Should My 13 Year Old Play Elden Ring? An Expert Gamer‘s Perspective

As an avid gamer and content creator focused on the Souls series, few 2022 gaming headlines captured my attention like Elden Ring. This long-awaited evolution of the iconic franchise has taken the gaming world by storm, capturing Game of the Year awards and the imaginations of fans worldwide.

However, Elden Ring’s intense violence, visceral combat, and sheer difficulty level leaves many parents wondering if its Mature 17+ rating makes it suitable for their 13 year old children.

Unpacking Elden Ring’s Age Ratings

Let’s analyze what the experts say.

The ESRB rates Elden Ring Mature for gamers ages 17 and older based primarily on:

• Blood and Gore
• Intense Violence
• Partial Nudity
• Strong Language

They describe the content featuring “dismemberment, decapitations, and mutilated corpses”, with “large blood-splatter effects” during battles.

Likewise, Common Sense Media recommends 16+ as a minimum, declaring that “this is a really violent game” with “lots and lots of blood and gore.” They note the inclusion of collecting severed body parts and battling giant, grotesque creatures as potentially objectionable or frightening imagery.

So why does a popular site like Common Sense Media suggest 16 versus the ESRB’s strict 17 rating? Mainly because the 17 rating reflects the game’s content, while their recommendation incorporates the gameplay experience and emotional maturity required.

Let’s analyze that maturity aspect deeper.

Elden Ring Difficulty – A Major Factor for Parents

As a hardcore Elden Ring player myself, I cannot stress enough how critically important managing difficulty is for younger gamers.

Elden Ring’s sheer frustration factor CANNOT be ignored.

The game notoriously avoids hand-holding. The expansive open world, confusing quests, punishing enemies, and intense boss battles challenge the patience of even seasoned adult gamers like myself.

In fact, a recent study by Ratchet and Clank developer Insomniac Games found that 59% of Elden Ring players admitted feeling aggravated by the game’s extreme difficulty, with some reporting it “bad for their mental health.”

As a gaming content creator, I constantly see fans venting rage and turmoil across social channels from the game’s patience-testing mechanics. This data aligns with my own experiences battling intensely punishing foes and convoluted pathways early in my playthrough.

For adults, that difficulty fuels our determination. But for 13 year olds with developing emotion regulation skills, such aggravation risks severely souring what should be an enjoyable pastime.

Maturity Matters

In my teens, the original Demon Souls tested but entertained me. But at 33 years old, even as a seasoned gamer Elden Ring challenged my resilience like no recent release. That dichotomy represents a key insight.

A 13 year old’s cognitive control and emotional regulation pathways simply aren’t fully developed yet in their brain. These factors contribute enormously to managing gaming frustration.

Studies by researchers like Dr. Adam Gazzaley, neuroscientist and founder of gaming company Akili, reveal adolescence as a time of significant vulnerability to aggression and impulsiveness. Teen minds excel at learning patterns but lack the oversight of cause and effect thinking added by life experience.

Layer on a game like Elden Ring explicitly designed to infuriate with its unrelenting trial-and-error . . . and you have a recipe for fostering irritation versus healthy challenge.

While every teen develops differently, medical data suggests the average 13 year old lacks full ability to self-regulate when a game actively works against them as Elden Ring’s systems do.

Healthier Alternatives for 13 Year Old Gamers

Thankfully, many alternatives provide engrossing adventures with far less mature content and reduced difficulty curves. Here are some of my top recommendations:

• Horizon Forbidden West
• Psychonauts 2
• Sifu
• Stray
• Ghost of Tsushima

Each provides immense enjoyment focused on exploration, story, or combat mastery without Elden Ring’s degree of visceral gore. Best of all, their checkpoints and upgrade systems empower gamers to progress rather than frustrating them.

For 13 year olds, especially less experienced ones, I strongly advise such titles over recommending Elden Ring regardless of passion for the franchise.

The Verdict: Use Extreme Caution

In summary, while no definitive answer exists without knowing a specific child, based on medical data and my own expertise with thousands of hours across the entire Souls series, I strongly recommend AGAINST allowing Elden Ring for most 13 year olds.

Between the content descriptors like blood and gore, which research links to later aggression, and the sheer potential for engendering frustration, the risks seem to far outweigh reasonable rewards.

For a few exceptionally mature teenagers able to handle Mature content, cope well with failure, and modulate their emotions, cautious play with careful guidance and restrictions MAY be considered by some parents.

Certain 13 year olds demonstrate enough self-control and pattern recognition skill to potentially enjoy Elden Ring’s challenge rather than feel negativity. But great care and limit setting remains vital even then.

Ultimately every child develops uniquely, so these guidelines merely aim to equip parents with knowledge to make the decision themselves. My hope is the insights within provide realistic perspective on what exactly makes Elden Ring such a double-edged sword between its achievement as a game and intensely demanding design.

What do you think about 13 year olds playing Elden Ring? I welcome respectful dialog around this debate. Please share your own stories or advice so we can all make responsible choices for the young gamers in our lives.