All checklists, in one printable place

Every checklist from the five steps, gathered here and formatted to print on paper. Use the button below, or your browser's own print command — the page drops the header and links and prints the lists with boxes beside each item.

How to use these

These lists are the working end of the course. The step pages explain why each item is there; this page exists so you can do the work without a screen in front of you, at the kitchen table, with the person who is actually going to play.

Three suggestions, from the way the course is built.

Do them in order. The lists are sequential, not independent. The budget figure you write in the Step 2 list is the number the Step 3 list compares costs against, and the settings you configure in Step 4 are the ones the Step 5 routine reviews. Starting at Step 4 because setup feels like the real task is the common mistake, and it is how households end up with a well-secured account for a game that was never going to suit them.

Do not aim for a full set of ticks. Several items ask you to find something a publisher may not provide — where its servers are, whether odds are disclosed, how to delete an account. An item you cannot complete is not a failure of the list. It is a finding, and it belongs in your notes next to the others. A publisher that does not say where your data goes has told you something.

Stopping is a legitimate outcome. Nothing here assumes you will proceed. The Step 3 list exists precisely so that a household can decide, with reasons it can articulate, that a particular game is not for it. Reaching the end of Step 3 and stopping is a complete use of this course.

Nothing on this page is stored anywhere. The boxes are printed marks, not controls — this site keeps no record of what you tick, because it keeps no record of anything at all. If you want the lists kept, print them or copy them into your own notes. There is nothing to sign up to and no account to create, here or anywhere on this site.

If you print the page, expect roughly three sides of A4. Many households print only the lists they are currently working on, which is easiest done by printing from the individual step page instead — each one carries its own print button beside its checklist.

Before anything else

About ten minutes — from the course home page

Write down the exact name of the game someone has asked for, and where they heard about it.
Find the game's own website by searching the name, and note the address. Do not use a link from a message, advertisement or video description.
Check whether the game asks for a one-off payment, a recurring subscription, in-game purchases, or some combination.
Check the device it is meant to run on, and whether that device is actually in the house.
Decide, before you read anything else, the largest amount in Australian dollars you would be comfortable spending on this in a month.

Step 1 — How online games work

From Step 1

Say out loud, or write down, the difference between the client, the account and the servers.
Decide whose name the account will be in. For a household with children, this is usually an adult.
Note which of the four charging models the game you are considering appears to use.
Check whether that game uses an in-game currency bought with real money.
Find out whether any subscription involved renews automatically, and on what date.
Locate the publisher's privacy policy on its own website and note how long it is.
Find the page on the publisher's site that explains how to report another player.
Bookmark the Scamwatch and Australian Cyber Security Centre sites so you are not searching for them under pressure.
Write one sentence describing what you would lose if the account were taken over tomorrow.

Step 2 — Working out what you need

From Step 2

List every person who will play, with ages, and mark who will hold the account.
Note the device that will actually be used: what it is, its age, its operating system, its free storage.
Find the publisher's stated minimum and recommended requirements on its own support pages.
Decide whether the device will be on a cable or wireless, and where in the house it will sit.
Note your monthly data allowance and plan when the initial download will happen.
Check whether the publisher says anything about where its servers are.
Agree a weekly time allowance, and agree whether play stops on a timer or at a natural break.
Write one number: the maximum you will spend in a month, in AUD.
Decide the payment method, and whether a card will be stored in the account or not.
Check whether a second player in the house would need a second paid account.
Read the game's own pages against your page, and mark every point where the two disagree.

Step 3 — Classifications, terms and cost

From Step 3

Look up the title in the Australian Classification Board database and write down the classification and consumer advice.
Compare that with any age rating shown by a storefront, and note if they differ.
In the terms of service, find the clause on minimum age and parental consent.
Find the clause on suspension and termination, and what happens to purchases.
Find the clause on refunds and cancelling a subscription.
Find the clause on virtual items and currency: owned or licensed, expiring or not.
Find the clause letting the publisher change or end the service.
In the privacy policy, answer: what is collected, who it is shared with, whether it leaves Australia, how to delete it.
Write the annual cost in AUD, including currency bundles and any second account.
Check whether prices are charged in AUD or converted from another currency.
Decide whether randomised paid items exist, and whether they can be blocked.
Note the publisher's support contact and its refund process, before you need either.
Confirm the exact web address of the publisher's own site and write it down.

Step 4 — Setting up and checking

From Step 4

Open the publisher's site using the address you wrote down, not a link from elsewhere.
Create the account using an email address an adult controls.
Set a passphrase that is long, unique and recorded somewhere you will find it.
Enter the real date of birth so age-based protections apply.
Turn on multi-factor authentication and store the recovery codes offline.
Go through every chat, friend-request and profile-visibility setting and choose each one.
Decide the payment arrangement: no card, a prepaid card, or a stored card with purchase confirmation.
Switch on any purchase confirmation or store lock the game offers.
Apply the device or app-store purchase controls as well as the game's own.
Install the client from the publisher's site or an official store, and let the first update finish.
Sign out and back in to confirm the second factor prompts.
Trigger a password reset email to confirm the recovery address is correct.
Begin a purchase without finishing it to confirm the confirmation step appears.
Show the player where the report-a-player function is.
Diarise the subscription renewal date, if there is one.

Step 5 — Living with it

From Step 5

Diarise a ten-minute review one week after setup.
Diarise a five-minute spending check each month, next to the bank statement.
Diarise a reminder a few days before each subscription renewal.
Compare actual spending with the monthly AUD figure from Step 2, in dollars rather than in-game currency.
Agree a household rule of no purchase on the day an offer is first seen.
Check free storage on the device every few months.
Let game and operating-system updates install.
Revisit the time allowance once the shape of the game is known.
Confirm the player knows how to block and report another player.
Know the first move for a suspected account takeover: the email password, then recovery.
Keep the recovery codes somewhere findable and offline.
When interest fades: cancel, then remove the payment method, then decide about deletion.
Uninstall the client and clear the calendar reminders when you are done.