Yahoo! Games Safety Guide

What is Yahoo! Games?

Yahoo! Games has over 500 online and downloadable games — arcade games, board games, card games, word games, and puzzles. You can play some of these games by yourself, or you can play games against the computer or play games with other people online. Note: Children under 13 can't use Yahoo! Games and but can play Games on Yahoo! Kids.

To learn more, check out Yahoo! Games Help.

What are some potential risks on Yahoo! Games?

Everyone on Yahoo! Games must follow the Yahoo! Games Community Guidelines and the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

Just as there may be risks in the town where you live, the Yahoo! Games community may pose certain risks. Yahoo! Games has a number of safety features, but you have to take care of yourself too .

Start with some of our general tips for online safety. Then, when using Yahoo! Games, keep these things in mind:

• Protect personal information. Don't post any personal information that could identify you to strangers.
• Harassment. If you’re playing a multiplayer game where people chat and instant message each other, they could expose you to unpleasant, sexually suggestive, or abusive language. Learn how to handle harassment on Yahoo! Games, and review Yahoo!’s recommended online safety practices for instant messaging.
• Mature content. If your are exposed to explicit or sexual language in chat or instant message conversations, please report the abuse to Yahoo!. You could also be exposed to sexual content when using the search box on the front page of Yahoo! Games to look for images and videos. Please read through Yahoo!’s recommended online safety practices for image and video searches.
• Payments. Yahoo! Games has many free games, but more complete versions of some games can be downloaded for a fee. Yahoo! Games’ All-Star Package, which includes special features, is also a subscription service. These fee-based services require a credit card for payment through Yahoo! Wallet. If you have access to a credit card, please discuss appropriate use of the card with whoever pays the bill.

What can be done to limit these risks? Review Yahoo! Games’ safety features, learn how to report abuse, and talk to your parents or caregivers for help staying safer on Yahoo! Games.

What safety features should I know about to help protect myself on Yahoo! Games?

To protect young kids, Yahoo! Games doesn’t let children under 13 use the site. Instead, they can find age-appropriate content and activities on Yahoo! Kids, which includes dozens of safe games for children.

If you are at least 13 years old and want to use Yahoo! Games, start by looking for single-player games. Avoiding strangers is the safest way to use Yahoo! Games. Card games such as Addiction Solitaire and Aloha TriPeaks are for one player, and board games such as Chinese Checkers and Dominoes can be played against the computer.

Yahoo! Games also has a number of safety features for multiplayer games. You should know how to do the following:

• Use an alias. An alias can be used instead of you Yahoo! ID when you join a game table. An alias that doesn't include any personally identifiable information is best. For example, instead of "tedjones1992dallas," try something more generic like "bluesky50." Learn more about choosing an online ID.
• Leave a game table. The easiest way to get away from players who behave inappropriately is to just leave that game. Simply click Quit in the current game and choose another table or another game.
• Ignore a player. Block all chat and instant messages from a specific player by double-clicking the player’s user name and checking the Ignore box.
• Turn on the Profanity Filter. To replace profane words in chat with "@" symbols, select Options in any game lobby and set the level of the Profanity Filter to weak (to block common words) or strong (to block even more variations).
• Stop unsolicited invitations. To prevent other players from sending invitations to join your game table, click Options in a game lobby and check the Decline All Invitations box.
• Report abuse to Yahoo!. Please report any offensive content or inappropriate contact with other people on Yahoo! Games.

To increase privacy and reduce interaction with strangers in multiplayer games, you can do the following:

• Create a new game table. In a multiplayer game, select Create Table in any game lounge. Under Table Type in the left column, select protected or private table. Both types of tables require an invitation from you, as the table host, to join and play. Private tables require an invitation for other people to even watch the game being played.
• Boot a player. You can remove any player who is behaving inappropriately by clicking Boot and entering the player’s user name.
• Create a private league. To create a private league with ladders, tournaments, and administrative tools, subscribe to Yahoo! Games All-Star Package.

How can I report problems that happen on Yahoo! Games?

Yahoo! Games has a customer care form to report abuse. Please complete this form if you are exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo! Terms of Service or Yahoo! Games Community Guidelines. Make sure to provide specific information about the location of the offending content and the identity of the user in question.

Yahoo!’s customer care team receives abuse reports and takes appropriate action as necessary, which may include deactivating an abuser’s account. Reports that indicate activity involving child pornography or solicitation of a minor are dealt with promptly by Yahoo!’s legal team and, when appropriate, reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

What can I do to use Yahoo! Games in a safer manner?

Yahoo! is committed to providing a safer online experience for everyone and, accordingly, complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Yahoo! Games provides a number of safety features to limit potential risks. However, protecting young people online is a responsibility shared with parents, teachers, and other caregivers.

You should start by learning some basic practices for online safety. These include safeguarding identity online, keeping passwords secret, being cautious about contact with strangers, and creating a family pledge for online safety.

Talk to your parents or caregivers about which games you want to play. If they aren’t comfortable with you interacting with other people through chat or instant messages, look for single-player games.

If you are exposed to obscene language, mature content, threats of physical violence, harassment, or anything else that violates the Yahoo! Terms of Service or Yahoo! Games Community Guidelines, please report the abuse.