My Little Princess: Castle - My Town Games Ltd.

App Review

This review of My Little Princess: Castle was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 5 August 2021.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of My Little Princess: Castle contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

All rooms explored over several days.

App description

My Little Princess: Castle is a digital dollhouse which is an open-ended imaginative game that encourages exploration and creativity. The game is centred on the rooms in a royal castle and a variety of 15 different characters. The game follows the traditional roles of a royal family including a King and Queen, Prince and Princess as well as other members of the household and an unexpected Witch. Children playing will need time to explore each room of the castle. There are unlimited scenarios from going into the kitchen and preparing a meal for a banquet, playing in the royal bathroom (complete with a fountain, bubbles, grapes and toilet sounds), to playing dress ups and putting on make-up.

Some parental assistance may be required to assist younger children with all the characters and the rooms within the castle.

Reviewers comments

My Little Princess: Castle is based on the traditional dollhouse. This digital version is highly interactive, colourful and visually appealing.

Before you even enter the castle you are met by a moat with crocodile, drawbridge and gate. Once you enter you have a variety of characters and rooms to play in, which assist in expanding children’s imagination. Children can play by themselves or with others on the same device. If playing with someone else it gives the child an opportunity to experience another perspective, for example what the other player thinks when playing with the Prince on the terrace.

The game provides a fun space that can foster creativity, for example, the child can dress up the King by replacing his crown with a dragon’s head and put him to bed with numerous toys and soothing music. This game promotes imagination through creative play. Through endless role-playing the children can create dialogue that occurs in real life. For example, playing with the toys in the Princess’s bedroom.

It should be noted that the castle includes a dungeon with some mildly scary elements (e.g. bats, skeleton, and a monster in a cage) that could be confronting to younger, sensitive children.

Basic fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination are required, as all the activities involve tapping, dragging, sliding or pressing fingers onto the screen.

The App, downloaded via Google Play, asks permission to access Photos/Media/Files in order to save and share progress, on Android phone it states, “In order for the application to work properly, you must allow all permissions”. There are also prompts before you enter the game to purchase additional Little Princess games. A mathematical equation is required to be solved and at the time of this review, this safeguard would not protect against older children accessing Google Play.

In App purchasing

There is In-App purchasing in this game, examples include:

• You can purchase similar games from the same developer which allow you to explore the nearby lands around the castle. You are required to answer a maths question which takes you to the Google Play Store, then you can purchase:
  • My Little Princess:Stores for $3.99
  • My Little Princess: Wizard for $3.99
  • My Little Princess: Fairy Forest for $3.99.

Online information

There is no online information required to play this game.

There is some online connectivity, such as:

• Online access is required to download the app.

Please note: It is not necessary to create an account, provide any personal details, or connect with social media in order to play the game. There is no connectivity with social media or interaction with other users.

Gambling

At the time of review, the reviewer found no simulated gambling content. If you discover simulated gambling content in this app, please contact us with the details so we can update our review.

Advertising and product placement

There is advertising in this game, including:

• There is advertising for other My Little Princess and My Town games once downloaded, however, there is no advertising throughout the game.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

None noted.

Coarse language

None noted.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

None noted.

Other

N/A.

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