Horror survival game characters sold as toys to young children

[Kaleidoscopic8]

Hi All,

So a few months ago I heard my children talking about playground games that sounded horrific, I looked into them and turned out they are online horror survival games that kids who are not supervised at home are turning into playgroumd games at school.

The games are:

Huggy wuggy
Five nights at freddies
Among us

I researched them and yes they are rated as violent and gore etc with the aim of murdering and killing in violent ways eg stabbing, suffocating- things primary/junior children should not be encouraged to do!

There were also numerous articles on dangers of these games, police forces sending notices to parents to inform them etc. When I informed my kids school they did an assembly on the games.

So it was a real shock when suddenly everywhere I am seeing Huggyvwuggy teddies being sold on kids toy kiosks, kids toy aisles and characters from Among us on childrens clothing in zara! What is going on!? Society is actively encouraging violence!?

The Among us mystery toy has a dagger inside!!! And the age rating 3+! I would not want a 3 year old playing with toy daggers!? The aim as we know is to kill the other characters, why would society be encouraging young children to role play stabbing this using toys.

I have contacted my local MP and everywhere Ive seen the items in kids aisles i have reported to the relevant store managers.

Has anyone else noticed the sudden surge of horror survival characters being sold as kids toys? What are your thoughts?

Squid games is another one that seem to be marketing towards children. It is in no way a children show. Yet I’ve seen a mother allow her 5 year old to watch the roblox version.

I don't know, my son has played huggy wuggy and five nights at freddy's and there is no violence. They are games where the character jumps out at you if they catch you. Kids love being scared don't they?
I will admit they do look a bit scary and I'm surprised among us toys are said to be suitable for 3 year olds.
My son and his friends know about things like quid game from seeing people talk about it on YouTube but they haven't actually seen it, he knows it's for adults.

Five Nights at Freddies has been around for years. I'm surprised you have only just noticed it. The computer game part of it is more about being frightened by 'jump scares' than seeing violent gore. There are novels but they are on the level of Goosebumps/Point Horror books so not exactly Stephen King levels of horror. The story is a big mystery about what happened to various characters and the level my daughter got into analysing it was like watching an episode of CSI. She was totally obsessed. Wrote essays and analysis for fun. This was when she was about 10.
Among Us is about as violent as Tom and Jerry/Road Runner cartoons. It's more about figuring out who the killer is. The graphics are very basic.
Can't comment on HuggyWuggy. I don't
anything about that one.

Oh and the age rating of '3+' isn't about suitability - it's a safety thing not interest level. Any toys that are not designed specifically for babies and toddlers will always be 3+.

Have you played Among Us or looked it up on YouTube. It’s much more of a ‘who dunnit’ than a murder/violent game. My children actually played it with friends during lockdown via zoom as a weekly catch-up and loved it without taking it too seriously.

I do get where you are coming from to some extent but the children do not play with them in the same violent way.

Re: daggers in toys… have you been to Legoland? Loads of children end up leaving with (overpriced) foam daggers/swords and pretend to be a knight.

I have 3 boys from pre-school to secondary school and have definitely become more accepting on the crazes/trends that happen in the playground with each child.

Kids these days are very aware of stuff we wouldn’t have had a clue about as children but in my experience it has led to a greater emotional maturity in a positive way whilst still being children at heart.

Ah I never thought about the age being a safety thing, makes sense my son used to love among us too, he's nearly 9 and played it with me a lot last year. He also has the soft toys and little figures but it isn't particularly violent I would say.

None of these games have any gore. HuggyWuggy and Five Nights at Freddies revolve around jump scares (the equivalent of sneaking up on someone and shouting "boo").
Among Us could be considered violent (but less than your average looney tunes episode). It's also a modern equivalent of a children's game. I forget the name, something about murder. You all sit in a circle with your eyes closed and some "Spies" murder people by pointing at them, with the rest of the circle trying to work out who's doing it.
They're all popular with children because the lack of explicit violence of gore makes them accessible to children.

Surely the age rating on 3+ is just a simple assessment of the size of the loose parts in a product and risk of swallowing them by a younger child?

Xpost, sorry.

My thoughts are that ultimately with all the examples you've given and that I've seen, children who come across these things frequently are going to be somewhat desensitised to violence.

I've noticed a lot of people complaining about them and being outraged about this on FB. Even our local police force posted a hysterical warning.

I've always seen Among Us compared to wink murder (which I loved as a child)

Yes this is right. It doesn't mean they're recommending that 3 year olds play with the toy, but if they do they're not going to hurt themselves with it.

I played Wink Murder with my Brownies unit this week. Hope I'm not going to be in trouble for encouraging violence 😳

We would play Nightmare on Elm Street, sing the creepy song, and chase each other around the playground pretending to be Freddie Kruger, complete with staged killings and murderous screams, all largely ignored by the dinner ladies back in the 80s.

What we didn't have was an industry of toy makers cashing in on the desire to act horribly for sport but we managed just fine without it. Bit my gut instinct is what you are seeing isn't anything new and kids don't need an army of marketeers to encourage it.

Among us is just like wink murder but computerised. I play it with my kids. Five nights at Freddie's is jump scares. My sister in law was like this about fortnite - in which there is NO gore, you get zapped out of the game. I'm not someone who lets kids play/watch anything by any stretch but none of the games you are complaining about are "horror survival games" in the way that you have taken it, in that they would be suitable for adults. State of decay is a horror survival game, The last of us, resident evil, until dawn etc.

YABU

I am intrigued by Among Us. Wink Murder was always a really fun game during wet play etc when I was at school so I can see why kids like it.

These toys don't seem as violent as the Terminator and Robocop toys that were around when I was small. I have two dds and the sexualisation of toys such as the doe eyed, pouting LOL Dolls bother me much more.

Among Us was great until they changed the format. It's too complicated for me now :(

I'm guessing Five Nights at Freddie's is a What's the time Mr Wolf? spin-off because it's about creeping around without being caught by the figures who jump scare you. My teen ds was in primary school when it became popular to watch on YouTube

Don't kids at primary play Fortnite in the playground? My youngest was in secondary but I'd hazard a guess that he would have played that with his friends.

Not familiar with Huggy Wuggy but Among Us is no more violent than Minecraft iirc?

Also it's very normal for kids toys to come with weapons sometimes.

Look at the superhero genre for instance- bow and arrow, guns, lightsabers... Playmobil and Lego figures also come with weapons sometimes. (Guns, swords...)

My children love these games. Although they don't play huggy wuggy, they watch cartoons with him in, and he's always tragically misunderstood or a cute baby version that needs caring for etc.

These are fine in my opinion. Depends on your kid, but they're all ok. Nothing wrong with a jump scare if you're old enough to understand it's make believe. I'd rather they were scared of the possibility of real violence rather than Tom and Jerry violence

Thanks guys for your responses.

I think my main concern is what clairemaddix gas said, these games will desensitise kids to violence.

Yes I did figure 3+ is about product design BUT i feel as they are violent there should be some warning. Like a sex toy might be suitable for '3+' in terms of safety and design but you wouldnt want it next to Sonic and Mario toys on a shelf.

My kids have lego, minifigures have swords sabres etc but these are not depicted in a violent use. So my issue is that in the horror survival games they are depicting stabbing, slicing, chopping heads off and this is very gorey and violent, even if it's a cartoon, this is how kids learn what is normal/acceptable. And now they are role playing in playground, police forces have issued warnings because kids are strangling each other, suffocating and showing their fingers across neck as a sign to chop ppls heads off....lego characters dnt show this.

After reading comments I think I'm definitly more an overprotective overthinking type of parent when it comes to safeguarding- i dont take any chances. I wont welcome my kids playing these games, im not in doubt of that at all. My worry is all the other kids 3-10years playing them/watching or being exposed to in playground, what kind of messed up future society will we have? This is my concern and why I really want the 'toys' merchandise OFF kids toy shelves, have some warning sign for violence and age guidance.

Huggy wuggy for one does not remotely look child friendly! It should not be sold as a kids teddy, he has razors for teeth!? We are talking about innocent young children not adults. Yes for adults its not scary ppl watch Saw and the purge etc but try and look from a very young childs perspective, these characters and games are psychologically damaging.

In terms of the marketing, as PPs have said, it's only about whether the toy is safe, ie small parts that could be a choking hazard.

Whether you're happy with the related franchise is always going to be your decision as a parent.

Among Us is sooo last year.