How to Interpret Video Game ESRB Ratings

I play a lot of video games and have played games with all kinds of ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) ratings. If you were to go to the ESRB website, it will give details of each of the ratings. Most of the information involves the content of the game not being suitable for a certain age.

For the most part, the information is pretty accurate, but ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether or not the game will be suitable for the person that will be playing it. Here is my take on each of the ratings from my experiences with the many games I have played that have had each of those ratings. The ratings will be sorted from ones that are appropriate for even the youngest kids, to those only for adults and the details are aimed for those that are going to be buying a video game for younger kids.

RP (Rating Pending) ESRB age: N/A
Games that have not yet been released are often given this rating. This just means that the final rating for the game has not been determined.

EC (Early Childhood) ESRB age: 3+
Personally, I have never played any video games rated EC. Games rated EC are likely aimed for kids of very young age. Chances are, it probably won't appeal to older kids or adults. Games rated EC are going to be mainly for very young children and should be appropriate in content for all ages.

E (Everyone) ESRB age: 6+
Generally, games rated E are going to be appropriate for all ages. However, some rated E games do have very minor cartoon violence. Usually this would be a sword or a gun used to fight enemies in the game. There may be some content which might not be suitable for some very young kids, but generally, the content of the video game should be appropriate for everyone.

E 10+ (Everyone 10 and older) ESRB age: 10+
I have not seen many games with this rating. This is just a rating in between the E and T. It is usually appropriate for kids not yet in their teens. Games rated E 10+ will likely have more cartoon violence and themes than the games rated E but not as much as games rated T.

T (Teen) ESRB age: 13+
In my opinion, video games with this rating should be researched before buying for kids of young age. There may be a lot of hidden things which the rating will not tell you and might be inappropriate for younger kids. Video games that are rated T often have a lot more violence that is more realistic than games rated E. It would be wise to look at the back of the video game box to get an idea of what the game is about and if it appears appropriate for the child that will be playing it. I have played many games rated T that involve blood, some strong language, and realistic violence using various kinds of weapons.

M (Mature) ESRB age: 17+
I think this M rating is the one rating with the most unique type of video games. The video game can be rated M for many reasons. Depending on what you feel is appropriate, some M games might not be too bad for teenagers below the age of 17. I have played video games rated M where the only thing they had which a rated T game wouldn't have is realistic blood, and some strong language. Without those two things the games would have been easily rated T. So sometimes games rated M are barely rated M because of only a few things that caused it to go from T to M. Other times the M rating seems to be under-rated. There are games with plenty of violence, gore, nudity, sexual themes, very strong language, and other very mature themes. These games are rated the same as those games which could have been easily rated T. Normally games rated M are not appropriate for kids younger than 12. Depending on the game and the kid, the video game might be appropriate for some 12-17 year olds.

AO (Adults Only) ESRB age: 18+
I have never played games rated AO, so can't really talk from experience. Similar to how games rated EC are designed specifically for young kids, video games rated AO are designed specifically for adults. If you notice the suggested ages according to ESRB, compared to rated M games, there is only 1 year difference. This rating is different than all others. The ages specified on all the other ratings are estimates because some video games can be played by kids that are younger than the recommended age. For games rated AO, the age of 18 is more definite. The games rated AO are usually made just for the enjoyment of the mature content that only AO games provide. This is definitely not suitable for kids 17 and younger.

On the back of the of the video game box it will show a short description of the content explaining why the rating is what it is. For a much more detailed list of the different descriptions that are displayed on the back of the box, see the official ESRB website. If you are not sure whether or not the video game is going to be appropriate for a kid, it would be a good idea to research the game and try to get an idea why it is rated what it is. You can visit the many video game review sites online that describe the individual games to get an idea of what the game is about and whether or not it is going to be appropriate.