Clash of Clans

Is Clash of Clans safe for kids?

For most teenagers, yes. Clash of Clans is a base-building strategy game in which players only meet each other through clans, and the chat there is text only and filtered. Apple's listing does not flag loot boxes. The risks sit elsewhere: the game tracks players for advertising, it sells gems at every pause in progress, and in September 2026 EU consumer authorities opened an action against Supercell that names the game.

We score it 59/100, a little above Fortnite (57) and Roblox (55), and well below Minecraft (69). It has no fines on record. Its weakest point is privacy.

Who you meet in a clan

Clash of Clans has no voice chat. Contact happens in a clan, where members chat, donate resources and take part in events together. Clans can be open to anyone, invite-only or closed, so a child who joins an open clan will talk with strangers.

Supercell's parent guide, written with the online-safety group Internet Matters, describes three layers of protection. Every chat message, player name and clan description passes an automatic word filter, which is stricter for young players and blocks attempts to share personal details or links. Players below the local age limit can join only family-friendly clans. Messages can be reported from the chat, and Supercell says moderators review reports within 72 hours and use detection models on chat as well.

That is a narrower channel than the open voice chat the FTC criticised in Fortnite or the user-made worlds of Roblox. It only works if the birth date in the game is real, because the filters and clan limits follow the age the player gives.

What Supercell collects and shares

Apple's privacy label lists four data types as used to track you across other companies' apps and websites: user ID, device ID, product interaction and advertising data. Linked to your identity are purchase history, coarse location, email address, gameplay content, support messages, usage and diagnostics. On Google Play, Supercell says app interactions and device IDs are shared with other companies for analytics and advertising.

The privacy policy, last changed on 11 March 2026, goes further than the label. Supercell relies on its "legitimate interest" to show personalised ads in the game and elsewhere, and asks for consent where the law requires it, as in the EU. It shares advertising IDs with ad partners and may ask a vendor to target lapsed players on other apps. It and its partners link browsers and devices into a "device graph". Chat logs, IP addresses and device IDs are collected from every player.

The protections are for children. The policy says Supercell's games are not directed at under-16s, and that players who give an age under 16, or a lower local threshold such as 14, get fewer social features and only the data processing the game needs. The parent guide adds that young players see no personalised ads or offers. Adults can turn off ad consent in the game settings and on the phone through "Allow Apps to Request to Track" on iPhone or ad personalisation on Android.

Gems, the Gold Pass and the EU case

The game is free, and money buys time. Gems skip building and training timers, and the Gold Pass, sold for $4.99 or $6.99 in the US App Store, unlocks extra rewards each season. Supercell says its in-app purchases range from $0.99 to $99.99 in US stores. Players can also buy on the web through the Supercell Store, which needs a Supercell ID. Apple does not flag loot boxes here, though it does for Supercell's farming game Hay Day.

In September 2024 the Norwegian Consumer Council and 21 other consumer groups filed a complaint with EU authorities about premium virtual currencies in games including Fortnite, EA Sports FC 24, Minecraft and Clash of Clans. The EU's Consumer Protection Cooperation network then ran a market check. On 30 September 2026 it opened coordinated actions against nine companies, including Supercell, and flagged Clash of Clans for further assessment. The authorities want real-money prices shown next to items, no currency bundles that force overspending, a clear 14-day right of withdrawal, fair terms and safeguards for children.

An opened action is not a finding, and Supercell has not been fined. Because the release names Clash of Clans, it counts as an open inquiry into the game: we start from 85 and take three points off, the same as for Minecraft. Supercell's Hay Day is not among the games named, so on that page the action is only context and takes two points off 88, our start for apps that no regulator is looking at. We will update both pages when the authorities report.

Account security

Supercell ID replaces passwords with one-time codes sent by email. That stops password reuse, but the account is only as safe as the email inbox, and there is no authenticator app option. We found no public bug bounty, only a security contact address in Supercell's security.txt file. In January 2017 Supercell disclosed that attackers had used a vBulletin flaw to reach its forum in September 2016; it said game accounts were not affected.

The common attack is social. Sites that sell gems or accounts cheaply often ask to log in to the account to "deliver" items, which Supercell says can end with the account stolen. Supercell's guide warns that the only real purchases happen inside the game or on supercell.com, and that verification codes should go to no one except Supercell support.

How to set it up for a teenager

1. Create a Supercell ID with an email address you control, and give the game your child's real birth date.
2. Lock purchases on the phone: Ask to Buy or Screen Time on iPhone, Family Link approval on Android. Leave no card saved in the Supercell Store.
3. Pick a closed or invite-only clan run by friends, and show your child how to report a message and leave a clan.
4. Tell them never to share an email verification code, and that gem sellers and account traders steal accounts.
5. For a break from the game, a parent can ask Supercell support for a self-exclusion and have the account restored later.

How we scored it

Privacy (48) is the weakest factor because Supercell tracks players for advertising and its policy allows more sharing than the label shows. Regulatory record (82) is the strongest: no fines, with three points off for the EU action opened in 2026 that names the game. Transparency and control and scams and harmful content (both 62) reflect filtered, text-only clan chat and a restricted mode for young players, offset by heavy gem selling and few in-game spending controls.