{"id":62810,"date":"2025-07-04T08:14:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T12:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/?p=62810"},"modified":"2025-07-04T11:00:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T15:00:50","slug":"lets-play-brawl-stars-supercell-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/2025\/07\/04\/lets-play-brawl-stars-supercell-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Play : Brawl Stars (Supercell, 2017)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A game little known to adults, but very popular with kids!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Note: This article is an automated<\/em>\u00a0<em>translation. For the original article, click on Fran\u00e7ais in the menu.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a practitioner-researcher in game studies with a strong interest in player well-being (e.g. the Virtual Guardians Foundation), I force myself to try games that are outside my usual styles. Brawl Stars falls into this category of games that, under normal circumstances, I would probably never have played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So here&#8217;s a video of the game&#8217;s trailer, followed by a twenty-minute \u201clet&#8217;s play\u201d that I filmed directly from my cell phone. Below, you&#8217;ll find a few comments related to certain elements of the video. I&#8217;d have more to say, but I don&#8217;t want to write a dissertation either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Let\u2019s Play : Brawl Stars (Supercell, 2017)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D4Ni2ePSKgo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>01\u00a0:03 \u2013 This mobile game is \u201cfree to play\u201d. For a parent, this means there&#8217;s no upfront cost to download it. However, as we shall see, that doesn&#8217;t mean that everything is free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>03\u00a0:09 \u2013 After the tutorial, i.e. once the child has already played for a few minutes, the game asks his or her age. So it&#8217;s not the parent, but the child who has to be honest about his or her age, and there&#8217;s nothing to verify whether or not the age is true. For this video, I was curious to see what a child would see if he indicated that he was an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>03\u00a0:20 \u2013 The terms of use (<a href=\"https:\/\/supr.cl\/privacy\">https:\/\/supr.cl\/privacy<\/a>), the privacy policy and the option to find out more, are easily acceptable without reading them. In the conditions, it is mentioned that &#8220;[\u2026] Generally, our Services are not directed to children under 13 (or other age as required by local law), and the Services do not knowingly collect personal data from children, except as described in the following paragraph. For games that are not directed at children but nonetheless may appeal to them, we take additional steps to limit access to these Services based on the player\u2019s age. For these Services, when a player indicates they are under 13 (or the applicable age in their territory), we will limit their access to certain features, such as social media and chat features, as well as certain types of notification alerts. We also limit the processing of personal data to only what is necessary to support the internal operations of our Services. [\u2026]&#8221;. It would be interesting to make another video and compare what is actually blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>04\u00a0:49 \u2013 The application already asks for permission to send notifications. Out of reflex I clicked no. Many mobile games generally send reminder messages to reconnect for rewards, promotional announcements or that sort of thing.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-151534-1024x461.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-62798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-151534-1024x461.png 1024w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-151534-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-151534-768x346.png 768w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-151534-1536x691.png 1536w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-151534-2048x922.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>08\u00a0:34 \u2013 After browsing through the menu and sub-menus, I finally came across a first source of monetization in the form of a \u201cbattle pass\u201d. Basically, these are rewards you can unlock by playing within the predetermined period. In this case, \u201cseason 38\u201d ended in 14 days and 12 hours. Note here that the free items, at the bottom of the screen, are presented side by side with content that takes up 2\/3 of the top of the screen and is accessible only if you&#8217;ve purchased the pass. So, to access your free reward, you have to go back each time to the page that encourages you to buy something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>08\u00a0:57 \u2013 The cost of the pass.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-152321-1024x461.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-62800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-152321-1024x461.png 1024w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-152321-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-152321-768x346.png 768w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-152321-1536x691.png 1536w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot_20250521-152321-2048x922.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>09\u00a0:10 \u2013 It was possible to see them before, but here it&#8217;s already possible to see several different virtual currencies: gold coins, green gems, star coins and so on. This type of ploy is used to offend the real value of what players spend in a game. The European Commission (2025) is working on this very issue.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-virtuelle-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-62804\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-virtuelle-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-virtuelle-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-virtuelle-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-virtuelle-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-virtuelle.png 1919w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>11\u00a0:29 \u2013 First part completed, and now the store is displayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>12\u00a0:10 \u2013 Examples of microtransactions to buy cosmetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>12\u00a0:12 \u2013 Real cost of green gems.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" src=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screensho-gems-brawl-1024x577.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-62802\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screensho-gems-brawl-1024x577.png 1024w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screensho-gems-brawl-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screensho-gems-brawl-768x433.png 768w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screensho-gems-brawl-1536x865.png 1536w, https:\/\/leonin.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screensho-gems-brawl.png 1915w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>12\u00a0:33 \u2013 Special offers and a daily free gift in the store. This strategy gets players used to entering the store and being asked to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>19\u00a0:26 \u2013 New in the store, I can now buy gold coins with green gems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>21-09 \u2013 Replaying a game is extremely quick and easy. I spent another 40 minutes in total playing without realizing it. The game is fun and competitive, then I fell into the trap of: I&#8217;m on a winning streak so one more and I can&#8217;t finish on a losing streak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ref\u00e9rence :<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>European Commission (2025). R\u00e9seaux sociaux, jeux en ligne et moteurs de recherche, <a href=\"https:\/\/commission.europa.eu\/live-work-travel-eu\/consumer-rights-and-complaints\/enforcement-consumer-protection\/coordinated-actions\/social-media-online-games-and-search-engines_fr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/commission.europa.eu\/live-work-travel-eu\/consumer-rights-and-complaints\/enforcement-consumer-protection\/coordinated-actions\/social-media-online-games-and-search-engines_fr<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A game little known to adults, but very popular with kids!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video-games","category-207","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62814,"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62810\/revisions\/62814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leonin.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}