How to Avoid Children in Virtual Reality

When Mark Zuckerberg described Meta’s behavior Horizon Worlds in 2019, he seemed to think the virtual community center would be a place where cool, edgy young adults could socialize and network. Six years later, it’s essentially a virtual daycare; everywhere in virtual space is filled with children. I’m not talking about 16-year-olds or preteens, either — I’m talking about young children, so common that they’ve earned the nickname “squeakers” for their high-pitched voices and nervous energy. So what’s a grown adult who loves VR but wants to avoid doing to kids? Here are some tips and strategies for finding kid-free VR places to play and/or socialize. Sometimes.

Avoid children Horizon Worlds

Meta’s rules for Horizon Worlds Let’s say kids as young as 10 can log in, and it’s mostly them who do, but there are also designated worlds like 13+ and 18+. This is primarily enforced by Meta’s own age-checking systems and community moderation in the form of adults reporting children if they see them. There are also “tests” like this:

Credit: Stephen Johnson

If your scope is too small: sorry, kid. Some worlds even offer voice tests to exclude anyone with a voice higher than Michael Jackson’s. Of course, none of this is foolproof: children will find a loophole, but the 18+ worlds are reasonably child-free and your best bet for finding other adults in Meta’s social hub. Adult-friendly worlds tend to revolve around things like poker, quizzes, or stand-up comedy, and popular 18+ worlds like The Soapstone have active moderators, both of which keep the little ones away.

Ironically, you can hijack Quest’s parental controls and use it to protect yourself Since children by blocking areas with a high concentration of children and saving those with a high concentration of adults. Speaking of blocking, Meta has made it possible to instantly ignore and report people you don’t want to be around. Simply hover your pointer over the person’s avatar to open their profile, select “options”, then choose “block” and “confirm”. In Horizon WorldsBlocked users appear as a featureless gray avatar and you won’t be able to hear each other.

Avoid children VRChat

If Horizon Worlds is the secure, company-approved virtual chat option, VRChat It’s the Wild West. This is where the weirder corners of the metaverse collide, but if you stick to verified rooms larger than 18 rooms or invite-only private instances, you can generally avoid excess Roblox energy. VRChat weeds out kids with a mix of user moderation, reporting, and pure mayhem.

The app does not actually verify users’ identities to confirm that they are 18 years old. It relies on self-reported age and community moderation, and some creators use additional barriers like requiring membership to a verified Discord server or having a certain “trust rank” (earned by spending time in the game and being a generally not-terrible person) before you can join their worlds. It’s not airtight, but it’s enough friction to keep most kids out.

Play games kids don’t care about

If you want to avoid children, avoid games with topics that appeal to children. Don’t play Gorilla labelgames room, Or Great rumble; and definitely avoid public parts of Minecraft And Roblox.

Instead, play games that children would call “boring” or “sucky.” What self-respecting child will download Racquet club play virtual pickle ball? But Racquet club is a great game.

Here is a list of games to discover with the energy of an adult:

• Walkabout Mini Golf: The low-stakes competition and camaraderie of virtual miniature golf are kryptonite for kids.

• Eleven table tennis: As Racquet clubnot many kids will want to play it, but it’s one of the best competitive VR games online. over there

• Déméo: Tabletop role-playing games require too much patience for most children.

• Breachers: This is a tactical shooter with a grown-up teamwork energy. You might think parents would keep their little darlings away from more violent games aimed at teens like this (and Population One Or The ghosts of Tabor) but it’s random. Luckily, kids are generally bad at these games, so you can use them to increase your K/D ratio.

Play games you have to pay for

Although the above VR games, more aimed at adults, are ubiquitous in terms of genre and mood, they share something important: you can’t play them for free, unlike Gorilla label And Roblox. Money is a major barrier to entry for children.

Build your adult network

When you find ones you enjoy playing with, add them to your friends list so you can find them next time. When you have enough friends, many games allow you to create private rooms that require invite codes, so no one can just wander in and invade your kid-free zone.

Mute other people’s microphones

If you don’t care about the social aspect of the game, there’s nothing stopping you from simply muting other people’s microphones. Although many children find a way to be annoying without talking, especially if it’s a team game and you’re on the same side.

When all else fails, embrace the chaos

The Metaverse may be full of children, but with patience, mutes, and private lobbies, you can still find a tribe of tired adults trying to escape reality in peace. But we are vastly outnumbered. There are so many kids in VR that you are I’m going to meet them, whatever you do. Sometimes the best way to deal with the situation is to lean into the chaos. Obviously report kids in tight spaces, but kids in virtual spaces “technically not 18+” are a hallmark of this hobby. And they are the future after all, so if you have the energy, try to provide them with a positive role model and be patient. You are in their world, after all.