Gaming: Why are children so fascinated by Brawl Stars?

«An epic one!» – «Edgar has no skill.» A typical conversation among 12-year-olds, in schoolyards, on the bus, before football training, in the children's room. We're talking about Brawl Stars. If you look around, it seems that children between the ages of 11 and 13 are constantly playing Brawl Stars. This means they move small comic-like characters, called brawlers, through a kind of maze at breakneck speed.

According to Finnish company Supercell, the creator of Brawl Stars, the app has been downloaded more than 1.3 billion times since its launch in 2018. In the first half of 2025 alone, there were 26.85 million downloads worldwide. In 2024, Brawl Stars spent 149 days at number 1 in the mobile game app store charts, reports Frank Keienburg, General Manager of Supercell, not without pride.

Brawl Stars is a very accessible, straightforward game that can be downloaded for free.

Michael Gurt, media educator

Entertaining, funny, simple

What is behind this fascination? «It's simply a very well-made game,» says Marek Brunner, head of testing procedures at the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK), which assesses games for age recommendations. He summarises the advantages of the mobile game as entertaining, funny characters, easy to use and multiplayer rounds that bring children together.

The quick, short rounds of three to five minutes were particularly suitable for playing the game in between other activities, for example on the bus or in the school toilet. And then just one more round, and another, and another.

Cuddle factor of some brawlers

«It's a very low-threshold, uncomplicated game that you can download for free,» says media educator Michael Gurt from the JFF Institute for Media Education in Research and Practice about Brawl Stars. This is a particularly appealing feature for children who have little or no pocket money. Added to this is what he calls the «cuddle factor» – the cuteness of at least some of the brawlers.

You collect the characters with each successful round, and there are regular prize draws where, with a bit of luck, you can win rare brawlers – known in gaming jargon as «legendary», «mythical» or «epic».  

Brawl Stars offers the right balance between frustration and enjoyment – which is what every game should strive for.

Marek Brunner, Head of Testing Procedures at Entertainment Software Self-Regulation

This may seem confusing to parents, as only one character can be used in each round. But it's more about the collective effect. Perhaps it's no coincidence that former Pokémon fans are now enthusiastically hunting for Brawlers. According to Michael Gurt, the fact that the developers at Supercell are constantly bringing new characters and updates to market is a key factor in their success.

A gigantic universe

For Supercell CEO Keienburg, this is also the main reason for last year's success: «We started 2018 with 20 developers and now have 60 working on Brawl Stars alone. This gives us many more opportunities to respond to player requests and constantly bring new brawlers, skins and game modes to market."  

«It's no coincidence that the game is currently enjoying its third, fourth or fifth spring,» says Marek Brunner. Brawl Stars offers the right balance between frustration and enjoyment – which is what every game should aim for: how long does it remain motivating enough without becoming too frustrating? But the success of Brawl Stars isn't just down to the number of downloads the app has had.

The game has become such a strong brand that there is now a kind of Brawl Stars universe, with streamers you can watch playing and interact with on social media. It's a scene you feel you belong to, according to Michael Gurt.    

Cute characters to collect, free gaming fun, and the opportunity to meet up with friends online rather than playing alone: so far, so harmless?  

In-app purchases as a source of income

Of course, Finnish company Supercell did not hire the 60 game developers on a voluntary basis, but wants to earn money with the game. Since the app is free and also ad-free, in-app purchases remain the source of income. How important are these for the enjoyment of the game, and is there a risk that kids will fall into a cost trap and blow all their pocket money?

This is something that parents should definitely discuss with their children, says Gurt: «The best way to do this is to sit down with your children and think about how companies make their money and that game developers want you to spend as much time online as possible.»

If children are completely kept away from digital technology, they have no chance of learning the rules of the digital world.

Michael Gurt, media educator

Players should deliberately lose track of the game

The threshold for in-app purchases in Brawl Stars is deliberately kept low, with no large sums of money required. You can buy everything that you can also earn with patience, i.e. skins, brawlers and also «fame».

However, how much money you spend on what is deliberately made complicated by the game's own currencies, according to Gurt: «The aim is for players to lose track and end up spending more than they actually wanted to.» Parents should definitely talk to their children about this.

Even though parents' initial reaction may be to say, «Don't do such nonsense,» they should not radically forbid the investment, but rather let their children use their pocket money for it, says Gurt: « Children need to learn how to manage their money.» Ultimately, this has a learning effect.

Is the game addictive?

Another concern that many parents have is whether the game is addictive. This suspicion is understandable when children pull out their mobile phones every spare minute they have or when almost all their conversations with friends revolve around it. Marek Brunner explains that it was not without reason that the USK raised the age rating for Brawl Stars from six to twelve years.

To this end, the USK examined the reward system and existing game mechanics in terms of their effect on players, with in-app purchases in particular being a factor in the age rating. The question is always: «At what age are children able to understand the mechanisms used and cope with the content without it having a negative impact on their development?»

Tips for a relaxed approach to Brawl Stars

Michael Gurt lists a few things that encourage players to keep playing Brawl Stars: for example, there are rewards for logging in every day or for playing a certain number of rounds per day. Gurt advises that parents should discuss with their children how such mechanisms work. In any case, parents should make sure that push notifications are turned off in Brawl Stars, otherwise there will be constant prompts to play: «Two of your friends are online right now.»

When should parents start to worry? When games take precedence over everything else in their day and other hobbies are no longer interesting, replies Marek Brunner. Brawl Stars should only be a hobby – and not the only one. However, especially in the early stages, when children are just discovering the game, it is normal to a certain extent for them to have nothing else on their minds.

He also makes it clear that children should not play games for several hours at a time or late in the evening before bedtime. He does not believe in blanket bans. «Then the children will play without a safety net at other children's homes.» If children are completely kept away from digital media, they have no chance of learning the rules of the digital world.    

Engaging in conversation with the child

Michael Gurt advises parents to take an interest in their children's hobbies, even if they do not share their enthusiasm for Brawl Stars. Only by taking an interest can you engage in conversation – and point out risks to your children, such as the fact that unwanted comments or attempts to make contact could occur in multiplayer mode and chat in Brawl Stars.

Parents can eliminate this risk by disabling chat with strangers. Parents can visit the Supercell website to get an overview of the parental controls available. Supercell CEO Keienburg also recommends taking a look at the parents' page. He himself advocates limiting playing time, as the game is not designed to be played for hours on end.