Is Squad Busters Safe? A Squad Busters App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

Squad Busters involves attacking and killing other players, but there’s no gore or intense images. However, players can choose their username so your child could run into inappropriate content this way. 

Once players reach a certain level, they can join teams and start chatting with other players. Squad Busters doesn’t let users send photos or videos, but your child can definitely encounter explicit language and discussions in these chats. Plus, there’s always the chance that predators could initiate conversations that could lead to grooming. There are ways to report inappropriate content, but there’s no way to fully block the content before it gets to your child.

Predation 🚨

Sadly, Squad Busters has a high level of predation because of the chat feature. Group chats like the kind offered on Squad Busters give predators the chance to message other children by pretending to be their peer. Even the creators of Squad Busters are aware of this risk and include the word “grooming” as a term to know in their parent guide.

Privacy 🔒

Squad Busters can be played anonymously, and the creators actually encourage it. Players can opt out of team group chats and choose to simply play on their own. There’s also no option for your child to share their location or profile photo, unless they disclose personal information in a chat.

Parental Controls ✅

In the settings, it’s possible to toggle off the ability to receive friend and party (chat) requests, but your child can easily turn these back without your approval since they’re not passcode protected. There is a parent’s guide that outlines the potential risks of the app, its safety measures, and other details, but there’s no way for parents to monitor their child’s activity on Squad Busters. Luckily, Bark can help you stay in control by letting you:

• Block the Squad Busters app completely, if needed.
• Manage when your child can use the Squad Busters app throughout the day.

So, should my kid download it?

Probably not until they’re older. We suggest waiting until your child is responsible enough to use the game wisely, and making sure they are aware of the potential dangers, especially the risks that come with the optional chat feature.