, clothes, and cars using Robux, the currency of the Roblox universe. You purchase Robux in the app or earn them by completing certain activities. Parental controls let you set a monthly limit on how much money—if any—your child can spend on Robux.

Log in to your children’s accounts on Roblox.com to see what games they’ve recently played, their friends list, the messages they’ve sent and received, and the purchases they’ve made.

But a more playful way to get a sense of what your kids are up to is to create your own account, jump in, and experience the game alongside them. Whether you’re hatching chickens, casting spells, or hunting dinosaurs, there are nearly endless opportunities for fun family bonding.