Much like Minecraft which we have covered in detail, Roblox is a popular multiplayer gaming experience aimed at children and young adults. However, unlike Minecraft, Roblox is not just a game, but also a platform where young developers can create their own games.
If you are a gaming parent yourself, think of popular online stores like Steam or Epic where you can buy games on PC – Roblox is similar but is more approachable for children as it has a plethora of free titles that they can try.
Across the world, around 150 million children play Roblox religiously, with many of them building their games inside the platform for other users to enjoy. Almost anyone can create a game in Roblox, regardless of their prior experience with coding or game design.
All kids need is a healthy amount of imagination and the right tools or guidance (such as our Roblox course). It is partly due to this unique feature, that Roblox remains so popular amongst a younger demographic. Unlike other games, children can log in and find new experiences to sample almost every day.
If your child is beginning to show an interest in programming, you might wonder if Roblox is educational and if the time spent playing the game is beneficial for them.
Likewise, you may have a child who is already crazy about Roblox and want to know if they will benefit from their experiences in playing it.
We believe that Roblox is educational providing the right parameters are in place. Here’s what we think the 5 benefits to playing Roblox are.
The benefits of playing Roblox
1. Roblox naturally boosts children’s creativity
Roblox is predominantly a platform where kids create games for fun (here are some ideas). Unlike many other games aimed at children, Roblox does not have a linear story or narrative and is instead focused on allowing kids to craft their own experiences.
Although this might sound boring, it allows them to carefully craft their own story and pushes them to find their own meaning in Roblox. For example, once a child opens the game, they are soon ushered into an open-world environment wherein they are encouraged to immediately start building structures and other objects in the Roblox studio.
From here, they can learn to build games or use their imagination to create stories that naturally push them to think outside the box.
For some, this experience can prove to be quite intimidating and alien at first. Unfortunately, many games and apps that are specifically aimed at youngsters often hold their hands too much, not allowing them to find their footing and offering endless hints which stifle their creativity.
Although Roblox is approachable, it is designed in such a way that children are encouraged to find their footing themselves.
Although children can play games created by other users, half of the appeal of Roblox comes from building games and sharing them with the community.
With persistence, children could potentially build a game that becomes extremely popular amongst their age group. Naturally, this sometimes provides kids with the motivation needed to keep pushing forward on their creative projects.
2. Roblox helps kids learn programming and coding skills
Many parents are likely to be unaware that Roblox can also be a great tool for teaching their children programming and coding skills. Unlike other games, Roblox was designed with coding in mind, being built from the ground using a simple coding language named Lua.
It is this said language that is present within Roblox studio, the area in which kids are encouraged to design and create their own games, environments, and other objects. Although this might sound rather complicated in design, it isn’t as hard as other programming can be.
In the Roblox Studio, beginners can choose to use a range of visual menus to place characters and other objects on the screen. In many cases, children are happy enough to stay at this stage as it is a great way for them to use their imagination and the menus are easy to learn.
However, if they wish to create more advanced objects and environments, children can also use the Roblox Studio to write out and embed lines of code. Interestingly, Roblox is pretty effective in teaching kids how to do this by themselves, with the studio having an inbuilt scripter that naturally exposes them to the coding language (find out more).
Given enough time, many children will then naturally start using small pieces of code to move and place objects without the assistance of the menus and presets. Over many months, they should begin to understand more complex forms of coding which will then enable them to write longer pieces of code.
From here, this knowledge will help them on their journey of creating their own game. Naturally, this leads many children to develop a passion for coding – often progressing onto more advanced coding lessons with FunTech.
Plus, many of the concepts that kids learn in Roblox can then be applied to a wide range of fields as they grow older, such as web and game development, database programming, UI/UX design, and machine learning. In fact, many talented young programmers started their careers by learning how to code in Roblox.
3. Roblox teaches kids computing skills
As we are all aware, our modern lives are heavily centered around using technology and the internet. Unlike our predecessors, computing skills are a necessity if we wish to connect with friends, find new clients, and set up successful businesses.
The same is doubly true for our children, who will one day be adults in a world where computing skills are even more commonplace than now. For this reason, it is essential that all parents teach their kids how to use computers from an early age.
In most cases, children will naturally gain these skills on their own by navigating and browsing the internet. However, this form of learning is not always beneficial and can often fail to teach them basic computing skills that are required in the workplace. Instead, many youngsters spend large chunks of their time consuming content such as YouTube videos and social media posts.
Instead, the benefits of Roblox include teaching kids important computing skills. This can include typing speed, effective online communications, navigation of menus, and confidence in using web-based software.
Additionally, it has also been effective in introducing children with no prior interest in technology to computers and the internet.
4. Roblox can teach older children about entrepreneurship
Although Roblox is predominantly free to play, users can buy Robux, a type of in-game currency unique to this platform. Although this may send alarm bells ringing for some parents, purchasing Robux is not necessary for kids to have access to many of the mechanics and features of Roblox.
Additionally, parents can set or limit the amount of money their child can spend if they decide to allow them to purchase Robux. In general, most children enjoy playing Roblox without having purchased an item through its in-built currency.
However, for some children (particularly older ones), this provides them with the unique opportunity to earn Robux through their creations. After spending their time building games and other similar projects, entrepreneurial young developers can choose to charge other users to play their game in the Robux currency.
More often than not, these creations take countless hours to create and push the boundaries of what Roblox developers can achieve. In general, youngsters who successfully profit from their games are rare, and it takes an unusual amount of drive and passion for kids to continuously update their projects for users to play.
That being said, some children and young teens have made thousands of dollars from their creations, with Roblox paying out over 250 million dollars to its young developers in 2020 alone. Despite this, many children choose not to use Roblox to make money regardless of their skills and instead use it solely as a meaningful and educational hobby.
Advance your child’s Roblox skills
FunTech are currently running a virtual Roblox developer course for kids aged 9 to 12. Taking place in the school holidays, we help teach kids digital skills and programming concepts.
Whether your child is a Roblox regular or beginner, they will learn how to create an obstacle course and kart racing game during a fun week of experimentation, creativity and real-world physics. At the end of the virtual Roblox camp, your child will learn how to publish their projects, so they can share it with friends.
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