Steam
Our age is 13. Caution because of store spending, community chat and adult-rated games.
Setup steps checked October 2026.
- Our rating
- Caution
- Plays on
- Windows, Mac
Set up Steam Families parental controls: approve your teen's purchases, choose which games they can play, set playtime limits, and decide on store, community and chat access.
Talk about it
- Which games are your friends playing on Steam right now?It tells you what to look up before you add a game to their allowed list, and shows you're interested rather than suspicious.
- Who do you chat with on Steam, and have you ever had a message from someone you don't know?It opens the door to talking about strangers in chat before anything goes wrong.
- If you want a game or more time, how should you ask?Steam sends purchase and playtime requests straight to you, so agreeing on how requests work avoids arguments later.
- Have you seen people selling items or skins for real money?Trading and the Community Market are an easy way to lose money, and talking about it helps your teen spot scams.
The full guide
Steam is the biggest PC gaming store and community. Alongside games it has friends chat, forums, user-made mods and a marketplace for in-game items. With a bit of setup you can decide what your teen plays, when, and what they can buy.
Steam sells some games with adult sexual content. These are hidden unless an account turns them on in its store preferences. Once your teen is a child member of your Steam Family, you choose which games they can see and play.
Understanding Steam
What Steam Includes
- Game library (games they own, plus games shared by the family)
- Steam Store
- Steam Community (forums, profiles, reviews, Workshop mods)
- Friends chat
- Community Market (buying and selling in-game items for Steam Wallet money)
Key Concerns
- Mature games: violent and adult-rated titles are in the store
- Spending: games, add-ons and in-game purchases
- Community: public profiles, forums and group chats
- Workshop content: user-made mods aren't age-rated
- Trading: real-money item trading and scams
Steam Families
Steam Families (launched September 2024) is Steam's parental control system. It replaced both Family View and Family Sharing. If you used Family View before, its settings move into Steam Families when you add your child, and the PIN goes away.
A Steam Family can have up to six members, each either an adult or a child. Adults manage the family and set parental controls. Children can't leave the family on their own.
Each family slot has a one-year cooldown after someone leaves, and adults who leave must wait a year to join another family. Invite only the people in your household.
Setting Up Steam Families
Create a Steam Family
On the Steam website, open Account Details and go to Family Management, then select Create a Family. You can also manage the family from the Steam client and the Steam Mobile app.
Invite Your Teen as a Child
Select Invite a Member, find your teen's account and choose Child. They'll get an invitation to accept.
Turn On Parental Controls
In Family Management, select Manage, expand your teen's entry and turn on Enable Parental controls.
Choose Games, Features and Playtime
In the panel that opens, choose which games they can play, whether they can use the Store, Community and friends chat, and set playtime limits.
What Parental Controls Cover
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Game access | Only the games you allow can be played |
| Store, Community, Chat | Turn access to each on or off |
| Playtime limits | Daily limits and the hours when play is allowed |
| Playtime reports | See what was played and for how long |
| Requests | Your teen can ask for more playtime or access to a feature, for today or for good |
| Purchase requests | Your teen can ask you to pay for their cart |
| Account recovery | Recover your teen's account if they lose the password (after 30 days in the family) |
Purchases
Purchase Requests
With Steam Families, your teen can send their shopping cart to you to pay for. You approve and pay from the Steam Mobile app or by email, and the games go straight to their account.
Payment Methods and Wallet
Don't save a card or PayPal to your teen's account. If you give them Steam gift cards or wallet money, keep the amount small and agree what it's for.
The Community Market lets people buy and sell in-game items for Steam Wallet money. It's part of the Steam Community, so turning off Community access in parental controls is the simplest way to keep your teen out of it.
Choosing Games
Steam Families doesn't filter by age rating. Instead you pick the games your teen can play, from their own library and the family's shared library. Check ratings yourself on the ESRB website or the store page, where Steam shows them for many games.
Adult Content Settings
Make sure the adult-only sexual content option is off on your teen's account.
Playtime Limits
In Family Management, open your teen's parental controls and set a daily limit and the hours when play is allowed. When time is up, your teen can send a request for more, which you can approve from your phone.
Many families start with 1 to 2 hours on school days and more on weekends, then adjust.
Community and Chat
Privacy Settings
For a teen account:
- My profile: Friends Only or Private
- Game details: Friends Only
- Friends list: Private
- Inventory: Private (stops strangers seeing items they might try to trade for)
Friends Chat and Community
In parental controls you can turn off friends chat and the Steam Community entirely. With both off, your teen still has the games you've allowed.
Steam Workshop
The Workshop lets players download user-made mods, maps and items. These aren't age-rated, so a mod can add content that wasn't in the original game. If your teen uses mods, ask which ones and why.
Activity
Playtime reports in Steam Families show which games were played and for how long. Your teen's profile also lists recently played games.
Age-Based Recommendations
Ages 13 to 14
- Child member of your Steam Family, parental controls on
- Allowed games chosen by you (E10+ and T titles)
- About 90 minutes on school days, more on weekends
- Community off, friends chat on for friends they know
Ages 15 to 16
- Purchase requests still go to you
- Some M-rated games after a conversation
- About 2 hours on school days, more on weekends
- Community access with a talk about trading and scams
Ages 17
- More trust, with check-ins
- Talk through bigger purchases
- Keep talking about online interactions
Quick Setup Checklist
Additional Resources
With purchase requests and playtime limits in place, you have a say in your teen's PC gaming without taking it away.