Start with a choice
Before opening a game, ask what you want from this session: a puzzle, a story, company or a change of pace. Choose something that fits the time and energy you actually have, rather than following the loudest reminder.
Playing can be a welcome part of life. The useful question is whether it still sits comfortably alongside sleep, relationships, work, study and the things you care about.
Check the wider picture
The six questions below are prompts for noticing patterns, not a clinical assessment. Answer for your recent experience rather than for one unusually long evening.
A result cannot tell you whether you have a disorder or replace a conversation with a qualified professional. If the effects already worry you, you do not need a particular score before asking for help.
Give the session an ending
Set a finishing time before you start and leave room to save, pack away and settle into the next activity. A final mission is only a useful boundary when you can recognise it and are willing to stop there.
Use the evening planner to outline breaks and a wind-down. Its reminders work while the page remains open; device and platform controls are the place for enforceable restrictions.
Listen to physical signals
Keep the screen at a comfortable distance, reduce glare and leave enough light in the room. Unclench your hands, change position and take regular periods away from the display. Pain or unusual symptoms are reasons to stop, not a challenge to push through.
Protect meals, water, movement and sleep. Flashing images may provoke seizures in susceptible people, including people with no previous diagnosis; stop if you experience altered vision, twitching, dizziness or confusion and seek medical advice.
Notice what play displaces
Look beyond hours alone. Missing commitments, recurring arguments, hidden spending or repeated failed attempts to leave can tell you more than the length of a single session.
Watch for the point where curiosity becomes obligation, anger or a need to win back an earlier result. Discuss the change with someone you trust; changing one manageable routine is often easier than making a sweeping promise.
Hear the price in pounds
Decide what you can afford before entering a shop. Translate virtual coins into money and check the number of whole packs required, not just the apparent value of the item. Unspent coins still represent money already paid.
A purchase does not oblige you to keep playing. Turn off paid random rewards for children, use purchase approvals where available and allow yourself to miss an offer without treating it as a loss.
Keep control of the conversation
Use known contacts and age-appropriate permissions. Leave or mute a conversation that becomes uncomfortable, and practise finding block and report before they are urgently needed.
Do not share passwords, verification codes, location details or intimate material. For a child, agree that asking for help after a troubling message will be met with support rather than blame.
Make a household agreement
Use the PEGI age and content descriptors as a starting point, then look at the particular player, game and online features. A colourful illustration is not an age rating.
Agree when play fits, who can communicate and how purchases are approved. Configure those decisions on the relevant account and device; review them when games, friendships or devices change.
Choose the right support
A GP can help you talk through changes in sleep, mood or daily life and discuss suitable local support. A trusted adult can help a younger player explain what is happening.
Childline offers information and support for children and young people. CEOP deals with concerns about online child sexual abuse; it is not general technical support. Use the service appropriate to the concern and emergency services when someone is in immediate danger.
NHS: finding a GP Childline CEOP Safety Centre PEGI informationWhat this publication can do
Raven & Clover makes game choices and their practical consequences easier to examine. We describe stopping points, communication and spending alongside the experience itself.
Our planner, calculator and reflection prompts support a decision; they do not diagnose, enforce restrictions or replace personal support. You remain free to change the programme or switch it off.