Welcome to Moshi Monsters!

Many of us at Moshi Monsters HQ are parents ourselves, therefore we're aware of the importance of keeping kids safe online. The three core elements at the heart of Moshi Monsters are FUN, EDUCATION and SAFETY. We imagine you might have a lot of questions, so we created this page in order to provide you with plenty of background on how the game works and how your child might use the site. That said, one of the best ways to learn about the game is to adopt your very own Moshi Monster. You never know, you might even be able to nurture a more impressive monster than your children.

The Moshi Monsters community is tended to by our resident guru Rebecca Newton, who has 15 years of experience managing communities online and has successfully raised children of her own.

Limited Social Networking Features

We know kids love to network with their friends, and we offer some restricted social networking features on Moshi Monsters. After we receive a request from your or your child to register, we send you an email asking for your consent. If you give registration consent, your child will be able to invite friends into his or her network, and communicate with kids in their network through features, like the "pin board" or the Moshi Monster Forum. Pinboard messages are filtered by our system. We also have self-policing tools throughout the site, including red "M" buttons on pinboard messages where users can report potentially disagreeable content, which our moderators will review. Forum messages and Blog posts go through an approval process as well, that includes pre- and post-moderation. To learn more about the type of information we collect on our site, please read our Privacy Policy.

To make friends on moshimonsters.com, kids need to know their friends' screen names (also referred to as 'monster owner' names). Once a child knows someone else's screen name, they can then use the "Find My Friends" feature to send that person an invitation to join his or her Moshi network. When requesting a friend, they have a limited area where they can identify themselves by first name only to their friend. This message box allows their friend to know who is sending the Friend Request, which ensures a safer experience for our younger members. It is up to the recipient of an invite to decide whether or not to accept that invitation. Once an invitation is accepted, friends can write messages on each other's pinboards. Children can find new friends on moshimonsters.com in different ways. They may know a friend's screen name before coming to moshimonsters.com, or they may see a screen name in another friend's Friends Tree. It is also possible they may guess another person's screen name or see one featured in our Community section.

If you give your permission for your child to have a Moshi Monsters account, your child will have the opportunity to be featured in the Community section of the site (for instance, if they are the winner of the 'Monstar of the Week' competition, 'Room of the Week' competition or have achieved something newsworthy in-game), As part of these programs, the winning children will be featured on our site, where we will list the child's screen name and an image of their pet monster. If your child is featured in the Community section, other members he or she does not know may want to add your child to their Friends Tree. Therefore, we encourage you to talk to your child about safe online practices. If your child does become friends with someone, that person will only be able to see your child's non-personal information as we don't show or share personally identifying information.

Your child's profile - viewable by their friends and those who have obtained their screen name - will include information about your child's Moshi Monster (a picture of the Moshi Monster, its current status and the Moshi Monster's room). Your child's profile will also include your child's screen name, country of residence, gender and age. You or your child provides this information when they request to open a Moshi Monster account. We will keep this information only on a temporary basis until you give consent. If you do not give consent, we will delete the information your child provided within a reasonable period of time. If you do give consent, and in the future wish to review, change or delete the information your child has submitted to the site, please contact our Customer Services department by emailing parents@moshimonsters.com. Please include your child's Monster Owner name and your registered (parent) email address in your email so we can better assist you with your inquiry or request. Mind Candy may ask additional questions or take other steps to verify the identity of parents/guardians before responding to a request to review or delete their children's information, or a request to refuse further collection from children.

Additional Resources

• Parent & Teacher Quick Reference Sheet (PDF)
• Internet Safety Tips For Parents and Guardians (PDF)

What's It All About

Moshi Monsters is a free online game for kids, where they may adopt a monster and look after it. Kids whose parents give us their approval can become 'users' on our site, and can adopt a Moshi Monster. Kids care for their monster by solving puzzle games, which earn their monster virtual rewards called Rox. Kids can spend Rox on virtual items like food, furniture and other treats and toys for their monster. Over time their monster will increase in level, be able to visit new locations in Monstro City, and earn all kinds of in-game rewards for playing. Monster owners will also be able to make friends with other owners and leave messages on their pages.

You can read what people are saying about us on our Press Page.

Education

Education is right at the heart of the Moshi Monsters experience. Every day your child's monster will create a series of fun puzzles that test everything from vocabulary and arithmetic to logic and spatial skills. The better your child does at these puzzles, the more Rox they'll earn to buy cool things for their monster. The difficulty level of the puzzles automatically calibrates each day, so puzzles get harder if they are doing well, and easier if they are struggling.

Successfully nurturing a Moshi Monster is no mean feat. It takes a variety of skills that your child can develop over time. Your child will need to think creatively, hypothesize, strategize, manage resources, collaborate with friends, and nurture a wide variety of other skills that could extend positively into their everyday lives.

The adopted monsters love words and communicate with their monster owners regularly via speech bubbles, to encourage reading. Their moods are visually represented and also expressed by a printed word in their virtual room. Since their moods can change regularly, your child has plenty of opportunity to learn new vocabulary. For instance, their monster might be feeling 'jubilant' one day, but 'melancholy' the next.

We Set Rules and Track Compliance

As with any online activity, we encourage parents to stay involved and engaged with their children's behavior. We always do our best to remind monster owners to stay safe while playing Moshi Monsters, but you can help too - not just in our monster world, but with your kids' online adventures in general. Some good reminders for them are:

• Never give out your personal information online. Personal information includes things like your real name, address, phone number, e-mail or school.
• If you ever run into any trouble on Moshi Monsters, you can always tell us by clicking the 'Contact Us' link located at the bottom of every page. One of our trained moderators will review your message promptly and take action if necessary.
• If someone says or does something elsewhere on the Internet that makes you feel uncomfortable, or if they ask for your personal information, tell your parents right away.
• Never give out your password to anybody, even if they say they work for Moshi Monsters - they don't! We will never ask you for your password except on the login page, and there is no reason anyone else would want it other than to steal your Rox... or even your monster. So keep your password secret!

You can learn more about how to protect your kids online from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu, NetSmartz.org the FTC's kids saftey site, at www.netsmartz.org, in the UK please visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ and in Australia, please refer to www.cybersmart.gov.au/.

Charging for Moshi Monsters

Kids will always be able to adopt and play the basic version of Moshi Monsters for free. We also offer a membership where Moshi Club Members receive exclusive access to all sorts of cool extras. You can read about Membership here.

In addition, we sell some really cool Moshi Monsters merchandise that the monster owners in your family will love! Check out the Moshi Store for the latest and greatest.

Contacting Us

If we haven't answered your questions here, then please send us an email at parents@moshimonsters.com and we'll reply as soon as possible.

Thanks again for your time and support! We hope you and your child will enjoy Moshi Monsters as much as we've enjoyed creating it.

Hey Parents and Teachers! Want to be the smartest grown ups in Monstro City? Download this pamphlet about Children on Virtual Worlds: What Parents Should Know. Provided by ENISA (enisa.europa.eu).