Article
No card on their device
Free mobile games still sell lives, dice, and passes. The house rule is simple: your card details do not go on your child’s phone or tablet.
A game can be free to download and still be a shop. Lives run out. Dice run out. A season pass promises the next reward. A crate might contain the player on the advert, and usually does not. None of that can charge you unless a card, PayPal, or a store account is able to say yes from their device.
The rule is the whole article. Do not put your card details on their device. Not in the App Store. Not in Google Play. Not inside the game. Not in PayPal. If you decide to buy something, you type the card in yourself, for that one purchase, and then you remove it. A fingerprint or a face that approves payments is the same as leaving the card there.
Read the guide before you install. Some games you pay for once, and then they stop asking. Monument Valley and Stardew Valley are in that group. Some are free and the price is adverts, such as Subway Surfers or Block Blast. Some are free to start and then sell continues all evening. Candy Crush, Royal Match, Coin Master, and Monopoly Go are in that group. A battle pass or a character banner, as in Clash of Clans, EA Sports FC Mobile, or Genshin Impact, can cost more than a game you would have bought outright.
Turn off in-app purchases in the phone settings as well. That is a second lock, not a reason to leave the card saved. Check the receipt emails. A string of small charges is the usual surprise, not one obvious large one.
You can say: "A free game is allowed to be free. When it asks for money, you close it and tell me. My card is not on your phone, so the button cannot buy anything by itself."
If a stranger in a game offers free coins, free Robux, or free points in exchange for a login, a photo, or a download, that is not a discount. It is a reason to stop and use the help page if anything has already been sent.