Avatar World

Is Avatar World safe for kids?

Avatar World is one of the gentler games a young child can play on a phone or tablet. It is a digital dollhouse: children make avatars, dress them, furnish homes and wander through a town with a school, hospital, salon and shops. Apple lists no tracking, Pazu Games says it runs no third-party ads, and Apple's listing notes no chat. The catch is the shop. A game made for 6-to-8-year-olds sells coins, passes and themed packs at almost every turn, and the store forms describe more data use than the short privacy policy admits.

We score it 69/100, a few points below Toca Boca World (73), the game it most resembles, and well above online worlds such as Roblox (55). It has no fines or regulator actions on record.

What children can buy

The game is free to download, and a large part of it is free to play. Australia's Council on Children and the Media (ACCM), reviewing it in November 2023, found the town had extensive areas to explore without paying, and could be played offline.

Since then the shop has grown. The US App Store now lists an Avatar Pass at $9.99, AW coin packs from $1.99 to $14.99, a starter pack, and themed sets such as Babies and Posh Pups at $2.99 and My First Family at $0.99. A virtual currency makes it harder for a young child to see what something costs in real money, which is the issue EU consumer authorities raised with nine larger game companies in September 2026.

Apple's Kids category rules say purchases must sit behind a parental gate. In Avatar World, ACCM found that gate asks an adult to enter a birth date, which many 8-year-olds can manage. Pazu's own subscription, Pazu+, sells more than 50 games with no ads and no in-app purchases, but its product page says Avatar World is not part of it.

Does Avatar World collect data on children?

Less than most free games. Apple's privacy label has no "Data Used to Track You" section. Pazu's privacy policy, last updated in April 2026, says the game collects device identifiers that are not advertising IDs, the player's country, gameplay and crash data, and, for players who create an Avatar ID, an email address. It says Pazu does not sell data, does not use third-party advertising, and shares data only with Unity for crash reports and Zendesk for support. Apple's Kids category rules also bar third-party advertising and limit third-party analytics.

Two store disclosures go further than that policy. Apple's label lists purchase history, email address, support messages, IDs, product interaction and crash data as linked to the user and used for "developer's advertising or marketing", while the policy says Pazu does not use data for advertising purposes. And Google Play's data safety form lists "installed apps" among the data collected, for purposes that include personalisation, which the policy does not mention. Google Play also says no data is shared with other companies and that the developer follows the Play Families Policy. We score privacy on the broader picture: low risk, but not as clean as the policy reads.

Multiplayer and contact with others

When ACCM reviewed the game in 2023, it needed no online information at all. Pazu's policy now describes multiplayer features that create a temporary "World ID" for a shared session, which it says is not kept afterwards. The App Store listing does not carry the "messaging and chat" note that Apple adds to games with chat, and Google Play shows the game as Teacher Approved. We could not confirm from Pazu how players join each other's worlds, so sit with a young child the first time they try it.

Accounts, deletion and the small print

An account is optional. An Avatar ID saves progress across devices and logs in with a one-time code sent to an email address, so the parent's inbox should be the one used. Google Play confirms data is encrypted in transit. We found no breach, and no bug bounty or vulnerability contact for Pazu.

Deletion works by request. Parents can email [email protected] or use Pazu's EU and UK privacy representative, Prighter, and the policy warns that deleting an account removes saved progress. The terms of service are a generic template that speaks of "materials" on Pazu's "application" and says nothing about purchases, refunds or children, which is thin for a game with this many paid items.

How to set it up for a young child

1. Turn on Ask to Buy or Screen Time on iPhone, or Family Link purchase approval on Android, so the birth-date gate is not the only lock.
2. Decide on a budget before the first pack; coins hide the real price from young children.
3. Create an Avatar ID with your own email only if progress needs to move between devices.
4. Play the multiplayer mode together once and check who can join.
5. To delete the data later, email Pazu support from the address linked to the account.

How we scored it

Regulatory record (87) is the strongest factor, with no fines but also no regulator review. Transparency and control (62) is the weakest: deletion runs by email, the terms are generic and the purchase gate is easy to pass. Privacy (68) reflects a no-tracking label and a minimal policy, pulled down by store forms that list marketing use and installed apps. Scams and harmful content (75) reflects a world with no open chat but steady selling to young children.